Young Evangelicals Abandoning GOP Over Iraq, Economy

Seattle Times:

Michael Dudley is the son of a preacher man.

He's a born-again Christian with two family members in the military. He grew up in the Bible Belt, where almost everyone he knew was Republican. But this fall, he's breaking a handful of stereotypes: He plans to vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

"I think a lot of Christians are having trouble getting behind everything the Republicans stand for," said Dudley, 20, a sophomore at Seattle Pacific University.

Dudley's disenchantment with the GOP isn't unique among young, devoutly Christian voters. According to a September 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 15 percent of white evangelicals between 18 and 29, a group traditionally a shoo-in for the GOP, say they no longer identify with the Republican Party. Older evangelicals are also questioning their traditional allegiance, but not at the same rate.

Read the whole story: Seattle Times

Comments

[ibsteve2u]

Methinks all three of the "religions of the Book" - Islam, Judaism, and Christianity - are lost; they all insist that no one should worship false idols, but each worships buildings, walls, and pieces of land.

The pagans of old endowed trees and lakes with "sprites" and "imps", even as these religions endow tombs, rocks, and walls with "the Holy Spirit" and contend that beseeching their "all-knowing, all-seeing" God in a particular place ensures a higher likelihood of success!

Because of this taint of paganism, for two millennia all three have demanded that humans sacrifice themselves for places they name as "sacred", as if blood would consecrate those false idols.

That is why - as some of our evangelicals are realizing - the members of all three religions are so easily manipulated into becoming the tools of that unacknowledged but pervasive fourth religion: Those who truly worship at the altar of Mammon.

People like Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda or Cheney, Bush and PNAC are just modern day manifestations of the same evil that was prevalent during the medieval era: People whose lust for power and/or money allows them to send from tens of thousands to millions of humans to their deaths with religious demands and perverted arguments of moral imperatives.

I often think that is why the Right is always agitating to put more religion into our government and our educational system: It must take years of indoctrination to override common sense and subdue the will to live.

[myersms]

If a theocracy is what you religious people want,move to the middle East,this country was founded on the basis of freedom of religion and freedom from religion,so if religious people want to put their faith front and center in the world of politics and vote supposedly based on their faith its time to get out.I don't mind people practicing their religious faith as long as it does'nt effect me.The problem is that in the last 8 years or so since the republican party high-jacked the religious right,my life as well as millions of other Americans has changed in a dramatic way, and not for the better,and it appears that the vast majority are still blind to the fact of what the crooks have and are doing to this country.If religion causes a person,or population to quit thinking rationally and logically for oneself,then I believe that makes the organization or group more of a cult.Very dangerous.­Look at what religion has done for the Middle East?????

[toby25]

The liberal left has hijacked the democratic party and the religious right has hijacked the republican party.....­this is politics today. Now you can't help but notice that the democrats that have won the 2006 elections are more "conservative democrats" who won over historically GOP states. It would do our democratic party ALOT of good to realize that the way to win elections is not to embrace the non-religious, ultra progressive liberal ways of the far left. People in real America just dont think that way. You can win in San Francisco, Vermont, Manahattan type areas with that kind of stuff but not in Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St Louis etc

[TheBlackCat]

Very acurate, good post!

[LaurieLee]

I live in San Francisco, and I wish Nancy Pelosi provided a lot more resistance to the Republicans on foreign policy. We might have politicians who are pro-choice, gay marriage, etc. but they just roll over when it comes to Bush/Cheney war crimes or Douglas Feith lies and manipulation.

[TheBlackCat]

LAST post sorry:

I apologize RED ROVER for calling you an SOB. That was uncalled for. I just got very incensed at your charge that I am a fake Catholic when I have devoted years of my life in unpaid service to the church. I also get very sensitive about Republicans claiming they care about children when I see the results of their policies every day. It just gets so frustrating that we have the ability to save a child and we CAN'T because of financial issues. To literally watch them die while trying so damn hard to find away to get them into treatment asap, while trying every avenue to get the money to save their lives. The Democratic party approves of killing thenm as babies, the Republican party is fine with killing them once they're born. It's not like they've made general cuts in healthcare, they SPECIFICALLY have SHREDDED the funding for CHIP, the program STRICTLY for LEGAL CITIZENS UNDER 18. Just explain to me what the difference is?

