The Family Research Council (FRC) - which bills itself as a pro-family Christian organization - has issued their voter's guide. It is important to note that in reality the FRC is a conservative political organization and not a religious body.
What they consider "family values" is often the opposite of what millions of Christians across the United States consider moral.
Their guide, which is being distributed over the web and in churches across Oregon and the nation, ranks candidates and according to them 6 out of 7 members of Oregon's Congressional delegation are 100% anti-family.
What did Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Wu, DeFazio, and Schrader do to earn their "anti-family values" label?
They voted for health care reform that cuts costs and expands coverage for tens of millions of Americans, voted to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, voted to protect the right of women to make their own health care decisions and voted for hate crimes legislation to protect people from violent assaults and even murder.
Wyden and Merkley added insult to injury (from FRC's point of view) by voting to confirm President Obama's nominees to the Supreme Court and even had the gall to vote for legislation that would require groups that spend money on political campaigns to disclose their donors!
The truth is that Wyden, Merkley, Blumenauer, Wu, DeFazio, and Schrader voted for the common good. As a minister, I strongly dispute the Family Research Council's assertion that these votes were in any way anti-family. In fact, many of the votes taken by these members of Congress were ones recommended by Christian and Jewish national organizations - like the National Council of Churches USA and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
I commend these Oregon leaders for their wisdom, compassion, and family values. No, I don't agree with them all the time (Schrader's support for the NRA is quite troublesome, for example) but these are people of integrity.
Oregon's U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, for the record, received a 75% positive rating from FRC. I don't consider him to be "anti-family values" because he disagrees with me on public policy issues. We just have different views on important matters.
