Christian conservatives fret over Ron Paul popularity

Ron Paul
Ron Paul

Ron Paul

Some Christian conservatives are not happy about Ron Paul's popularity in Iowa.

One Christian activist group is Personhood USA, which questions an explanatory letter that Ron Paul sent along with his signature of its pledge to promote personhood on a state and federal level.  Paul's letter clearly stated his opposition to Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose, stating that he believes that life begins at conception.  However, the letter indicated that if a federal "Human Life Amendment" was passed, the states and not the federal government should enforce it.  Personhood USA worries that if states had the responsibility to enforce  such a measure, some would not.

The issue of states rights is one that angers Christian right activists, who say that Paul's deference to the states on social issues such as abortion and gay rights will allow "immorality" to flourish.

This morning on the American Family Association's Matt Friedeman Show, Friedeman and his guest, Kevin McCullough fretted about Ron Paul's popularity in Iowa, saying that a Paul win there would shake up the Republican establishment and thrust "the entire race into a very weird tailspin."  The two worried about Ron Paul's foreign policy stance as well as a potential Mitt Romney win.

Friedeman thought that the Iowa polls may be overstated and that Ron Paul supporters will not actually show up at the caucus.  But according to McCullough, if they do show up and Paul wins, Paul stands to gain more fundraising.  He also worried that Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have not qualified for the Virginia "Super Tuesday" ballot, representing 10 percent of the Super Tuesday vote.  Only Ron Paul and Mitt Romney will be on the ballot.

According to McCullough, the splintered nature of the Republican process so far might be pointing to a brokered Republican convention.

Earlier, when Paul won the CPAC straw poll, McCullough characterized Ron Paul supporters as "disrespectful Libertarians" who do not share true conservative values and promote anarchy with no moral values.


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D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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  • Mike Nunya

    I am a christian conservative, and I am not fretting (for one second) Ron Paul's popularity. Ron Paul is the only choice for so many Christians. You see, you cannot be for endless war and say you are a Christian. Many Christians are worried about protecting Israel. Do the chosen of God need mankinds help and protection? Somehow, I seriously doubt it. Libertarian principles are Christian principles.

    • Jim

      I agree with you, except that Jews are no longer the chosen of God. It is those who have accepted the grace of Jesus through faith that re the chosen of God.

      Read through the book of Romans. It explains it all.

  • Richard

    Ron Paul is a humanitarian in the sea of political lobbyist and corruption which undermine the American people. Look at not only his voting record while in Congress, but take a snapshot of his entire life. As young boy growing up on a farm, learning what hard work and savings really meant. Then a humanitarian choosing to not dodge the draft like Gingrich, but instead joining the Airforce to become a Flight Surgeon, and later a humanitarian becoming an OBGYN Doctor delivering babies.. multitudes of them. This man cares for life, as a humanitarian took his fight to congress and challenged the de-linking of the Gold standard, by history knowing that empires have consistently come to an end once the monetary policy of that empire was based on a fiat standard.. Paul, once again as a humanitarian sought to protect that very same thing which the Founders of this great nation sought also to protect, your life, your liberty, natural law rights which would ensure a freedom to obtain prosperity. Not only does Paul have a sound understanding of history, and where we have come from, he has endorsed the continued education in economic philosophy (Austrian Economics), he is very aware of the history of foreign nations (read: The Foreign Policy of Freedom) and again as a humanitarian seeks the protection of rights for all citizens of the whole world, which more so than any other candidate is known and supported by people around the world.

    • betty

      Richard, That is one of the most incredibly beautiful comments I have ever read on the Good Doctor Paul. May I add, "Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God". Matthew 5:9

  • T. Kurt Jaros

    Check out my op-ed from the Wash Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/21/making-the-case-for-and-against-ron-pau-31412079/

    Certainly Paul would allow states the freedom to punish abortion and homosexuality, which is more than what George W. Bush did. I think Christians win be voting for Paul.

  • Ludwig von Mises

    Photographic proof that Ron Paul is a racist!!!

    The presstitute shills and the Neocons are going to pull out all of the stops against RP. And they will come down on him with both feet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the establishment MSM so scared in my lifetime; It’s because they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

    By the way, if you want to see some great pictures of Ron Paul acting like a racist, then check out the following link:

    http://www.5k.com/

    Please spread these photos around!

  • sean

    sounds like these christian activists would rather live in a dictatorship than a democracy.. They want the federal government to control people's personal decisions. Thats very unchristian if you ask me. God gave us all free will and the sins I commit are between me and Jesus. The government is not God and should never be given the authority to rule as God. This is why Jesus was so furious with Rome. I know these people mean well but they're obviously not living according to what Jesus taught..

  • Jessica

    If you're only in favor of states' rights for SOME things… then you're not REALLY in favor of states' rights.

