Losing faith in Democrats' religious outreach

Erie Times-News ^ | June 3, 2012 | By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

[Oldeconomybuyer]

In 2008, Barack Obama took aim at the "pew gap," the overwhelming Republican edge among voters who regularly attend church.

The Democratic presidential nominee came nowhere near closing it, but he didn't have to. He just needed an extra percentage point or two among traditional GOP constituents, and he got it.

The Democratic National Committee is promising a repeat performance in 2012. But some religious leaders and scholars who backed Obama in 2008 are skeptical. They say the Democrats have, through neglect and lack of focus, squandered the substantial gains they made with religious moderates and worry it will hurt Obama in a tight race against Republican Mitt Romney.

Some Democrats see no problem with consigning faith outreach to the sidelines. They argue that attempts to please moderate and conservative religious groups have kept Obama from fully enacting some policies important to party members. Among these critics are Democrats who consider church leaders' complaints about the scope of the birth control mandate an attempt to extend legal privileges to religious groups at the expense of women.

Advocates for faith outreach say that view is short-sighted, endangering the party and the president's re-election chances.

Keri B. Thompson, who specializes in political communication and teaches at Boston's Emerson College, had started volunteering for Obama when he ran for U.S. Senate from Illinois. Thompson said she was "thrilled" by the president's endorsement of gay marriage. But the day of Obama's statement, watching her Facebook page explode with comments, she said she saw some reservations amid the celebrating.

"There are some people in the religious community who are unsure," Thompson said. "I think they need to be brought to the table."

[Oldeconomybuyer]

[kjo]

Obama has declared war on 70 million Catholics...and ABCNNBCBS have yet to cover it.

This is the most significant attack on the Estalishment Clause in our history...and most of the media finds it not worth mentioning.

Wonder why that would be?

[OrangeHoof]

Will Rick Warren be fooled again?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

"...squandered the substantial gains they made with religious moderates"

"Squandered" is an interesting choice of words for a direct frontal assault on the First Amendment.

[tflabo]

Democrat pols would sell their mother’s souls if they perceive it helping them stay in power. Its always Party over Principle trumps all. That’s why black christians will still vote for Bam even though he supports gay marriage. We conservatives will support Romney the RINO Mormon because the other option is unthinkable and dreadful. Just think, we will again not have a christian, conservative president in this election cycle.

[Albion Wilde]

"There are some people in the religious community who are unsure," Thompson said. "I think they need to be brought to the table."

So that we can insult their intelligence, raise suspicions about their sexuality and call them bigots to their faces.

/sarc

[Albion Wilde]

Just think, we will again not have a christian, conservative president in this election cycle.

We may never have one again, thanks to the Antichrist media (princes of the powers of the air). What decent Christian can put his family through this torture that escalated to the degree of demonic against Palin?

[SaraJohnson]

First, let's define “religious moderate” voters. They are the voters who claim moral advocacy has no place in government. They did not say government should go in the other direction and oppress religious people.

Moderates don't understand that there is a struggle and the Left fights to use the government to impose immorality on the people much harder than do religious people work to impose morality on the government. Unilaterally disarming the moral thrust in politics, gives free reign to the Left’s immoral thrust. There will be no vacuum; no truce between good and evil.

[353FMG]

>Wonder why that would be?<

.
Because the MSM is known to be anti-Christian but always ready in the defense of islam — we’d better get used to that.

[fatrat]

All churches and patriotic citizens should be supporting the Catholics in this fight for religious freedom. Else we might someday be saying: First they came for the Catholics but we weren’t catholic so we were silent; Next they came for the Methodists but we weren’t Methodists so we remained silent; etc, etc, etc,. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

[fini]

You are stating my actions.