the problem with Republicans

I have been saying the same thing to anyone listening, namely my wife and friend Brandon. Kathleen Parker, one of my favorite Conservative writers, says this;

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that...

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle...

The young will get older, of course. Most eventually will marry, and some will become their parents. But nonwhites won't get whiter. And the nonreligious won't get religion through external conversion. It doesn't work that way...

Given those facts, the future of the GOP looks dim and dimmer if it stays the present course. Either the Republican Party needs a new base -- or the nation may need a new party.

Crunchy Con disagrees.

It is interesting for Christians to say that the very thing wrong with a political party is that Christians have too much power and sway over it. Like others, I worry about the future of the Republican Party (mostly because I think viable smart parties debating issues is a good thing, when both are led by reasonable people). I am scared that the purge of reasonable thinkers which has begun will continue until only "the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP," according to Parker is left. That is not a good thing for Americans, Christians, The Republican Party, Debate and discussion or foreign policy. It is especially bad for the church and the cause of Christ in the world.

While I think what ails the Republican party is not the Christian element. I think they are part of the problem and seem to think the Party must lurch Right to save itself. If that is the case, then Christians are not being scapegoated for what ails the Republican Party. My brothers and sisters are what is wrong with the Republican Party (even if they are not the cause of the problem). 

I would like them to leave it and start their own party of purity, initiating the destruction of the 2 Party system (for a little while) and the need for coalition government to get things done (which, ironically would be more "big tent").