  • Bob Vondruska

    Ron Paul should be the No. 1 choice of all people calling themselves "Christian Conservatives". Romney and Huntsman – It's pretty obvious why there might be a disconnect with Christian voters. Newt is a "serial adulterer", Perry is a moron, and Bachmann and Santorum are far right nutjobs. So who's left…..Ron Paul! A pro-life man of faith and principle with a "real" plan for America!

  • DS

    First of all Christians don't fret. The bible says not to worry about anything. Secondly many many Christians support Ron Paul because people are becoming aware. Newt will never do anything for the prolife movement. I wouldn't be suprised if he was the anti-Christ. Romney is liar and forget the rest. Ron is the only one who will get anything done.

  • Anonymous

    I actually feel somewhat sorry for Paul in that he's chosen to uphold one of the central governing concepts of our nation, the anti-federalist structure, and is abhorred for doing so from both the right and the left. Each fear the worst from a system in which central authority is not absolute; the left tending to fear the development of police states and segregation, the right tending to fear a state-by-state breakdown in values, and both fearing whatever other alarmist prospect they can think of, like legal murder. The future of first principals in regards to federal structure certainly seems grim.

  • James Orleans

    Ron Paul is probably the most pious one in the whole group of republican nominees.

    I see no reason why he should make any christian uncomfortable. If you don't like his foreign policy, remember Jesus preached peace, not perpetual wars.

  • Jim

    What are they fretting over?

    He is a Christian and very consistent. He is exactly what this country needs right now, a fiscal conservative who is principled and holds his ground.

  • http://www.chicksubmit.com Melgrim

    Yeah, screw Ron Paul. We need a president that will give us more war, more bombs, and more expansion! Oh, and save the unborn children.

  • Ludwig von Mises

    Photographic proof that Ron Paul is a racist!!!

    The presstitute shills and the Neocons are going to pull out all of the stops against RP. And they will come down on him with both feet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the establishment MSM so scared in my lifetime; It’s because they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

    By the way, if you want to see some great pictures of Ron Paul a…cting like a racist, then check out the following link:

    http://www.5k.com/

    Please spread these photos around!

  • http://Www.danroe.net Dan Roe

    My wife and I were typical liberals (and party line "pro-choice") until we learned about Dr Paul around '06. We fell in love with his message of peace, life, and liberty. This is why when we learned we were pregnant again (at 40 and without a penny to spare) there was no "choice" for us. Two years later mommy and our precious little angel Linus are happy and healthy. We still don't have a penny to spare (imagine that), but we know we will find our way. Ron Paul 2012!

  • wsjiii

    When will Americans finally get it? It's not "Paul's deference to the states", it's Paul's deference to the Constitution. If it was left to the states in the first place (as the law dictates), you wouldn't have had half of the abortions since Roe v. Wade.

  • Erick

    As a Christian I will ONLY vote for Ron Paul. How the religious right let the demagogues take over the church and Republican politics I will never understand.
    Can't let those gay people do what they want because of a couple of old testament verses (Jesus never said a word about homosexuality). But we CAN go to war whenever we want to for however long we want to, even if the reason for going into the war turn out to be bogus(ah, ya know, Saddam wasn't a good guy, so even though there were no WMD's, it was worth 500,000 dead people).

    Wake up Christians! Stop letting these wolves in sheeps clothing tell you that its okay for America to bomb any country we want!

  • MoneyMike

    It does not make sense to protect the life of an unborn child and then turn around and send them off to die fighting a needless war.

    The RPGS that are used against our solders in Afghanistan were given to the Afgans by the US to fight the Russians.

  • Anra

    These talking heads are neither Christian nor conservative, all they want is unending wars. These are neocons dressed up as gay-bashing, anti-abortion 'Christian' activists.

  • Mark Smith

    "The new Israel" is Christianity, not the modern state of Israel. Christians owe no allegiance to the state of Israel.

  • http://bit.ly/uNEaex Sam Houston

    Politics: Ron Paul wants to legalize pot and shut down the Federal Reserve. He thinks the federal government has no authority to outlaw abortion, no business bombing Iran to keep it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and no justification to print money unless it's backed up by gold bars.

  • Kara

    I guess I will never understand how Americans can call themselves Christians and say they are 'pro-life' while at the same time they completely disregard the right of life for others, bombing and burning other countries for profit, treating the whole rest of the world like they treated the native population of the continent they conquered – as savages that have to be slaughtered off because they own something the US wants to have for itself.

    How can you possibly concile these two extremes? How can you look at the images of children born with terrible defects due to the depleted uranium you shower over other countries and shrug them off as collateral damage, and then turn around and pretend you are 'pro life'?

    How utterly cynical are you that those words do not stuck in your throats?