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'Raw Politics': Religious right leaning toward Democrats?
http://www.cnn.com/ 2008/ POLITICS/ 05/ 11/ dems.religion/ index.html?eref=rss_mostpop...
For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing.
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Religious Right Leaning Towards Democrats?
http://holycoast.blogspot.com/2008/05/religious-right-leanin...CNN has a story that I'm highly skeptical of: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the
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Evangelicals For Obama?
http://www.oldmanmccain.com/2008/05/evangelicals-for-obama.h...Two recent news pieces have caught my eye, both indicating that Christian evangelicals may be supporting the idea of an Obama presidency, but for radically different reasons. On one side you have evangelicals who, like the rest of us, are sick of the Republicans: For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage -- wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing.... For Democrats, the timing is good. The party has been pushing to overcome the "faith gap," that many feel has hurt them with church-going voters. The WSJ is even more explicit: If he’s the nominee, Obama has a real chance at winning substantial evangelical support. First, evangelicals are in a period of de-alignment from the Republican Party. The leading evangelical pollster George Barna found that only 29% of “born again” Christians now say they support Republicans, compared with 62% in 2004. That doesn’t mean they’ll flock to Democrats -– they could end up voting Republican just as much ever -– but large numbers are up for grabs. But Robert Novak thinks there could be another portion of the evangelical vote who crave an Obama presidency in much the same way they crave an all-out bloodbath in the Middle East -- because it might hasten the apocalypse: One experienced, credible activist in Christian politics who would not let his name be used told me that Huckabee, in personal conversation with him, had embraced the concept that an Obama presidency might be what the American people deserve. That fits what has largely been a fringe position among evangelicals: that the pain of an Obama presidency is in keeping with the Bible's prophecy. According to this activist, at the heart of the let-Obama-win movement is longtime Virginia conservative leader Michael Farris -- the nation's leading home-school advocate, who is now chancellor of Patrick Henry College (in Purcellville, Va.) for home-schooled students. Best known politically as the losing Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1993, Farris is regarded as one of the hardest-edged Christian politicians. He is reported in evangelical circles to promote the biblical justification for an Obama plague-like presidency. Now this is just batshit loony, but if true it wouldn't bode well for McCain. You see, unlike George W. Bush, McCain is not a very religious guy. He doesn't talk about his faith, he doesn't even know if he's an Episcopalian or a Baptist, he's denounced (and re-embraced) Falwell and Robertson, and he just doesn't have a lot of cred with evangelicals. That's why he can't distance himself from Hagee or Rod Parsley -- it would be another slap in the face to the lunatic fringe of the Republican base. But if these same evangelicals split away from McCain because they think an Obama presidency is God's will, he's in trouble. I don't remember any talk like this in 2004, because evangelicals loved Bush and thought HE was God's chosen one. If they start thinking Obama is the chosen one (albeit for less favorable reasons), then they might just stay home in November and let His will be done. Evangelicals composed one third of Bush's vote in 2004. If McCain can't keep them together, he'll lose the election. And right now there are signs that evangelicals could be hemorrhaging from both sides.
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are pigs flying?: the religous right leaning to obama?
