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As an Evangelical who more often than not votes Democratic, and certainly this year is voting so with relish and even joy, I am only moderately hopeful that the Republican/Evangelical marriage will end any time soon.
I've spent the past week or so writing laborous email responses to angry Christian friends who think I'm off the deep end for my blogged views ( http://bluechristian.blogspot.com ). Their reasons?
1. Obama cannot be trusted. (Sure. Like our Evangelical President today CAN be trusted?!? Obama's remarkable consistency in message and in character is a stunning contrast to his opponent's wobbling all over the place in both policy and presentation.)
2. It is a sin to vote for Obama. (I call this "playing the religious Ace," and it immediately earns the email a trip to my "junk" folder. One spam email forwarded by a friend was from a "Prophet" who took thousands of words to say he'd been warned by God to tell the Christian world that Obama was a Great Deceiver and a tool of Satan. Sigh.... Then there was Focus on the Family's / James Dobson's recent "prophetic" letter written by a fictitious character in 2012, describing the hellish America Barack Obama's election had caused... this letter is downright fascist stuff in my opinion.)
3. Obama is a baby-killer. (Uh...???? And the author of Roe v Wade was a Republican [Harry Blackmun], appointed by a Republican [Richard Nixon]. Ronald Reagan appointed two justices who *upheld* Roe v Wade when it came again before them -- as did Dubya's dad appoint one more who did the same in the Webster decision. In short, trying to end abortion on demand by electing Republican Presidents is a bit like trying to change a light bulb with a wrecking ball. I'm pro-life, but there's a whole lot we Evangelicals aren't willing to face about abortion -- starting with the fact that women are often oppressed within Evangelicalism itself. Before we can speak to abortion, I think we need to speak to feminism's legitimate critique of patriarchy. See http://cbeinternational.org for one great attempt at that project.)
4. Obama is a Muslim. (No, actually he's a self-professed born again Christian, and frankly as a Christian I'd say he's actually digested the bible and quotes it far more in context than I've heard others -- from Dubya to Bill Clinton -- do. Frankly, however, I'd like to see a faith lived so loudly that words weren't necessary... and on the political front, that's asking perhaps an impossibility. I'd also like Christians, and Americans, to stop demonizing Muslims everywhere for 9/11. It's stupid and xenophobic.)
5. Obama is a socialist. (Actually, no. Flippant response: So was Jesus. Longer response: Uh, after what the Bush administration just did re partially nationalizing our banks, you wanna talk socialism? Stop with the empty scare words.)
6. Obama is not one of us. (Who is "us" anyway? As a Christian who still -- despite everything -- believes he's in the Evangelical family, I do increasingly wonder what identity it is we Evangelicals see ourselves having. Too often, I think we are idolaters, having bought into an American mythology regarding a "sacred nation." I disbelieve in "America as God's Chosen People." That is, biblically speaking, a false paradigm. The People of God are not one and the same with any modern "nation-state," whether that nation be America or Israel.)
Conclusion: I have seen a hardening within Evangelical ranks against Obama. And it makes me very sad. Perhaps the Hispanic Evangelical movement, with a reported 60% going for Obama, will rescue us from ourselves. But I'm not confident about that. I think we're mean. And I'm sorry -- I apologize to all hurt here by my family, maybe even by me. If you're a praying sort, pray for us that we might reflect love instead of arrogance... for me, I see a scary similarity between George Bush and Evangelicalism itself.
Jon Trott/Chicago