I should not have cursed at yout hough, no excuse for that. I am sorry.

[Redrover666]

TheBlackCat. I don't have anything against democrats or republicans.
A review of my comments would tend towards someone who is angered by this partisan crap.

I don't like liberals anymore than I like skin-heads, and in my estimation they are equally repugnant.
The vast majority of people are generally good people, or at least want to be good people. I tire of hearing liberals bash Christians, when in fact there are billions of them and only a very few behave badly. I live in the south. Christians of all sort are very nice here.

If liberals have the courage of their convictions, then how about they start invading Muslim prayer services or raising hell about female castration or honor killings. The fact is, liberals are cowardly and choose to harass groups that are otherwise harmless.

I am old enough to know that Bush didn't cause all our problems. We did.
I hear the most vile and angry crap coming from liberals. But you want to embarrass and anger them even more... Ask one when the last time they wrote or spoke to their congressman.

[TheBlackCat]

I'm a liberal, and I wrote my congressman last week regarding a planned public school proposal in Boston that would be built by Scientologist. A month before that I wrote to my representative concerning Webb's proposed GI bill.

I write my congressman and get politically active for issues important to me, as my liberal parents taught me to do.

My husband is a liberal and writes his congress regularly and is in the army, having served in Iraq.

I have already reiterated several times that Massachusetts is the most liberal state in America yet has the largest concentration of practicing Catholics. We also have a huge Jewish population. Massachusetts is the most politically active state in the nation. We poll year after year for having more people vote than any other state and have more people politically active in ballot initiatives and political campaigns than any other state.

Everything you think about liberals is false. You are basing every liberal on who, Bill Maher?

Maybe you do not consider Judaism and Catholicism religions, as apparently all liberals hate religion yet all liberals I know in Massachusetts go to temple or church and are devout. I have repeatedly stated Boston is the most Catholic city in the nation yet aso the most liberal major city in America and you will not adress this. This makes me thinks you are anti-Catholic and anti-Semetic and do not consider these religions.

[TheBlackCat]

ANd I don't vote democtrat "because they kill less babies" I stated that poorly. What I mean is that Republicans murder children by denying them healthcare. They murder children through war. Therefor DI'm not going to vote for Republicans on their false platform of "we respect human life more" because they don't. So then I think about things like the economy, foreign policy, education, and I vote democrat. Only idiots are one issue voters.

And I am a good Catholic you SOB. I lived in Mexico and worked at a Catholic orphanage for Pax Christi. I'm no freaking saint, lord knows my husband endures much more in the army then I ever did as a simple volunteer, but don't you tell me I'm not truly dedicated to my faith. What have YOU done in the name of Jesus to improve the life of a child? I work with children with cancer. I worked in an orphanage. I did this in Jesus's name. And I'm a liberal. But according to you, I'm a secret satanist. You're despicable.

[Rippinit]

Did you know that it is a sin to cuss you "good catholic". Do you think God will be happy that you are a "good catholic".

Does being a "good catholic" get you into heaven?

Funny, I didn't think there was anything we could do to get into Heaven.

[Rippinit]

It's nice to know that all I have to do is accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in my heart. He has done the rest.

He knows whether you truly believe or you are going through the motions for fire insurance just in case.

[TheBlackCat]

RED ROVER:

I did not say I hate all Christians, but I understand how non Christians COULD. As I said, down south at any non fundamental service there were fundamentals harassing the parishoners. If you are a Buddhist or a Jew you probably aren't going to make a distinction between fundamental Christians and the rest of us.

ALso, why did you not respond at all to my question of why is it that mass has the most liberal population yet is the most devoutly catholic population in the nation? And why the orthodox jkews in Boston also vote overwhelmingly democrat? Do you honestly believe we are all in on some giant conspiracy to pretend to be religious when we in fact hate religion?

