ELECTION 2004: God's country (This author really "gets it")

Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | 11/07/04 | Gayle White

[VRWCer]

ELECTION 2004: God's country Christians' support for Bush illustrates moral counterattack Gayle White - Staff Sunday, November 7, 2004

A maroon Ford Explorer making its way down I-85 Wednesday morning provided a rolling summary of the previous day's presidential election: A Christian fish symbol on the bumper, an American flag on the fender and, in the back window, an oval W '04 sticker.

God, country and George W. Bush.

Wednesday-morning quarterbacks poring over exit polls seemed surprised to find that "moral values" drove many people to vote for Bush, even if they were concerned about the economy and worried about the war in Iraq. Almost two-thirds of frequent churchgoers and three-fourths of people identifying themselves as evangelical Christians voted for Bush, according to exit poll data.

Those voters were undoubtedly mobilized by ballot measures in 11 states to ban same-sex marriage and by the hope that the next president will be able to scale back access to abortion through Supreme Court appointments. But those issues may have been more lightning rod than lightning --- galvanizing agents for a broader, deeper sense that America is losing is moral moorings.

It's not the war in Iraq that is uppermost on the minds of many conservative Christians. It's the culture war.

And they're feeling under attack. "Christmas vacation" has become "winter holidays" in the public schools, and Janet Jackson's bare breast interrupted a wholesome family supper in front of the Super Bowl.

"It goes basically to one's fundamental worldview and way of thinking," said Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. "The worldview of conservative Christians is fundamentally different than that of secular America. Those who stand where I stand feel like we're under assault from the secularists."

There has been evidence outside the ballot box that conservative Christians were fighting back --- and that their views appeal to a large segment of the American public.

"The Passion of the Christ," a film about Jesus' last hours and death on the cross made by Mel Gibson, a traditional Catholic, blew out the box office. Books such as Bruce Wilkinson's "The Prayer of Jabez" and Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" have consistently topped best-seller lists. Television shows such as "7th Heaven" and "Joan of Arcadia" that have religious underpinnings draw a solid audience. Gospel music in all its genres accounts for about $1 billion in annual sales in the United States. "Veggie Tales," Christian videos for children, became a huge industry. And Christian products moved out of the aisles of the "Christian" bookstore onto the shelves of Wal-Mart and Borders.

Behind some of this success are basic concerns: Three-quarters of those questioned in a recent poll by Barna Research, a California firm, said they do not feel children are being well prepared morally for life; more than four of five adults worry about the moral condition of the nation.

"I think the question that runs through people's minds is 'how far is too far?' " said the Rev. Dwight "Ike" Reighard, former president of the Georgia Baptist Convention who now heads the department of "people and culture" at HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. Each of Homebanc's 26 offices has a chaplain, and Reighard is in charge of them.

"It sounds good to say just let everybody do what everybody wants to do. But that's called chaos. You have to have rules in society. There has to be a central core set of values and ethics. For many people in the life of this country, that has meant Judeo-Christian teachings."

Starting, said Reighard, with the Ten Commandments.

The bully pulpit

Thus, when Judge Roy Moore of Alabama was removed from the bench for defying an order to remove a stone tablet of the Ten Commandments from the state Judicial Building, many Americans rose to his defense.

The president may not be able to control culture and prevent TV "wardrobe malfunctions," but he can speak out, said Akin of Southeastern Seminary.

"There's no question that bully pulpit is of enormous influence, regardless of who's in the White House," he said.

In his address to the nation after claiming victory Wednesday, Bush assured Americans he would "uphold our deepest values of faith and family."

The president's appeal to religious conservatives can't be entirely explained by either his stand on the issues or by what he says, said Nancy Eiesland, a sociologist of religion at Emory University. Many are drawn to him by their perception that he is, at heart, much like them.

The president, she said, doesn't seem to stew over ambiguities in the Scriptures or in the Christian faith. He expresses confidence in his religious beliefs and is willing to talk about them publicly.

He models an integration of belief and practice that appeals to many Americans of faith, said Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide, a Christian guide to entertainment. To them, Bush's political stance for limiting abortion seems logical in light of his claim that abortion takes a life. But Kerry's espousing of abortion rights, while claiming to adhere personally to Catholic teaching against abortion, rings hollow.

"If your values don't follow from your beliefs, then you're a hypocrite," said Baehr.

