{"id":303,"date":"2006-09-28T16:29:09","date_gmt":"2006-09-28T22:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/2006\/09\/when-evangelicals-draft-our-platform\/"},"modified":"2013-05-09T06:19:47","modified_gmt":"2013-05-09T12:19:47","slug":"when-evangelicals-draft-our-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/2006\/09\/when-evangelicals-draft-our-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"When Evangelicals Draft Our Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for Democratic
\nreligious outreach success stories, one of the first places you should start is
\nMichigan.\u00a0 Like many Democrats after the 2004 elections,
\nthe Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) realized that Democrats needed to change
\nthe way we were speaking and relating to the faith community.\u00a0 And they decided to make a priority of doing
\njust that.\u00a0 Over a year ago, the state
\nparty chair and other leading Michigan Democrats began holding small off-the-record
\nlistening meetings with pastors, priests, and lay leaders around the
\nstate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the past year, Michigan Democrats
\nmet with around 500 local Christian leaders and began to form relationships in
\ncommunities where they previously had no connections. \u00a0They made the meetings a scheduling priority,
\ntook notes, followed-up on questions and concerns, and made a serious effort to
\nactually listen and learn from the experiences.
\nOne immediate result of the meetings was that they helped energize and
\nmobilize members of the faith community who had traditionally voted Democrat
\nbut who had become disillusioned with a Party they felt was often hostile to
\nreligion and unable to articulate a clear vision.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But of equal, if not greater
\nimportance, the Party also began to form relationships with evangelical and
\nmoderate Catholic\/Protestant leaders who are not our normal base.\u00a0 These were the folks Democrats have been
\nwriting off for nearly a decade as solidly within the Republican camp.\u00a0 Yet time and again, one of the first things Democrats
\nwould hear when they arrived for the meetings is, \u201cWhere have you been all
\nthese years?\u00a0 We\u2019re glad you\u2019re finally
\nhere.\u201d\u00a0 As the MDP met with more and more
\nevangelicals, prejudices and preconceptions were broken down and both sides
\ncame to understand how much they had in common.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, the meetings went so well (and
\nthe MDP was so intent on continuing to engage) that the MDP decided to offer
\nthe participants in their meetings an opportunity to help draft the 2006 Party Platform<\/a>.\u00a0 The result is that the preamble to the Party
\nplatform and new \u201cFaith and Our Party\u201d section are based on language written primarily
\nby conservative evangelicals from parts of the state where the Party had virtually
\nno contacts a year ago.\u00a0 Based on the
\nsuccess of the platform, the MDP has now created a faith brochure<\/a> that they
\nare using for further outreach to people of faith.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrats and the faith community
\nhave both been enriched by this new relationship.\u00a0 The MDP was very intentional throughout this
\nprocess of ensuring that what they said in meetings and especially what was in
\nthe platform was an authentic representation of what they believed.\u00a0 This was not pandering.\u00a0 It was authentic and respectful engagement
\nthat bore incredible fruit.\u00a0 One thing
\nthat people of faith can bring to our Party (if we let them) is assistance in
\narticulating a vision and communicating what we believe to the American
\npeople.\u00a0 For thousands of years, our
\nfaith communities have thrived because of their ability to inspire their flock,
\nto convince people of the importance of believing in something greater than
\nthemselves, and to deliver a message of hope.
\nI\u2019ll close with a few excerpts from the new MDP platform that
\ndemonstrate what I\u2019m talking about.
\nEnjoy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the
\nPreamble<\/span><\/p>\n

America<\/em> has always been at its best when Americans ask not \u201cwhat\u2019s in it for
\nme,\u201d but \u201cwhat can I do to give back?\u201d
\nThe Michigan
\nDemocratic Party understands this basic principle. That is why Democrats in
\nthis state are seeking the Common Good \u2013 the best life for each person of this
\nstate. The orphan. The family. The sick. The healthy. The wealthy. The poor.
\nThe citizen. The stranger. The first. The last\u2026By holding ourselves to this
\nvision of the Common Good, Democrats have the integrity to deal with the
\nchallenges that face Michigan
\ntoday. We address Michigan\u2019s
\neconomic situation while holding the \u201cleast of these\u201d \u2013 our most impoverished,
\nour least advantaged \u2013 at the forefront of our minds. We address security
\nconcerns while holding the \u201cstranger\u201d \u2013 immigrants and our brothers and sisters
\nwho live abroad \u2013 in the highest respect. We address our health care needs
\nremembering the ill, the elderly, and the unemployed. In short, we do what is
\ndifficult, and we do what is right.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the
\n\u201cFaith and Our Party\u201d section<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout our country\u2019s history,
\npeople of faith have played a major role in many of the great reforms of
\nAmerican society, such as the abolition of slavery and the Civil Rights
\nmovement.\u00a0 Leaders of those reform movements-people like Abraham Lincoln
\nand the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-were inspired by faith and used
\nreligious terminology in advocating their causes, allowing them to appeal to
\nthe best aspects of our nature and to call our Nation to the better futures
\nthey envisioned\u2026At times, Democrats have struggled to strike the difficult
\nbalance between abiding by the Constitutional mandate to protect individuals\u2019
\nfreedom of religion while also preventing the establishment of state-supported
\nreligion.\u00a0 However, the central role faith plays in the lives of millions
\nof Americans, and millions of Democrats, cannot be ignored.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 If you\u2019re looking for Democratic religious outreach success stories, one of the first places you should start is Michigan.\u00a0 Like many Democrats after the 2004 elections, the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) realized that Democrats needed to change the way we were speaking and relating to the faith community.\u00a0 And they decided to make a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c20-campaign-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Evangelicals Draft Our Platform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  If you're looking for Democratic religious outreach success stories, one of the first places you should start is Michigan.\u00a0 Like many Democrats\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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