http://churchgalposts.blogspot.com/2008/05/are-pigs-flying-r...are pigs flying?: the religous right leaning to obama? via Jack & Jill, this article seems to posit that the Religious Right is cracking up and the flotsam are breaking for Obama. my first reaction was to go, Hmm. Really?? a few months ago, we saw the Religious Right (R2) go slightly nuts with their rejection of Romney, their pragmatic shunning of true-blue, 'not electable' fundamentalist Huckabee and their reluctant embrace of McCain. but does that mean the R2 is going for Obama? i'd say no. rather, what this article demonstrates is that the term 'evangelical' is just as diverse as the term 'progressive.' (as this primary season has demonstrated, there are schisms and fractures all over the liberal/progressive community. class, racial, sexual orientation and religious differences have uncovered a shifting and discomfitted coalition that hasn't had to face the fact in a very long while that not everything is about holding hands and singing Kum Ba Ya, you know?) there are an emerging group of evangelicals (like Jim Wallis) who, rather than focus on hot button issues like abortion and homosexuality or whether or not dinosaurs existed, tend to look at other 'values' issues like the care of the earth, the treatment of the poor, war, or human rights issues (like trafficking, immigration, rape in the Congo and Darfur, genital mutilation, etc.) through a lens that we would say is more 'progressive' than their counterparts in the R2. but i'd be very comfortable in saying they don't represent the R2. who's the Religious Right? look at james dobson, hagee, and the current leader of the southern baptist convention. that's the religious right. and there is no way in frakking hell their constituents are going to break for the Dems. i'd say this group the article, and the other links in the Jack & Jill post, describe moderate evangelicals. these are evangelicals who believe in actively spreading the gospel (as well as the power and necessity for conversion) by focusing on issues that can make the most impact on a person's life now, rather than later. with issues like poverty and the environment, they're not necessarily already preaching to the choir about issues that are 'easy' rallying cries for those already hanging out inside the fundamentalist clubhouse . these are folks who just built a different clubhouse - same tree, different branch. can the Dems depend on this emerging moderate evangelical bloc? no. well, maybe the Dems can depend on these folks for those issues that speak to a moderate evangelical sensibility - like AIDS, global poverty, war/peace, the environment, or human rights (outside of abortion and/or gay rights, unless the Dems can find a way to message reproductive justice and gay rights as part of human rights, or social justice, issues. which they haven't successfully been able to do for the moderate evangelical crowd because the Dems just haven't taken the time), etc. (i keep drawing a line between moderate issues and hot button issues because i think those moderate evangelical issues are 'missionary' issues; you can build a nice youth trip or awareness raising campaign around these things. you can't necessarily do that around reproductive justice or gay rights without looking like, well, the Religious Right.) this isn't to say that i think moderate evangelicals don't belong under our progressive big tent. quite the contrary. but if the tradeoff is to give on some fundamental progressive issues, like abortion or gay rights, just to curry favor with some moderate evangelicals as part of a measly electoral strategy, then i'm more than wary. (and why is our first inclination to tradeoff, anyway? let other people tradeoff if they wanna vote for us!) and if the Dems really think it's going to be a good idea to climb up on that slippery slope and begin to couch our values in even stronger language of religion, then i wonder what kind of weed someone's smoking up there in Democratic headquarters. Jack and Jill Politics: Religious Right -leaning towards Democrats? The New Republic has an excerpt of Jeff Sharlet's The Family that will give anyone pause about the benefits of mixing politics with religion. [via The Revealer] Posted by ding
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Religious right leaning toward Democrats?
http://politikly.com/2008/05/12/religious-right-leaning-towa...For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution — the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage — wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. "Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. … a vision of public life in which people of all faiths — which, of course, means no faith — are free to enter and… http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/11/dems.religion/index.html?eref=rss_topstories cnn.com
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An Evangelical Shift?
http://captainnoble.blogspot.com/2008/05/evangelical-shift.h...An Evangelical Shift? An interesting article on CNN suggests that some evangelicals may be moving away from their close attachment to the Republican party and aligning themselves with Democrats. This comes as many Democrats - as seen in the Presidential race - are talking more openly about faith and religion in a positive way. For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage -- wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing. "Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. ... a vision of public life in which people of all faiths -- which, of course, means no faith -- are free to enter and engage public life on the basis of their faith," said evangelical leader Os Guinness. I am not sure exactly what to think of this. On the one hand, I think it is good for evangelicals or anyone really to not align themselves with a single party. What happens when that party begins drifting from its core principles, e.g. the current Republican party? No, it is better to look at individual politicians. Now it may be that the individual politicians you vote for may typically come from the same party, but if they nominate a pol for a position that you disagree with on important issues, why would you vote for them? The fact that they belong to the "right party" is not good enough. If their opponent is worse on the issues, that is one thing; but if they are worse because they belong to the "wrong party," then it is ridiculous to not vote for them. I am also not sure about the Democrats talking more about religion. I have no problem with it if is genuine and honest, but if it is the typical political pandering then I don't want to hear about it. The conflation between politics and religion with the Republicans has been bad enough. Let me be clear that I have no problem with anyone's religious beliefs informing their decisions. What I have a problem with is when the two become one and the same and political office becomes a tool of the religious to wield against all who disagree with them. That is a problem. I do hope that more evangelicals break their firm ties to the Republican party and take a more balanced view of politics. That can only be a good thing for everyone. Posted by Captain Noble
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Courting the Religious Right?
