to the editor: re <u+201c> in defense of the religious right ,<u+201d> by ross douthat (column, oct. 16): as the granddaughter of an evangelical pastor, i am numbed by the hypocrisy of this group and the candidacy of donald trump. always quick to condemn the sexual behavior of others in the past, evangelical leaders have chosen to look the other way regarding the outrageous sexual behavior of their candidate. in the apparent hope that a trump supreme court will finally make all abortions illegal in this country, they have willingly signed on with a candidate who sexually degrades and humiliates women. no matter which way you slice it, women cannot win with this bunch. darlee crockett la jolla, calif. to the editor: ross douthat writes about politics as if the religious right is and has been the only home for christians. new york<u+2019>s great liberal senator, robert wagner, was born an ordinary german, married irish and was buried catholic. some of us still see his work <u+2014> social security, labor and racial justice <u+2014> as the secular expression of the great papal encyclical, <u+201c>rerum novarum.<u+201d> perhaps the democrats of today no longer have a place for us, but as i hear from my relatives and college friends, it is fair to say that we are still closer to wagner<u+2019>s vision for america than we are to mr. douthat<u+2019>s, and that donald trump is anathema. james f. mcmanus iii phoenix to the editor: ross douthat thinks that religious conservatives are needed. but the rigid religious longing for and insistence on a return of bygone days and ways, coupled with a maddeningly plastic embrace of an irreligious candidate who fails any reasonable test of responsible ethical and moral standards, shows how much harm they can do, not how needed they are. indeed, as fanatics of every stripe seem intent on proving, when a deity is perceived to be on their side, horrific actions are made defensible. if one historical figure religious conservatives recognize were around today, he might say it<u+2019>s time to drive the religious from the temple of democracy. john clark warren, n.j. to the editor: i can<u+2019>t think of two more contemporary defenders of christianity<u+2019>s bedrock beliefs than ben carson and jerry falwell jr., mentioned by ross douthat in his column. in contrast, the column underscores the dilution of every judeo-christian belief by a political community called america. we are no longer a country of religious believers as extolled by de tocqueville in his masterpiece, <u+201c>democracy in america.<u+201d> we<u+2019>ve succumbed to an apostate electorate, what plato<u+2019>s <u+201c>republic<u+201d> called democracy<u+2019>s next step, a tyranny of the masses. terence o<u+2019>flanagan rockville centre, n.y. to the editor: as we left a funeral the other day, i asked my uncle, a catholic priest, what the bishops were doing about this election. i asked because i used to argue with my father about his votes for president. <u+201c>the bishops tell me my soul is in danger if i vote for a democrat who supports abortion,<u+201d> my father would say. <u+201c>so it<u+2019>s o.k. to vote for someone who believes in the death penalty but not abortion?<u+201d> was my retort. the last democrat he got to vote against was bill clinton. and my dad was a democrat. my uncle the priest told me that the bishops still believe that abortion is the gravest sin (he disagrees), but that this year they were telling their flocks to listen to their consciences. either these old men have finally seen a republican too vile and repugnant to endorse, or the nuns on the bus have really won the hearts and minds of american catholics. robert laughlin denver a version of this letter appears in print on october 24, 2016, on page a20 of the new york edition with the headline: the religious right and the election. today's paper | subscribe
the religious right and the election
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