Lowell really set the stage for this interview in his posting, so I'll try to add my view. This was the first time either Lowell or I had gotten a chance to sit down with Mr. Moran for any length of time. I'll echo Lowell's impressions of Jim Moran. As Lowell said, "Jim Moran is a really, REALLY nice guy." That didn't surprise me, honestly.
What did surprise me was that Jim Moran, in addition to being well-informed and articulate, also has done a lot of the difficult spiritual work necessary to understand a broad range of viewpoints. At times he had insights that I found enlightening and that bordered on profundity. Before I'd had a chance to spend some time listening to Jim Moran, I had nearly forsaken the possibility that ideas like emotional maturity, spiritual development, religious tolerance, or even mutual political respect had any place on Capitol Hill, let alone candor.
Will wonders never cease?
Raising Kaine: [In 1994 Republicans became the House majority party, an event described as the "Gingrich Revolution" after former speaker Newt Gingrich. That election was nationalized by a group of policy initiatives called "The Contract with America". Fiscal Responsbility and Term Limits were leading tenants of the "Contract".]
Are the Representatives who came in with the "Gingrich Revolution" living up to the "Contract with America"?
Congressman Moran: "They have shown a higher level of hypocrisy than any group I'm aware of. I study Congressional history. There have been real scallywags. I don't know of any worse.
It's the hypocrisy that really bothers me. They came in promising to clean up and tear it down.
Ronald Reagan believed government was the problem, but he wasn't mean spirited.
I remember when they shut down the government in '95. It was so unfair to civil servants. These guys shut them down without thinking about it . They didn't care who'd get hurt. They finally came around when they started hearing from their constituents. People weren't getting their Social Security checks. People couldn't get into National Parks. It created chaos.
The tension was so intense.
Since then, they've been less publicly destructive, but privately used their power in ways that are just unprecedented. Our children and grandchildren will never be able to pay it off. They've put our kids future on a credit card while cutting the minimum payments."
Raising Kaine: Fiscal Responsibility was the first tenant of the "Contract". What about Term Limits?
Congressman Moran:"Just look at what they did up in Washington to (former Speaker of the House) Tom Foley. They threw him out based on term limits and then they elected George Nethercutt five times. They thought they were electing a new speaker."
Raising Kaine: We've seen scandals and abuse of power come out of Congress this year, largely around the issue of lobbying. Do you think lobby reform is really possible and what changes you support?
Congressman Moran:"In order to address lobby reform you have to go back to the principles of democracy. We should be held accountable at the polls. Every dime, every earmark must be transparent."
"The problem is money. Money equals power equals money". It's just how things work now.
"I think that we need to reduce campaign contributions to $100 per person, $200 per cycle across the board, no loopholes." Of course that would favor incumbents, but Mr. Moran thinks it's the only way to keep the money out. "Every time they make changes to keep money out of the system, loopholes let even more money in."
Raising Kaine: A friend of mine recently had a discussion with a Republican who said, "I wouldn't vote for Jesus Christ if he ran as a Democrat." The Republican party has abandoned a huge portion of it's traditional voters in a mad dash to the right. How can Democrats show disillusioned Republicans that there is a place for them in the Democratic party? And would you vote for Jesus Christ if he ran as a Republican?
Congressman Moran:"First of all, Yes. I would."
?When you talk about bringing Republicans over to the party, you have to start with a vision. The traditional Republican is a pragmatist; believes in the free market; believes in personal privacy; believes in individual liberty; believes there's a responsibility to give something back; believes in creating a legacy. Goldwater believed in those things. He had other issues, but the core Republican values are there.
Then you have to ask, 'Are we fulfilling the Vision of America?'
Cultural issues lost us the Reagan Dems. We lost the working class because they think we don't respect religion. It's important to show that you are spiritual."
Mr. Moran sees fundamental agreement in all of the major religions on what we really believe in. For example, if you look at Christianity, Judaism and Islam, they all stand on similar principles: ?Love, Compassion, Justice, Honesty, Non-Violence?.
"Spiritual rebirth goes back to fundamentals and our common spiritual foundation."
In the overlap of politics and religion today, Mr. Moran sees the dangers of Religious Domination. Deciding for others the way they should behave, disparaging others, dividing people. These are all anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, anti-Islam.
"The real spirit of religion is a left-wing concept,? Mr. Moran notes, then goes on to describe religious conservatism as an exploitation of spirituality because of the preeminent role of dogma. Mr. Moran gives the example of Shia and Sunni violence and dogmatic division. There's practically no difference between the spiritual beliefs of these groups, he argues. The fundamental division is over whether to follow the teachings of the most learned scholar of the time of the Prophet Mohammed or whether to follow his bloodline. To an external observer today the differences are as simple as how one group wears a beard or clothing or holds their hands, yet has lead to huge divisions and violence within Islam. Meanwhile, the spiritual fundamentals remain nearly identical.
Issues of dogma divide, issues of spirit unite. Mr. Moran believes ?We need leadership that talks about the foundation of spirituality, " not just to bring Republicans into the Democratic party, but to save the world from the tragedy of violent extremism.