http://www.faithfullyliberal.com/?p=1039There is an odd article from CNN that just came up on my rss feed stating: Religious right leaning toward Democrats? The article is wholly incomplete with only a possible scenario of evangelicals leaning towards Democrats in the fall because of a couple of issues such as AIDS, hunger and poverty. A little more depth on these issues and some prominent Evangelicals working on them might also help the article, but they don’t. Their question of religious right leaning towards Democrats is a false one at best. The religious right is a political movement; not a faith movement. It is defined by leaders like Tony Perkins and James Dobson. Perkins’ group Family Research Council denounced the recent Compassion Forum and stole this blog’s name to demean it. These kinds of leaders have no intention of switching allegiances. I mean they purposely distort the progressive faith’s words to advance their own agenda even when the person is trying to build a bridge on the issue. They just tear it down. Moderate evangelicals on the other hand could possibly be persuaded with the three above-mentioned issues. But you might want to throw in global climate change and the War in Iraq as another. These possible cross-overs are more likely to be followers of Rick Warren or TD Jakes. But I want to get back to the article here with its some people say type ending: Some staunchly conservative evangelicals are critical of the new approach. They are proud of the gains they have made through ties to conservative Republicans. And if Democrats want a share of their support, some political analysts say the Democrats will have to give something in return — a hotly-debated issue like abortion. First and foremost, if the supposed leaders of the religious right were concerned about abortion in terms of protecting the life of the unborn and not as a political football to be thrown around every election season then they would wise up to all the scientific evidence out there. You want to lower the number of abortions? Then we need comprehensive sex education in our schools. Study after study after study has proven that the only way to lower the number of unwanted pregnancies that often times ends in abortion is to have comprehensive sex ed. Not hard to get it through your head if you really wanted to do something about it. Then both sides of aisle could work together to lower the number of abortions. Pure and simple. Its not the Democrats who need to cave on this issue. It’s the Religious Right that needs to get over themselves and follow some sound science. Share This
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Religious Right -leaning towards Democrats?
http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/2008/05/religious-right-...From CNN.com:'Raw Politics': Religious right leaning toward Democrats? 'Raw Politics': Religious right leaning toward Democrats? By Tom Foreman CNN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage -- wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing. "Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. ... a vision of public life in which people of all faiths -- which, of course, means no faith -- are free to enter and engage public life on the basis of their faith," said evangelical leader Os Guinness. For Democrats, the timing is good. The party has been pushing to overcome the "faith gap," that many feel has hurt them with church-going voters. Candidates are appearing in more religious settings, and conversations. "What I try to do is as best I can be an instrument of His will," Sen. Barack Obama has said. "I obviously was fortunate to be able to rely on and be grounded in my faith which has been anchor for me throughout my entire life," Sen. Hillary Clinton has said. Mara Vanderslice of Common Good Strategies is part of that effort. "I think the biggest thing that we've done wrong is sort of say that we just want a separation of church and state and only speak about religion in terms of separation," Vanderslice said. Evangelicals are now leading public support for many issues dear to Democrats: global campaigns against AIDS, hunger and poverty. Watch how evangelicals are reaching out » Even Congressional Democrats can see the power of a partnership, according to the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Michael Cromartie. "I think there are genuinely religious people, obviously in the Democratic Party, who've said, you know, 'we need to stop toning down how our faith relates to public policy issues,' whether it's the environment or whether it's questions of the economy or war and peace," he said. "And we need to start framing our concerns in religious language so that it might appeal to religious believers in America." Now, this is interesting. A couple of months ago, I posted a link to Politicalinaction.com. The blogger there put forth the premise that the GOP attacks on Obama had little to do with race, but mostly to do with religion. This blogger said that the GOP understands that Obama is the first Democrat in decades, that reeks of being a true Christian, and not just one that babbles about it. That though Obama couldn't get the hard right evangelicals, we should remember that a nice slice of evangelicals left the GOP in 2006 because of all the scandals. That the YOUNGER evangelicals, especially, are not as rigid as their elders, and that someone like Obama could appeal to them. The supposition was - what would happen to the GOP if Obama was able to KEEP the evangelicals that left them in 2006, and just slice off a little bit more? Game.Set.Match for the Democrats up and down the line. I wrote this as a comment in a post down below, and but then went to The Daily Dish, which had a link about