I didn't say just Iraq, but you easily glossed over the Republicans cutting funding for health insurance for impoverished AMERICAN CITIZENS. I work at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Every year less and less needy kids get heallthcare coverage due to REPUBLIUCAN CUTS. My job is to try and findfunding for them, specifically for pediatric cases. We are a non profit hospital and spend any profits on treatment for poor pts, but it litetrally costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have seen sio many kids die because they had to wait 6 months before starting chemo because we had to organize the money. And its gotten worse and worse since bush came into office and more and more cuts are made to children's healthcare.

[Rippinit]

Sean Penn got something right...

“phenomenally inhuman and unconstitutional”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/1955538/Sean-Penn-endorses-Barack-Obama-at-Cannes-Film-Festival-opening.html

Sean obviously knows about Obama's vote to allow newborn babies to have blenders put into their little heads.

[AmbivalentGuy]

OK,
another BIG headline for an insignificant story.

Hell, reading the comments told me more about what evangelicals are thinking.
I actually know plenty, and knew that they have never been the singular voice that the republicans have depended on distracting so successfully.

Clearly abortion still distracts attention from what the candidates can *actually* accomplish.
(If you're worried about the supremes, then I'd be more worried about the congressional races.
If you don't understand that, then please keep it to yourself.)

Perhaps some evangelical voters are realizing that they have been handled like yard tools by Republicans - used when necessary, but not really respected for more than their immediate utility.

But I am confused about being "born again", you know the religious mulligan that made W's past off limits for discussion.

The lead for the story concerns a young man. What do they say about him?
Son of a minister, absolutely immersed in the bible belt culture since birth,
and "born again"?

Isn't being "born again", in this case, about as routine and meaningless as confirmation in the Catholic Church? An adult, public acceptance of successful indoctrination?

There's a world of difference between the 18-24 year old evangelicals, and the older ones.
Most have not had the independence to truly face a crisis of faith.
Get back to me after they find out that god is not a vending machine.

[Rippinit]

Well put.

[mach]

So, only 5% have switched party affiliatio­n....this is simply wishful thinking journalism.

How many evangelicals support pulling a baby's head out of the owmb and peircing it until death?

Obama does. But at least he beleives in more prayer in our government according to his PR flyers.

[klmebane]

PART 1

what are you talking about?? are you equating a partial birth abortion (which is extremely rare) to ones performed in the first few weeks of pregnancy (which make up most abortions performed in this country)? the kind of abortion you speak of is 1) banned, and 2) not the kind some irresponsible woman who was too lazy to get to the clinic earlier does. they were used in extreme cases where the life of the mother was in serious jeopardy.

abortion in general is not just for irresponsible people who refuse to use birth control. they are for young girls who are raped, women who have miscarried a child they wanted so badly, women who have genetic markers for debilitating diseases, women who despite all birth control efforts find themselves pregnant anyway. lets be honest with ourselves, here. adoption is only an option (generally) for INFANTS WHO ARE WHITE. notice, minority kids are usually adopted from other countries. in the U.S.: kids over 2 or 3? live out their young lives in the system. kids with disabilities or diseases like AIDS? fat chance of EVER being adopted.

[klmebane]

PART 2

unfortunately, abortion is a symptom of the world we live in. a world where those in charge don't really give a shit about the lives of children or how they may suffer. a world where we care more for ourselves, and don't think about how our actions might effect millions of other people. making abortion illegal won't make it go away, just as making alcohol illegal didn't make it go away, or drugs for that matter. it just pushes the illegal thing underground, where it can't be regulated or made at least somewhat safe, and the people who offer the product make way more money than the product itself is worth and corner the market. until we can live in a world where the first thought in someones head who finds themselves pregnant isn't "how would i take the kid to a doctor?" or "how can i ever afford this?" and make this a world worth bringing a child into, abortion will exist. legal or not, it will ALWAYS be here. just as it has throughout time. i will always believe that if there is a choice between abortion, and the woman who drowns her child in the bathtub because she never wanted her in the first place, abortion is the most humane option.

[msmaggie]

Are there no journalistic standards left? Hey, the more people who leave the GOP to vote for Obama, the better. But the story states that 15% of the group in question are in this category, maybe. (Actually 5% have switched their registration). The obvious question is, compared to what? What was it before? Am I to believe that 100% were with the GOP at one time? Why is there no comparative data? Made up out of whole cloth it seems.

