You can't make this stuff up. From today's NY Times:

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September 24, 2004
Republicans Admit Mailing Campaign Literature Saying Liberals Will Ban the
Bible
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to
residents of two states warning that "liberals" seek to ban the Bible. It said the
mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush.

The mailings include images of the Bible labeled "banned" and of a gay
marriage proposal labeled "allowed." A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: "This
will be Arkansas if you don't vote." A similar mailing was sent to West
Virginians.

A liberal religious group, the Interfaith Alliance, circulated a copy of the
Arkansas mailing to reporters yesterday to publicize it. "What they are doing
is despicable,'' said Don Parker, a spokesman for the alliance. "They are
playing on people's fears and emotions."

In an e-mail message, Christine Iverson, a spokeswoman for the Republican
National Committee, confirmed that the party had sent the mailings.

"When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people
in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws,
same-sex marriage became an issue,'' Ms. Iverson said. "These same activist
judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance."

The mailing is the latest evidence of the emphasis Republicans are putting on
motivating conservative Christian voters to vote this fall. But as the
appeals become public, they also risk alienating moderate and swing voters.

An editorial on Sept. 22 in The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia, for
example, asked, "Holy Moley! Who concocts this gibberish?"

"Most Americans see morality more complexly," the editorial said. "Many think
a higher morality is found in Christ's command to help the needy, prevent war
and pursue other humanitarian goals. Churchgoers of this sort aren't likely
to believe childish allegations that Democrats want to ban the Bible."

In statement, Senator John Edwards, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee,
said President Bush "should condemn the practice immediately and tell
everyone associated with the campaign to never use tactics like this again."

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
called the mailings an ugly contrast to Mr. Bush's public statements. Although
the president has called for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex
marriage, he often emphasizes the need for tolerance as well.

"The president takes more or less the high road and his henchman and allies
on the right have been let loose to conduct these ugly, divisive smear
campaigns," Mr. Foreman said. "It is wedge politics at its worst."

In any event, the Bush campaign appears confident about its religious appeal.

The mailing seeks to appeal to conservative evangelical Protestant pastors
and political leaders who say they worry that legal rights for same-sex couples
could lead to hate-crimes laws that could be applied against sermons of Bible
passages criticizing homosexuality.

Conservative Christian political commentators often cite the case of Ake
Green, a minister in Sweden who was jailed in June for a month for a sermon
denouncing gays as sinful.

Mr. Parker, of the Interfaith Alliance, said, "I think it is laughable to
think that someone could be arrested for reading out loud from the Bible.''

But Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of
the Southern Baptist Convention, argued, "We have the First Amendment in this
country which should protect churches, but there is no question that this is
where some people want to go, that reading from the Bible could be hate
speech."

Still, Mr. Land questioned the assertion that Democrats might ban the whole
Bible. "I wouldn't say it," he said. "I would think that is probably stretching
it a bit far."

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Wirt Atmar

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