young evangelicals, which is why I put this forth in a main post. Money quotes from the article: Michael Dudley is the son of a preacher man. He's a born-again Christian with two family members in the military. He grew up in the Bible Belt, where almost everyone he knew was Republican. But this fall, he's breaking a handful of stereotypes: He plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama. "I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for," said Dudley, 20, a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University. Dudley's disenchantment with the GOP isn't unique among young, devoutly Christian voters. According to a September 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 15 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 29, a group traditionally a shoo-in for the GOP, say they no longer identify with the Republican Party. Older evangelicals are also questioning their traditional allegiance, but not at the same rate. ................................................................... But students at a recent bipartisan political union meeting at SPU say there's something more going on with young Christians than disenchantment with McCain. In an informal poll of the political union, the majority supported Obama. "I think it's a new movement starting," said Amy Archibald, 19, a sophomore at the evangelical school. "Most of us would never blindly follow the old Christian Right anymore. James Dobson has nothing to do with us. A lot of us are taking apart the issues, and thinking, 'OK, well, [none of the candidates] fits what I'm looking for exactly.' But if you're going to vote, you've got to take your pros with your cons." Eugene Cho, a founder and lead pastor at Seattle's Quest Church, which caters to a predominantly under-35 crowd, urges young Christians to look beyond the two or three issues that have allowed Christians to be "manipulated by those that know the game or use it as their sole agenda." "While the issue of abortion — the sanctity of life — must always be a hugely important issue, we must juxtapose that with other issues that are also very important," Cho wrote in his blog on faith and politics. Polls have shown that young Christians aren't any less concerned about the "family values" issues that have traditionally driven Christians to the Republican camp. (In fact, a study by the Barna Group, an evangelical polling organization, shows young Christians are actually more conservative on abortion than their elders.) It's just that they're also concerned about issues such as social justice and immigration, issues traditionally associated with Democrats. Judy Naegeli, 25, who works at a Christian philanthropy, says easy access to information about the world via social-networking sites, YouTube and blogs is the reason her generation is more concerned with social justice. "It's changed our perspective. ... Each generation chooses their cause, and ours is AIDs in Africa, or poverty or social justice," she said. You know you read stuff, and you go HMMMMMMM and then sit back and think about it, and it seems to make more sense? Just like that HuffingtonPost.com's 'Obama bankrupted Clinton in Pennsylvania' premise.... This ' Obama can appeal to the evangelicals' premise is something that I think we need to consider, which is the reason for a) the Muslim Smears b) why The Right went apecrazy over Jeremiah Wright The attempts to marginalize Obama as a Christian. Just some food for thought.
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Religious Right -leaning towards Democrats?
http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2008/05/religious-right-l...From CNN.com:'Raw Politics': Religious right leaning toward Democrats? 'Raw Politics': Religious right leaning toward Democrats? By Tom Foreman CNN Washington Bureau WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution -- the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage -- wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing. "Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. ... a vision of public life in which people of all faiths -- which, of course, means no faith -- are free to enter and engage public life on the basis of their faith," said evangelical leader Os Guinness. For Democrats, the timing is good. The party has been pushing to overcome the "faith gap," that many feel has hurt them with church-going voters. Candidates are appearing in more religious settings, and conversations. "What I try to do is as best I can be an instrument of His will," Sen. Barack Obama has said. "I obviously was fortunate to be able to rely on and be grounded in my faith which has been anchor for me throughout my entire life," Sen. Hillary Clinton has said. Mara Vanderslice of Common Good Strategies is part of that effort. "I think the biggest thing that we've done wrong is sort of say that we just want a separation of church and state and only speak about religion in terms of separation," Vanderslice said. Evangelicals are now leading public support for many issues dear to Democrats: global campaigns against AIDS, hunger and poverty. Watch how evangelicals are reaching out » Even Congressional Democrats can see the power of a partnership, according to the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Michael Cromartie. "I think there are genuinely religious people, obviously in the Democratic Party, who've said, you know, 'we need to stop toning down how our faith relates to public policy issues,' whether it's the environment or whether it's questions of the economy or war and peace," he said. "And we need to start framing our concerns in religious language so that it might appeal to religious believers in America." Now, this is interesting. A couple