Posted by Helen on: 11.06.2008 /
I thought this was interesting (h/t Randy Birkey). The lighter the state color, the higher percentage of self-identified evangelicals voted for McCain.
Click here to see what percentage of voters self-identified as evangelicals in each state and what percentage of those voted for each candidate.
Comment by: Elaine
1 11/6/08 9:16 AM | Comment Link |Wow. I had someone call me and ask me about being an Evangelical and Born Again. I denied any association with those labels. I’m just a Christian.
A woman, I thought was my friend told me she didn’t understand how any “Christian” could vote for Obama. (No she didn’t see the contradiction in what she said. And I have not responded to her email as I can only think of mean things to say back to her…)
What do these numbers mean? I don’t know what they mean but I find it scary.
God has ordained the Republican Party??? really?
Can somebody help me with this?
Comment by: Peter Walker
2 11/6/08 1:57 PM | Comment Link |Elaine, my experiences have been exactly the same. I have a lot of Christians (family included) who are disappointed, angry, or simply baffled at how I vocally supported and voted for Obama.
“How can a Christian vote for Obama?”
My response is always, “That’s weird. I was a conservative fundamentalist. Then Jesus changed everything. I’m liberal because the Holy Spirit convicted me of everything I once was.”
BTW, Pentecostals get REALLY pissed when you say the “Holy Spirit” made you liberal. I think for them it’s akin to calling Jesus gay…
Comment by: no offense
3 11/6/08 4:40 PM | Comment Link |Elaine, it’s all in the terminology…
As your remarks pointed out, you were uncomfortable with the ‘e-word’ as a label. We are quickly moving into a cultural milieu with radically different terminology and means of self-definition.
It is not that Christians voted Republican. It is that certain kinds of Christians (evangelicals) voted Republican.
Comment by: Elaine
4 11/6/08 5:42 PM | Comment Link |no offense,
thanks for your insight. that is helpful to think about…everything else is changing and I certainly am feeling more and more disconnected from the church of my parents…and I’m 60. Can’t even imagine if I were in my 20s. :)
Having had the opportunity to meet and talk with David Kinnaman tells me the younger generation is certainly defining their world…and it would seem I am too.
Peter,
what a great idea - I’ll blame it on on the Holy Spirit. :) who can argue with that?
Comment by: JG
5 11/9/08 11:49 PM | Comment Link |Whilst fully acknowledging the issue and problem, the phrase, lies, damned lies and statistics comes to mind.
1) I haven’t seen figures for all the states combined but clearly a substantial number of evangelicals voted for Obama albeit low in percentage terms.
2) What is an evangelical?
3) If “evangelicals” throughout the world had voted, I wonder what the result would be.
4) When voting, you are limited to two choices, McCain or Obama. When voting, someone may feel positive about both candidates. Alternatively they may feel very negative about both candidates and be voting for one despite strong strong reservations about the candidate.
The election vote tells me a lot about America and about the church scene in America. It doesn’t however tell me much about true Christian faith or about God.
I’m excited about Obama’s victory. It is a fresh start and America’s popularity around the world has soared. But we need to wait and see what the long term consequences are of this victory.
Such is the unpopularity of George Bush, it is surprising that McCain did as well as he did. Is Obama the right person to lead America? I hope so. But he is a human being with strengths and weaknesses like every previous President and like every other human being. We will have to wait and see.
In the meantime there will be a honeymoon period.
Comment by: Jason Horton
6 11/9/08 11:52 PM | Comment Link |I think it shows that Republicans are better at using religion to grab votes. I find that somehow disturbing that religion should get mixed up so much with politics. Churches should not endorse political candidates, in fact I belief that they risk losing their tax exempt status if they do.
If people in America want to live in a theocracy I suggest they look to nations that have had no separation of church and state to see how that works out. I don’t even mean some of the Middle Eastern nations. I mean look at England. 500 years with the monarch as head of the church has made vast numbers of people reject religion all together, something like 40% have no faith.
Voting along religious opinion breeds an undercurrent of discontent. Those who disagree with party policy grow to disagree with religion, causing people to reject both the party and the faith. The separation of church and state protects both, something that some Republicans don’t seem to grasp.
Comment by: no offense
7 11/10/08 10:30 AM | Comment Link |Jason, Separation of Church and State hardly means that religion has nothing to do with public life or public policy, it seems you are saying exactly that. Is that what you are saying?
Comment by: Elaine
8 11/10/08 10:32 AM | Comment Link |Jason,
I think you are right about Republicans are better at using religion to grab votes. However, it is scary to me that there are those who equate Christian with being Republican. I also saw the Republicans define who is an “American”. Their definition leaves out a lot of people.
Yes, I agree making any country a theocracy is a bad idea. Considering one of the issues the USA was founded on was religious freedom…well, you can see where that goes.
JG -
I’m not yet sure what the recent election tells you about America and the church scene.
What I saw was one party using the divide and conquer method - pitting people against each other - and using fear. Promoting self-interest over national interest…
I think a contributing factor to Obama’s success was his ability to bring a diverse group of people together for the common good and inspiring hope in what might be.