>Even if that's true -- and I think it's at best a rather reductionist
>reading -- haven't we recently agreed that the motives for holding a
>position are no guide to the truth of that position?
You & Carrol Cox have established that; I'm not entirely convinced myself.
But I don't get what you see as "reductionist" about my assertion. Polls show evangelical Christians to be about evenly divided on the issue, with the rest of the pop heavily in favor of pulling the plug (I've appended excerpts from the ABC poll I posted the other day for detail). So it's a minority of a minority. And as for the Bush & DeLay's motives - you've got to be kidding if you think they're anything but a bunch of opportunistic poseurs.
Doug
>The public, by 63-28 percent, supports the removal of Schiavo's
>feeding tube, and by a 25-point margin opposes a law mandating
>federal review of her case. Congress passed such legislation and
>George W. Bush signed it early Monday. That legislative action is
>distinctly unpopular: Not only do 60 percent oppose it, more, 70
>percent, call it inappropriate for Congress to get involved in this
>way. And by a lopsided 67-19 percent most think the elected
>officials trying to keep Schiavo alive are doing so more for
>political advantage than out of concern for her or for the
>principles involved.
>GOP GROUPS - Views on this issue are informed more by ideological
>and religious views than by political partisanship. Republicans
>overall look much like Democrats and independents in their
>opinions. But two core Republican groups - conservatives and
>evangelical Protestants - are more divided: Fifty-four percent of
>conservatives support removal of Schiavo's feeding tube, compared
>with seven in 10 moderates and liberals. And evangelical
>Protestants divide about evenly - 46 percent are in favor of
>removing the tube, 44 percent opposed. Among non-evangelical
>Protestants, 77 percent are in favor - a huge division between
>evangelical and mainline Protestants.
>
>Conservatives and evangelicals also are more likely to support
>federal intervention in the case, although it doesn't reach a
>majority in either group. Indeed, conservative Republicans oppose
>involving the federal courts, by 57-41 percent.
>
>Conservatives and evangelicals hold these views even though most
>people in both groups - 73 and 68 percent, respectively - say that
>if they personally were in this condition, they would not want to
>be kept alive.
>
>Regardless of their preference on the Schiavo case, about two-thirds
>of conservatives and evangelicals alike call congressional
>intervention inappropriate. And majorities in both groups, as in
>others, are skeptical of the motivations of the political leaders
>seeking to extend Schiavo's life.