Letter: Republican, religious values in conflict

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

I learned in college the difference between Democrats and Republicans - the Democrats believe they are their brother's keeper as they fight for health care reform and job benefits, and the Republicans believe they are not their brother's keeper as they fight for tax cuts and benefits for the wealthy. What is so strange about this to me is that the religious right has aligned itself with the Republican Party. How can people be so religious without regard to their fellow persons?

This "I am not my brother's keeper" line of thinking is personified by the Republican Party's refusal to vote for any new taxes and to vote for tax cuts that benefit the very rich. With these tax cuts come cuts in programs that benefit the poor and the needy.

This situation is compounded when the poor and the needy are asked disproportionately to pay for the rising national debt as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I am sure there are other issues that separate Democrats from Republicans, but I don't hear the religious right being as outraged and vocal about this issue as they are about these other issues such as Roe v. Wade, stem cell research and gay rights.

Thomas A. Pope, Las Vegas