Posted on 11/07/2004 6:47:29 PM PST by 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%
"They want to legislate interaction between individuals by their definition of fair & anyone who fails to go along with their version is vilified."
It is interesting to note that the word "fair" does not appear in the King James version of the Bible except as it pertains to the complexion of the skin.
In place of what the world calls "fair", the Bible uses the word "just". A vast difference, that we as conservatives would suggest supports our contention of a return to that which is "just" rather than "fair".
In my view, just moral values include many categories... sex and sexual orientation, taxes, punishment, "partnership" rites, abortion, etc. The concept of being "fair" in today's world goes far beyond the individual to the corporate world and governance. Whether we agree or not we are forced to pay our "fair" share, in taxes or remuneration, so that others can have what is considered to be only "fair".
Hogwash!
"I personally don't watch Joan of Arcadia, it just seems to be making up what God is all about."
It is far less convicting on the conscience, and infinitely easier, to "make up" one's concept of God than to search the Scriptures to learn and understand His description of His own nature.
Well, hey you! It's nice to "see" you again, kiddo. Hope you have been well and that we'll see you around here often.
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The left will be happy to stake a claim as being arbiters on what is just, same as they do with fair. They ate the forbidden fruit & they were not ashamed.
Red or blue... Who is trying to stop Christmas?
Who is against prayer in school?
Who is stopping the 10 Commandments everywhere?
Who is for abortion, even partial birth abortions?
Who is for sodomites?
Who won? Red or blue?
While amny Americans differ in their stance on abortion, Kerry's answer in the debates was especially messed up. He appealed to many peoples willingness to set aside personal beliefs for tolerating the views of others - but the question wasn't about outlawing abortion, but federal funding of it. In short, Kerry argued that he didn't feel it appropriate to impose his beliefs on pro-abortionists, or even simply admonish them; while it was entirely appropriate to impose a requirement on pro-life people to pay for abortions, which they abhor.
What was your screen name in vote? Sorry but I can't remember.
Thanks for re-formatting the last part of the article, friend! :-)
Michigander on vote.com
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You're welcome! Ya got a cool tagline.
I love your fish! <><
Thanks, 'doll! I sort of borrowed it from the 1st Century Christians. hehehe
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