Ideological Unacceptability

[Jim Watt]

*"TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE" MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*PO Box **25116 – Federal Way** **WA** **98093-2116***

*Tel: 253.874.4256 – Email: jmbetter at gmail.com *

*Web: www.2rbetter.org – **April 1, 2008***

* *

*"THE LEFT'S IDEOLOGICAL UNACCEPTABILITY"*

*(From "Real Change" by Newt Gingrich)*

* *

It is hard for our elites to understand how distant they are from the
average American in values. In the university faculty lounges, the Hollywood
cocktail parties, the left-wing activist groups, and the newsrooms and
editorial boards of most of the elite media there is such a unanimity of
belief that it is impossible for them to realize that they collectively form
a left-wing enclave in a hugely center-right nation.



In early 2007, I created a nonpartisan organization called American
Solutions in order to break partisan gridlock and create commonsense
solutions. At American Solutions, we decided to listen carefully to the
American people about their values and their understanding of what would
work and what they favored. In the summer of 2007, we analyzed a series of
six national surveys (The full results are available at *
www.americansolutions.com ).*

* *

To understand the gap between the Left and the American people, consider the
following:

            *85% believe it is very important for a group or organization in
this country to pursue the goal of helping defend **America** and its
allies.*

*            75% believe it is very important for a group or organization in
the country to pursue the goal of defeating **America**'s enemies.*

*            93% believe al Qaeda poses a serious threat.*

*            85% believe **Iran** poses a serious threat.*

*            79% would support the death penalty for someone caught and
convicted of carrying out a terrorist attack in the **United States**.*

*            83% support the establishment of clear laws making it a crime
to advocate acts of terrorism or violent conduct or the killing of innocent
people in the **United States**.*

*            77% support the closing down of terrorist Web sites at home and
abroad using the techniques of computer warfare.*

*            65% favor abolishing the death tax.*

*            48% favor abolishing the capital gains tax (41% oppose; this is
included because no one on the left could imagine that without any argument
being made and any campaign being waged there are already enough investors
in the United States to have a plurality favoring abolishing the capital
gains tax).*

*            70% favor a tax incentive for companies headquartered in
the **United
States**.*

*            61% favor the option of a single income tax rate of 17%.*

*            74% favor the single rate of 17 percent for corporations.*

*            68% see a direct link to making American corporations more
competitive in the **United States** so they will not move jobs overseas.*

*            54% believe the wealthiest should pay the same proportion of
their income as everyone else, while only 43% believe they should pay more.
This undermines one of the Left's happiest battle cries of "tax the rich."*

* *

The Left is distant from the average American on national security and
economics, but the gap becomes cataclysmic when the topic turns to culture
and religion.

            *89% believe religion and morality are important to them and
their families.*

*            79% believe religion and morality are important to the country.
*

*            87% approve of the reference to "the Creator" in the
Declaration of **Independence**; 6% strongly disapprove.*

*            78% approve of the Ten Commandments appearing in courthouses
across **America**; 12% strongly disapprove.*

*            81% appose removing crosses and other such monuments from
public parks and other public property; 8 percent strongly approve.*

*            94% approve of a moment of silence allowing children to pray to
themselves if they want to in public schools; 3% strongly disapprove.*

*            90% approve of a Christmas tree or menorah being placed on
public property during the holiday season; 5% strongly disapprove.*

* *

This is not just a matter of cultural values. The average American
absolutely believes that these values make a difference in the defining who
we are and the freedoms we enjoy.

            *84% agree that references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance
and the Declaration of **Independence** are important because they make
clear that certain rights can't be taken away by the government; only 9%
strongly disagree.*

*            93% believe that it is still important to acknowledge that our
rights come from our Creator today; only 3% disagree.*

* *

We have a choice between two hypothetical candidates, one who believes that
most of the problems our country faces are because America is no longer as
religious and moral as it once was, and a second candidate who believes that
religion and morality have little to do with America's problems and that our
problems are a result of changes in the economy, war, public education, and
other issues; the American people choose the candidate of religion and
morality *by* *65% to 30%.* This choice is rooted in a deeper understanding
of how relevant our Founding Fathers and their values are to
twenty-first-century America.



To reinforce this belief in traditional American beliefs, values, and
history, consider the results of a choice between a candidate who believes
that statements regarding religion and morality made by the Founding Fathers
don't have much to do with America today, and a candidate who believes that
statements regarding religion and morality made by the Founding Fathers are
just as important today as they were two hundred years ago. The American
people favor a candidate who respects the lessons of the Founding Fathers *by
86% to 12% over the secular candidate.*

* *

Given a choice between a candidate who believes the best way to protect
religious freedom is to protect all religious references and symbols,
including those on public buildings, lands, and documents, and a candidate
who believes the best way to ensure religious freedom is to remove all
religious reference and symbols, Americans *by 81% to 14% *pick the
candidate who would protect religious symbols.



I strongly agree with those who believe America's roots are to be found in
the endowment of our Creator. I wrote *Rediscovering God in America* (also
now available as a *DVD* walking tour of Washington that my wife, Callista,
and I co-host) to prove that from the Declaration of Independence ("we are
endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights") to the Constitution
(signed in "the Year of our Lord") to the great leaders of America, most
Americans are right and those who insist on anti-religious bigotry are
simply wrong.



Yet if a massive majority (averaging between 80 and 90% support on question
after question after question) recognizes the important role of religion and
morality in our public life, then why does this majority keep losing to an
anti-religious Left with a hard core of only 3 to 9%? The answer is found in
the deliberate strategy of the Left in using the law and the courts to
impose on America what they could never win in elections, which I address in
more detail in Chapter Thirteen.





*NOTE**:  *Well, there you have it! The above is from Chapter Three, "An
Unreformed Left" pp. 37-42. It is taken from Newt Gingrich's latest book
published this year entitled, *"REAL CHANGE" – From the World that Fails to
the World that Works.*

* *

Both Marie and I are fed up in our country with "The Tyranny of the
Minority" – the 3 to 9% who use the deliberate strategy of the law and the
courts to impose on America what they *could never win *in elections.



Every thinking, concerned and responsible person in America should purchase
or check out from the Library and read Newt Gingrich's latest book. It has
the savor of Reality. It has the savor of Hope. It has the savor of
practical solutions to turn our country around and rescue it from the
bigoted tyranny of the hard-core 3-9%.



Jim & Marie Watt









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