Wide base of appeal

The church-going coalition that helped catapult Bush into a second term is not definable by denomination, said Eiesland of Emory. It consists of members of traditional evangelical groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention, charismatic and Pentecostal Christians who believe in the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and miraculous healing, Hispanic and Asian Christians, and the more conservative elements of such denominations as the Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Some of those denominations have been struggling internally for decades with the same lightning-rod social issues that played out in the recent presidential campaign.

The message to the faith-and-values voters moved efficiently through a large network of Christian media, including radio, television, publishing and the Internet, and powerful organizations such as Focus on the Family and the Traditional Values Coalition.

"We spent the last year activating pro-life, pro-family religious Americans," said the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who saw the potential political power in the pews when he founded the now-defunct "Moral Majority" in 1979. "Because of the positions Bush has taken, he has been the beneficiary of most of that effort."

The reason many pundits were caught off guard by the uprising of this religious force is that many of the leftist intellectual elite have no interaction with the evangelical culture, Eiesland said.

In other words, they just weren't paying attention.

Gayle White, a longtime religion writer for the Journal-Constitution, covered the 2004 presidential campaign.

THE THINGS THAT MATTER Here, according to CNN exit polling data, are detailed voter profiles from Tuesday's election. Where possible, the charts list the comparison between President Bush's performance in 2000 and 2004. MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE (2000 comparison unavailable) Total......................Bush..Kerry Moral values (22%)..........80%....18% Economy/jobs (20%)..........18%....80% Terrorism (19%)............ 86%....14% Iraq (15%)..................26%....73% Health care (8%)............23%....77% Taxes (5%)..................57%....43% Education (4%)..............26%....73% VOTE BY RELIGION Total................Bush..2000..Kerry Protestant (54%).... 59%.... +3....40% Catholic (27%)...... 52%.... +5....47% Jewish (3%)..........25%.... +6....74% Other (7%).......... 23%....--5....74% None (10%).......... 31%.... +1....67% VOTE BY CHURCH ATTENDANCE (2000 comparison unavailable) Total......................Bush..Kerry More than weekly (16%)......64%....35% Weekly (26%)................58%....41% Monthly (14%).............. 50%....49% Few times a year (28%)......45%....54% Never (15%)................ 36%....62% ABORTION SHOULD BE . . . Total................Bush..2000..Kerry Mostly legal (34%)....38%....+0....61% Mostly illegal (26%)..73%....+4....26% Always illegal (16%)..77%....+3....22% POLICY TOWARD SAME-SEX COUPLES (2000 comparison unavailable) Total......................Bush..Kerry Legally marry (25%)........ 22%....77% Civil unions (35%)..........52%....47% No legal recognition (37%)..70%....29%

[wattsup]

It's not so much that we believe in God more than the Democrats it is that we decided that the Democrats were going to stop taking God away from us.

[tioga]

Amen.

[seawitch1918]

AMEN

[telder1]

Your comment is the routine of political unity speeches. It sounds both humble and powerful as an emotional widget. But the truth is that we do indeed believe in the true God, Jesus Christ, more than the Democrats. It is by the grace of God that we do and not of ourselves. But the Democrats have a fundamentally pagan, non-Christian outlook and have yet to be granted the grace we enjoy. Period. That is very plain. We begin 'healing' when they are born again as real, literal new creations in Jesus Christ and only then. We want true brotherhood with them in Christ. They want our extinction. That's it. That is all of history.

[bella1]

..the democrats have a fundamentally pagan, non-Christian outook....

So true. If anyone doubts what you say, just have them spend a few minutes over at Democraticunderground.com and see for themselves. Non-Christian outlook is putting it mildly.

[viaveritasvita]

Watts is that YOU!???? I'm mich from the old vote.com days, sweetliberty's friend.

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[YepYep]

Agreed. This author "gets it."

[Jumper]

Socialism trades government for the manna from God. Devoid of hope when the "G"overnment can not longer feed their needs and having no where else to turn, one who lives within the bounds of the Church can see their rage and immaturity. If the Democrats just read the Bible as a guide for human relations they would understand why their views are illogical!

[upchuck]

For what it's worth, here's a repost of the table at the bottom of the article. Hopefully this will line up better.

