Did God Bring Down The GOP?

God has done some almighty smiting in the past and, given the results of this past presidential election, he/she/it may have just smited the GOP. Over at the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker says what I've been feeling for awhile.

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. [...]

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.

For whatever reason, right wing conservatives have relied on religion to back their position on abortion and stem cell research. Ultimately, these issues became synonymous with evangelicals and all the silly baggage that comes with. Instead of arguing from purely moral grounds, the GOP has allowed religion to become the gatekeeper for all morality and, subsequently, the de facto spokesman for select causes that sculpt the conservative identity. As Parker notes, the GOP sought to shore up its base to the exclusion of the vast middle. Inherent in this is the assumption that the middle would be swayed by the message of goodness and Godness. How could they not?

Yet more and more, society finds religion to be analogous to nudity - keep it at home, with the doors closed and the curtains drawn. No one wants to see it. Unless it's hot.

Hmmm...I think I just discovered a new moral standard.