of months ago, I posted a link to Politicalinaction.com. The blogger there put forth the premise that the GOP attacks on Obama had little to do with race, but mostly to do with religion. This blogger said that the GOP understands that Obama is the first Democrat in decades, that reeks of being a true Christian, and not just one that babbles about it. That though Obama couldn't get the hard right evangelicals, we should remember that a nice slice of evangelicals left the GOP in 2006 because of all the scandals. That the YOUNGER evangelicals, especially, are not as rigid as their elders, and that someone like Obama could appeal to them. The supposition was - what would happen to the GOP if Obama was able to KEEP the evangelicals that left them in 2006, and just slice off a little bit more? Game.Set.Match for the Democrats up and down the line. I wrote this as a comment in a post down below, and but then went to The Daily Dish, which had a link about young evangelicals, which is why I put this forth in a main post. Money quotes from the article: Michael Dudley is the son of a preacher man. He's a born-again Christian with two family members in the military. He grew up in the Bible Belt, where almost everyone he knew was Republican. But this fall, he's breaking a handful of stereotypes: He plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama. "I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for," said Dudley, 20, a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University. Dudley's disenchantment with the GOP isn't unique among young, devoutly Christian voters. According to a September 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 15 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 29, a group traditionally a shoo-in for the GOP, say they no longer identify with the Republican Party. Older evangelicals are also questioning their traditional allegiance, but not at the same rate. ................................................................... But students at a recent bipartisan political union meeting at SPU say there's something more going on with young Christians than disenchantment with McCain. In an informal poll of the political union, the majority supported Obama. "I think it's a new movement starting," said Amy Archibald, 19, a sophomore at the evangelical school. "Most of us would never blindly follow the old Christian Right anymore. James Dobson has nothing to do with us. A lot of us are taking apart the issues, and thinking, 'OK, well, [none of the candidates] fits what I'm looking for exactly.' But if you're going to vote, you've got to take your pros with your cons." Eugene Cho, a founder and lead pastor at Seattle's Quest Church, which caters to a predominantly under-35 crowd, urges young Christians to look beyond the two or three issues that have allowed Christians to be "manipulated by those that know the game or use it as their sole agenda." "While the issue of abortion — the sanctity of life — must always be a hugely important issue, we must juxtapose that with other issues that are also very important," Cho wrote in his blog on faith and politics. Polls have shown that young Christians aren't any less concerned about the "family values" issues that have traditionally driven Christians to the Republican camp. (In fact, a study by the Barna Group, an evangelical polling organization, shows young Christians are actually more conservative on abortion than their elders.) It's just that they're also concerned about issues such as social justice and immigration, issues traditionally associated with Democrats. Judy Naegeli, 25, who works at a Christian philanthropy, says easy access to information about the world via social-networking sites, YouTube and blogs is the reason her generation is more concerned with social justice. "It's changed our perspective. ... Each generation chooses their cause, and ours is AIDs in Africa, or poverty or social justice," she said. You know you read stuff, and you go HMMMMMMM and then sit back and think about it, and it seems to make more sense? Just like that HuffingtonPost.com's 'Obama bankrupted Clinton in Pennsylvania' premise.... This ' Obama can appeal to the evangelicals' premise is something that I think we need to consider, which is the reason for a) the Muslim Smears b) why The Right went apecrazy over Jeremiah Wright The attempts to marginalize Obama as a Christian. Just some food for thought.
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Religious right leaning toward Democrats
http://rightsmart.blogspot.com/2008/05/religious-right-leani...READ: Religious right leaning toward Democrats A group of influential Christian leaders are declaring they are tired of divisive politics, tired of watching fights over some issues trump all the good they could be doing. "Our proposal in [our] manifesto is to join forces with all those who support a civil public square. ... a vision of public life in which people of all faiths -- which, of course, means no faith -- are free to enter and engage public life on the basis of their faith," said evangelical leader Os Guinness.
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Religious right leaning toward Democrats?
http://1southernillinoisprogressive.wordpress.com/2008/05/11...Religious right leaning toward Democrats? Posted on May 11, 2008 by 1southernillinoisprogressive For decades, evangelicals have been seen as solid supporters of the Republican Party. That could be changing. The religious right, a cornerstone of the so-called Reagan revolution — the battle over abortion law, and gay marriage — wants a change. At least some evangelicals do. read more | digg story Filed under: Uncategorized |
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