THE THINGS THAT MATTER
Here, according to CNN exit polling data, are detailed voter profiles from Tuesday's election. Where possible, the charts list the comparison between President Bush's performance in 2000 and 2004.
MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE
(2000 comparison unavailable)
Total......................Bush..Kerry
Moral values (22%)..........80%....18%
Economy/jobs (20%)..........18%....80%
Terrorism (19%)............ 86%....14%
Iraq (15%)..................26%....73%
Health care (8%)............23%....77%
Taxes (5%)..................57%....43%
Education (4%)..............26%....73%
VOTE BY RELIGION
Total................Bush..2000..Kerry
Protestant (54%).... 59%.... +3....40%
Catholic (27%)...... 52%.... +5....47%
Jewish (3%)..........25%.... +6....74%
Other (7%).......... 23%....--5....74%
None (10%).......... 31%.... +1....67%
VOTE BY CHURCH ATTENDANCE
(2000 comparison unavailable)
Total......................Bush..Kerry
More than weekly (16%)......64%....35%
Weekly (26%)................58%....41%
Monthly (14%).............. 50%....49%
Few times a year (28%)......45%....54%
Never (15%)................ 36%....62%
ABORTION SHOULD BE . . .
Total................Bush..2000..Kerry
Mostly legal (34%)....38%....+0....61%
Mostly illegal (26%)..73%....+4....26%
Always illegal (16%)..77%....+3....22%
POLICY TOWARD SAME-SEX COUPLES
(2000 comparison unavailable)
Total......................Bush..Kerry
Legally marry (25%)........ 22%....77%
Civil unions (35%)..........52%....47%
No legal recognition (37%)..70%....29%

[pawdoggie]

Ah, bear in mind, this is the "Atlanta Urinal and Constipation" we're talking about. The only thing this author "gets" is the Left-Wing stereotype talking point that "snake handlers" and "evangelicals" won the election for President Bush (as opposed to a broad spectrum of Christian sects and even other religions, possibly including some ethical atheists for all we know). It may help, but you don't have to be a charismatic, or a fundamentalist Christian to smell moral decay.

[A6M3]

I'll take it one step further. I believe that the leadership and the movers and shakers in the Democratic party are in fact satans demons. Almost everything that they are for is contrary to biblical teaching and therefore evil. If you stand for evil, then you are evil.

[cgbg]

>some ethical atheists

ahem. I have never been called that before. According to both sides of the political spectrum I don't exist. :-)

But you don't need the Bible to tell you abortion, gay marriage, priests protecting other priests molesting children, oral sex in the oval office is bad for society. It is just common sense supported by thousands of years of civilization and history.

Too bad the Democrats don't have any common sense and ignore any history that they haven't slanted with their biases and perversions.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[GoLightly]

The message I hear from Democrats when they talk about faith in action sounds a lot like, "what's in it for me?" They want to legislate interaction between individuals by their definition of fair & anyone who fails to go along with their version is vilified.

They talk about separation of church & state like it's part of our Constitution, as they go about parsing the word "is" again and confuse the writings of Marx with Biblical teachings.

[telder1]

The leadership and the rank and file aren't demons but they are controlled by demons. Yes. In no way should we desire or speak as if we plot against the souls of brothers who don't know themselves or those who are already born again but are deceived by satan disguised as an angel of light. But they have to be stopped until they are born again and do see through the deception they currently labor under. They are in a pit of sin and have been deceived that pit can be made into heaven if only we were dead. They are simply currently children of Belial.

Psalm 12:2-6 They speak falsehood every one with his neighbour: with flattering lip, with a double heart, do they speak. Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaketh proud things, Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail, our lips are our own: who is lord over us? Because of the oppression of the afflicted, because of the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah, I will set him in safety, at whom they puff. The words of Jehovah are pure words, silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen

[wattsup]

It's me alright.

[wattsup]

I would agree to a point. The black community is probably the most Christian based group in the Democratic party let us not forget. They must be allowed to realize that the Republican party is inclusive instead of lumping them in with the pegan crowd.

[Sybeck1]

I personally don't watch Joan of Arcadia, it just seems to be making up what God is all about.

[mossyoaks]

Good post! Thanks VRWCer!
The outcome of this election shows that even tho' many in our country have turned their backs on God, He is still faithful and has kept the door open for them to come to Him. If the Dems had won, they'd be saying, "Where is your God now?" and would have felt justified in their views. They would've felt that they had the upper hand in the moral conflict currently going on in our country. Now, they have the opportunity to rethink their values and hopefully choose a path closer to God.
I think that is the victory in this election - that HOPE REMAINS! God never gives up on anyone! It will be interesting to see if morality gains ground in America now...