From: Watch97@aol.com
Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 11:16:18 -0400
Subject: Must read!! TX letter on CC so-called "voter guides" 

EDITOR's NOTE: The attached letter to "c.c.watch" comes from a Texas citizen
who wants others to see how the Christian Coalition blatantly misuses its
so-called "voter guides" to support chosen candidates regardless of the
information provided to them and regardless of the interests of its members.
The CC banks on the notion that most people believe that "Christians tell the
truth"--part and partial of why they co-opted the word "Christian" in the
first place. Subsequently the CC will say and write whatever helps forward
their intorant, exclusive agenda knowing that most people are either too
complacent to challenge what they say/write--or else fearful that they will
be accused of "persecuting Christians." But here's a person who is willing to
step forward and tell the public exactly what happened to him as a Republican
candidate for Congress just weeks ago--- 

Dear "c.c.watch"--

I wanted to share with you my recent experience running for Congress in the
Texas 11th District, and specifically Christian Coalition actions that
unfairly characterized me and effectively put an end to my efforts to serve
my district.

I was, frankly, somewhat supportive of the Christian Coalition when I
announced.  I certainly did not regard them as the enemy.  I grew up in
Newport News, Virginia, and we lived about a half mile from where Pat
Robertson grew up.  I am a graduate of a Baptist high school and majored in
Religion at the College of William and Mary.  While I disagree with some of
the things the Christian Coalition wants to do, I had generally considered it
a good organization with worthy, if sometimes mistaken goals.

But during the recent primary, I discovered firsthand that there is no room
for disagreement with the Christian Coalition (CC).  Compromise is not part
of the agenda.  Nor is "educating" the public.  I believe that the Christian
Coalition is pursuing a course that is against the will of most people in the
Republican Party and the nation.  The CC is using a few "hot button" topics,
gross distortions, and a lot of intimidation to attempt to impose their will
on Congress and the nation.  I believe that most people do not understand the
comprehensive scope of the CC's agenda and their willingness to intentionally
distort the facts to "bully" representatives into submission.

During the election I sent out a press release regarding  the CC. The bottom
line is that they took the answers I provided to them on a 91-question survey
and used six of those answers to not only distort my position but to make me
look like something I am not.  It was unbelievable. This may seem like "sour
grapes" since I was eliminated on March 12th.  I wish I had won the primary.
 But if I was destined to lose and be villified for my ideas, I would at
least have liked the ideas I had to have been presented fairly by Christians
and fellow Republicans.

I believe that the problem with the CC is with the leadership.  Many of the
people who send them money and offer support do not understand that these
"leaders" will deceive them for political gain in a heart beat.  It seems
un-Christian and un-American to me.  I what people to understand what the CC
is all about and I hope that other Republicans will speak out.  I always
respected the Republican Party for speaking out about PC speech and its
violation of  the First Amendment.  I do not want to be part of replacing PC
speech with JC speech.

Within the Republican Party, it has become bad form to call someone an
extremist, regardless of his ideas; it has become increasingly acceptable to
criticize candidates as moderates, when they do not want to go as far or as
fast as you do.  Compromise is considered a sign of weakness and disloyalty.
 If the CC will not compromise, logic dictates that its goal must be to
control the party and destroy those that stand in its way.  Their goal is not
a Republican majority or a Republican president, but political control for
their ideas.

Thanks for your reports and updates. In my opinion they are quite accurate,
especially as regard the issue of "voter guides" and other CC partisan
political activity.  I generally don't believe in conspiracies, but I know
what happened here and I don't want it to happen in other places.

Yours truly,
Dave Jenkins
Copperas Cove, Texas

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