It's hard for many here at dkos to get an understanding of the religious right. The mind set is quite different. Recently, I had a very bizarre conversation with a closet Democrat who hides her party affiliation to her fellow church members. Maybe my experience can give you some insight in how religion impacts political views.
Some might find my selecting Mother's Day to publish this diary to be bad timing. Christian churches will be honoring mothers everywhere today. That's a good thing, but it doesn't make up for the other 300 or so days of the year when they don't. This is a diary about a woman heavily involved in her faith and how it impacts how she sees herself in the world. After you read this, you might want to go hug a Mom.
This woman is a divorced mother of two and step mother of two more children. Her youngest is a teenager and her oldest is in her 40s. She has 6 grandchildren. She has a college degree, but due to multiple issues (some undiagnosed), she's never been able to gain and keep steady or well paid employment. Her exhusband is bi-polar and one of her children has an undiagnosed personality disorder. She's also a committed Evangelical Christian who doesn't have a filter. That said, she doesn't really get on your nerves. She takes the advice of Thumper's mom, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all".
Anyway, whatever you make of it, this is how the conversation went. I hope she has a lovely Mother's Day today and will be calling her later today. She needs a break.