Those of you who read this site know that I’ve been heavily promoting Ron Paul as a candidate for President in 2008. Until today all of my posts about him have been positive. But alas, I am not a fanboy. I heap praise when I like something, and I call attention when I see something that doesn’t look right.
Well, something doesn’t look right…
Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the ‘criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal. — Printed In Ron Paul’s Newsletter (but not written by him)
Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action. — Printed In Ron Paul’s Newsletter (but not written by him)
The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders’ political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. — Ron Paul
The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance. — Ron Paul
Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society, so all must yield to the fragile sensibilities of the few. The ultimate goal of the anti-religious elites is to transform America into a completely secular nation, a nation that is legally and culturally biased against Christianity. — Ron Paul
He’s also of the opinion that there is serious disagreement within the scientific community regarding global warming. I was under the impression that the only people disagreeing at this point are in denial.
I’m not abandoning Ron Paul, but these quotes definitely make me uncomfortable. The problem with the race quotes is that even if he has legitimate explanations for them they will still be used against him (very effectively) during the entire campaign. And that’s the last thing he needs when already fighting a nearly impossible battle.
The problem with the religion quotes is that as an atheist I think a largely secular society is the way to go, and he clearly disagrees very strongly. I do agree with him about maintaining Christian holidays and traditions within our country, but to me that’s not so much a religious issue as one of national identity and cohesion.
Either way, he has weaknesses. The only question for me (and for other potential voters) is whether those flaws are outweighed by his strengths. And according to my current tally I’m going to say that they are.
[ It’s now January 2012 and this post is more pertinent than ever. Whether or not he wrote the race content himself, he surely wasn’t unaware of the sentiments coming from his newsletters for all those years. But I think this is a much smaller issue than his views on church and state, regulation, education, evolution, etc. Despite his flaws, however, I’ve been inclined recently to think again that his strengths might simply be worth it. Here’s a recent post along those lines: https://danielmiessler.com/blog/fou-paragraphs-all-progressives-must-read-going-into-2012 ]
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