The State of The Party

I am, each day, becoming significantly disillusioned with my Republican Party. What has become of the party which I once loved so much? A series of betrayals, rampant religious fundamentalism, and, quite frankly, idiotic stances on 'the issues' have led me to a position that I do not relish. Disillusionment is not a state in which to live and certainly not one I favor. It is my firm belief that, in order for the Republican Party to recover the many things it has lost (the respect of the nation and party dignity), there must occur a radical renovation of party ideals and concepts. The loss of the election this year was no accident. My party has fallen into the greatest evil available to it. My party, once a proud defender of liberty and equality, has fallen into religious fundamentalism and social disgrace.
First, the social aspect of the Republican party must see gigantic overhaul in order for the party to draw more (much needed) voters into the fold. The Republican stances upon gay marriage, stem cell research, and abortion are borderline barbaric and its adherents horrifyingly backwards. How is the issue of gay marriage any different than old question of emancipation for African Americans? The emancipation of the African Americans was, one must remember, actually brought to fruition BY the Republicans once upon a time. What has happened to that fundamental love of freedom, liberty, and rights? The Republican and Democratic Parties should never have been divided along the lines of fundamental human rights. We are, as Enlightenment philosophers stated, all endowed with certain inherent rights. Why then have some of those rights (ie. happiness and liberty) become divided along political lines, should they not be inherent in all political parties? It is a failure not just of the Republican party, but American politics in general, that allowed such rights to be split into political camps. And it is this failure that I will not soon forget.
Second, my hapless party has fallen into religious fundamentalism. This is an irritating, though not entirely unexpected fault. Since much of the Republican base comes from the deeply religious south it comes as no surprise that religion would leak into politics. However, this is simply not acceptable to any degree. The founding fathers and even the Enlightenment philosophers before them realized that religion and government must remain separate in order to maintain cohesive and fluid action. Religion dirties and distorts political reason. While religion is perfectly acceptable (even, at times, necessary) outside of politics it has no value in determining the political doctrine of a country, if only for the reason that religion does not provide sound (reasoned) justification for policy.
While there are many faults to the Republican party I remain a card carrying member. While I may not support some of my party's more ridiculous social policies, I can claim no aversion to the death penalty, the right to bear arms, laissez-faire capitalism, and the damnation of a universal health care plan. Despite all of its many failings, I find that, more often that not, I agree with a Republican far more often than I do with a Democrat. However, I am worried that without radical change (a word that has now been improperly cliched by the Obama administration) my party will never regain the respect of the public and never again be able to achieve power in any branch of government. I hope, for the sake of the party, that the Republican leaders can reexamine their stance upon issues and find innovative ways to integrate the political moderates or risk a total collapse of the Right.