Negotiation, concession, and compromise are all critical in the politics of a liberal democracy because politicians in such a state all represent divergent interests and values. It's not legitimate to use the power of the state to enforce the religious beliefs and doctrines of any one group; unfortunately, religious believers are losing their willingness to compromise, both generally and on specific issues.

Americans United reported back in March, 2005 on a poll done by Public Agenda::

The poll, conducted by the non-partisan research group Public Agenda, found 63 percent of weekly church-goers agreeing with the statement that “Even elected officials who are deeply religious sometimes have to make compromises and set their convictions aside to get results in government.” That figure was down from 2000, when 82 percent of regular church-goers agreed with it.

Support for political compromises has dropped over the entire American public, but the drop among weekly church-goers is sharper and more pronounced. In addition to being less willing to support political compromises generally, they are also less willing to support compromises on specific issues:

On specific issues, regular church-goers see even less need for compromise. In 2000, 51 percent of weekly church attendees cited the need to compromise on abortion. That number is now down to 32 percent. The figure for gay rights was 57 percent in 2000; it now stands at 39 percent.

Support for political compromise dropped 7 percent among Catholics, 12 percent among non-evangelical Protestants and 16 percent among evangelicals.

Without compromise, the politics of a liberal democracy simply cannot work. Either there is gridlock, which means that nothing at all gets done, or a thin majority of one political position manages to abuse its power and push through its agenda without any regard for the sizable numbers who disagree with it. Use of this tactic is justified through appeals to "majority rule," appeals which completely ignore the fact that a real democracy does not run roughshod over minority interests.

It is this latter option which American conservatives in the Republican Party have opted for. In the past, willingness to compromise was accepted as part of the political process; today, unwillingness to compromise has become at least as common. Since voters themselves support the principle of political compromise in decreasing numbers, conservatives are less likely to have to a pay a political price for their abandonment of democratic traditions.

The long-term consequences of this strategy cannot be treated as anything other than a loss for the liberal democratic process. Tyrannical rule by the party which has managed to eke out a majority in Congress is a recipe for disaster, no matter which party it is. A democracy requires the participation of all citizens; in a representative democracy, this means participation of all the representatives of those citizens — not just those who voted for the majority party, but also those who voted for the minority party.

Excluding minority parties and refusing to compromise is a sign that one doesn't really accept democracy.

 

Read More:

• Godless Liberalism
• Godless Political Notes
• Godless Constitution
• Christian Nationalism & Anti-Semitism
• Christianism & Christian Nationalism