What's the point of this kind of rah-rah "journalism"?

[Furball]

I agree. There are many things I disagree with the Catholic Church but at least they are consistent. They don't flip-flop around with their values to fit into a political mold.

[TheBlackCat]

You know, i have to say, this blog is making me feel a little bit better about Catholicism, even though I am troubled by many aspects of the modern church (views on birth control, gays, women) and do struggle with my faith.

I've noticed a lot of "How can you support the war and torture but be against abortion?"

and "How can you be against the war and support aborting babies"

going back and forth on this blog.

Catholics have at least been staunchly against the war and torture (along with the death penalty) AND against abortion. You may not agree with either aspect of this stance, but at least we're consistant!

[Furball]

Now that Obama is the presumptive nominee, the swiftboat type lying will commence in earnest. I guess the ten commandments are only meant for non believers

"Thou shalt not bear false witness"

Does that mean anything or not??

[Phidippides]

Yes, it means "Don't lie" , at least as commonly interpreted. But it doesn't have any more authority because there is a legend that it was once chiseled in Hebrew on a stone. Talk about a superfluous list of dos and don'ts: who needs a hunk of stone with writing chiseled on it to tell them not to kill people? And who needs a book called "The Book" to tell them that people lie and kill and cheat anyway, regardless?

[crossoverwriter]

Evangelicals for Obama!
Clearly, he has inspired people of all races, ages and philosophies.
We all agree that the war in Iraq is wrong. Putting up a permanent base is morally wrong. The huge debt that Bush has wracked up is wrong.
Let's not allow ourselves to be sliced and diced by ranting and raving pundits.
Yes, we CAN come together to vote for the best HUMAN for the job.
Obama in 08.

[Rippinit]

Yes, you too can vote for someone who supported putting blenders in the brains of freshly born babies. Disgusting.

[abromber]

Or you can vote for the Republicans who support the indiscriminate killing of innocent babies of all ages by disease and torture and make YOU pay for it. That doesn't bother you?

[Mewcatone]

Most Evangelicals have never actually even read the bible for themselves. Sure they can spout out a bunch of passages in the bible, ones they got from their pastor on Sunday morning but they really haven't studied the bible for THEMSELVES, because if they did they would not support killing OF ANY KIND, OF ANY HUMAN BEINGS. That includes WARS, children that are aborted AND EVEN THE ABORTIONIST. Jesus did not kill one SINGLE PERSON WHILE HE WAS ON EARTH! How these people can rationalize killing one life to save another and then talk about how killing is wrong is beyond me. As a person who has read the bible many times I can tell you that these people are not walking in the path of Jesus. They are walking the path of extremists. They're no different than the fundamentalists of every other major religion including ISALAM that use biblical document to further their own sick agendas. All fundamentalist are just scared children. Oh and by the way, MURDER of innocent women and children in times of war is the same as ABORTION in my opinion, abortion is considered a termination of a human life . RIPPINIT if you're going to apply not killing to abortion then you have to apply it to EVERYTHING in your life, not just what suites you. Jesus is not the common thread between Evangelicals and Republicans it's HYPOCRISY.

[tippy6]

I think you generalize too much. Not "all" evangelicals are OK with war while denouncing abortion. And I think most evangelicals have indeed read the bible from cover to cover. I'm not saying I disagree with your points, but categorizing "all" evagelicals as extremists nut-jobs who love war but hate abortion/a­bortionsis­ts is flawed.

[DeWayne]

Redrover66
Here is some good council, do not get caught up by the fishhook of schemers, that divide people with methods into opposing groups... groups that are kept fighting (themselves), and in such a state are more easily controlled.

It is not only wise for secular, but also Christians, that they understand the true meaning of words like liberal and conservative. My wonderful parents were both liberal and conservative, not in the schemes of politicians and politics, but in the (real) world.

I will be the first to admit Liberal (Democrat) constituents and politicians have done good, also as have Conservative (Republicans) have done good, not all of them and not all of the time. I will accept the good, and discard the bad, and this is not a bad idea regarding those in government Office today. In fact it would appear well past time that labels become better understood so that proper actions may be taken by all citizens.