Dogma for Demoralized Democrats

With the election over many Democrats are wondering how to capture the working clas folks who have sided with the Republic (intentional incomplete spelling)Party because of values. Shall 2008 be another case of Republic Lite? I think what Democrats need is to get their asses back in church. Progressive politics in this country came from the churches but now progressives have outgrown the church. This ecclesiaphobia is leading Democrats to not know how to talk. Kerry won all three debates but look at how badly he stumbled on the question of public funding for abortion. First of all, this should not be the litmus test that it is within the party but couldn't Kerry have simply said that he is, as a Catholic, strongly opposed to abortion and that he wants to see it ended but that he also recognizes that the government can do little in the form of prohibition type laws to stop it. The otherwise quick on his feet Kerry, I suspect, stumbled because the issue has been framed for him in such secular political terms that he was totally speechless as to how to distinguish the moral from the political and still be moral. Let me say here that I think the Democrats have this issue all wrong. The arguments they make for choice are straight out of libertarian thought. We need to start thinking consistently in terms of the interdependence and ecological view of life rather than body as property model.
The issue of anti-gay marriage is another matter. We have to state in no uncertain terms that laws should treat everyone equally and that the marriage amendment would be a violation of the principle of equal rights not special rights. However one might also be able to say that as a Christian, one views homosexual behavior as contrary to Christian teaching. I think that might be an argument which would win the day with many evangelcials although admittedly very few have yet to think consistently about the distinction between ethics and public policy.
The issue is not so much about these particualr wedge issues. The issue is how we frame all of our issues. We need to get over the ridiculous notion that public figures cannot or should not talk about the spiritual narrative which informs their policy choices. Unfortunately these folks have abandoned the church and left it to a few pastors to deal with many people who still believe that Noah's ark is sitting atop a mountain in Turkey. If you want the political sphere to change, get your butts back in the pews and Sunday schools. Otherwise the cultural drift rightward will accelerate. Cultus makes culture. And the economy is never going to be divorced from the culture, stupid! Get with it and help us lonely progressive evangelicals and liberals out.