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

[Blutus]

Anyone remember the term "Jesus freaks?"

When evangelicals had long hair, believed in Jesus AND Marx, wore sandals,
were vegetarians, were non-violent and carried around a Bantam paperback,
"Quotations from Chairman Jesus?"

How did "evangelical" ever get associated with a bunch of coutry club Republicans??

Talk about body snatching!

Neo cons anyone?

[CarlyCorday]

I remember, Blutus.

[jubo]

The state of education; it is a confusion between profit and prophet...

[ErnestineBass]

My guess? Jesus was a not-for-profit prophet.

[OlongapoEd]

I really don't think that the term "Jesus freak" is synonymous with "evangelical". Most of the "Jesus freaks" I encountered were obvious drug casualties.

[CarlyCorday]

I know what a drug casualty is, but what is an "obvious" drug casualty?

KER-POW! Take that with a wet, nasty, sweeping paintbrush, old-days Jesus Freaks. We have us an angry (non-military, comfortably ensconced in that well-known padded computer desk chair, definitely no friend of his friendly local military recruiter) troll. These non-person­al-sacrifi­cing types are the maddest, they're the ones who can't post 3 times without saying somebody (not themselves, of course!) "deserves to die."

Happy blog-cruising, OlogapoEd. We're hangin on your words. Me, I feel almost straightened out already.

[CarlyCorday]

Freedom isn't free? You like that canard, huh? Oh yes freedom IS free. It's been dearly paid for by people whose boots you ain't fit to shine. Now, every time a chicken hawk draft dodger ex yale cheerleader who's scared of horses but likes to play dress-up by putting on a real man's flight suit in front of cameras, and spends most of his time fishing on his daddy's yacht off the coast of Maine, declares, "It's time for another installment on your Freedom, little people, cuz me and my friends got a lifestyle to maintain," he's got parrots like YOU to make a Victory Gin toast of it, but OlongapoEd, nobody's listening anymore, we've all moved on from Patrio-Fascist Groupthink now that Bush has "kept America safe" by handing 4,075 more Americans over to the "same Islamofascists who committed 9-11" to be killed. We don't think 4,075 more dead Americans = keeping America safe. It's the math. Math trumps patriofascism. Your day is done, OlongapoEd. Got it?

[Blutus]

Obviously you are gifted.

[jubo]

Actually, casualties of life turn to drugs.

You are right. Evangelicals are fascists and Jesus freaks are... not.

[Kache]

ROTFLMAO Let me get out the scrapbook. I got pictures! I got pictures!!

[jubo]

Believe in Good.

[KillTheMessenger]

Nothing to get excited about. Being "born again" is not an expression of an adult psyche with well defined boundaries, unwavering ethics and a realistic world view. It is, however, a sure sign of avoidance of reality and lifelong dependence on reinforcement by the chosen social environment. No matter how old these voters are going to get, they will always go back to their narcissistic roots and put themselves (represented by their religious father figure) into the foreground over any and all concerns for the common good. The GOP will have a near majority base for as long as the socio-genetic make-up of this country does not change dramatically.

[seenitall]

you're absolutely right...ha­ving pulled away from the gravitational pull of religion myself, it is truly easier to blindly believe than to question and move on.

[helonias]

What if you were born pretty well the 1st time?

[Kache]

I'm with you helonias! God don't take no brownies out of the oven before they're cooked. The very idea that Jerry Falwell has to finish the job because the Almighty is such a poor cook is blasphemous!

[CarlyCorday]

The "born again" crowd has appropriated and redefined Christianity, and they couldn't do it without the nod from the secular community, who, IMO, shouldn't give the nod to that, because it's a slippery slope to Ron Parsnip.

The shrieking hinge gets the grease, that's all.

[lthuedk 1]

It's much easier to penetrate the Unfairness Doctrine -to be informed- in the Internet Age of Enlightenment. Every Murdochian's nightmare is playing 24/7.

Yes, dictatorships actually manipulate Christians. Both Hitler and Bush did. Now McCain wants to play the same song.

http://www.light-to-dark.com/McBush.html

Such units in the military and Congress are a fascist favorite. As a bonus feature, there's the halo of legitimacy religion lends to the totalitarians ringing their bell. Images of Rev Hagee and the A.E.I. come to mind.

Nobody likes to be manipulated by their government for non-religious, non-humanitarian, or illegal purposes. Welcome to the actual world of the Republican Party, McCain style.

Need change much?

---

Happy Mother's Day

[kardwell]

Evangelicals were never manipulated by the GOP. The two groups equally share the same commitment to ignorance, bigotry, hate and fascism. It's a marriage made in heaven.

[Kache]

"Evangelicals were never manipulated by the GOP".

That's right. Historically it happened the other way around - the GOP was manipulated by the Evangelicals.

[helonias]

Gott Mit Uns

Goggle it

[lthuedk 1]

http://www.light-to-dark.com/t_equals.html

They're baaack.

[booksnmore4you]

Yep, this is is no small part due to Sojourners http://www.sojo.net/

Jim Wallace of Sojourners is an Obama campaign adviser.

[Countdown09]

I guess they finally got to that part in the bible about "thou shalt not kill".

[rodthebod]

I love it when people that have never read the Bible yet alone understand it, quote it!!

[CarlyCorday]

I love it when someone who doesn't know me assumes he knows what I haven't read, and what everyone else hasn't read, too.

Bod...it's "let alone understand it," not "yet alone understand it."

It's "people who have never," not "people that have never."

Criticism begets criticism.­..esp. around here. You don't read much, do you.

[LiberalFL]

I wasn't aware that the statement "thou shalt not kill" was loaded with nuance.

[helonias]

When will they get to love thine enemy, turn the other cheek and blessed are the peacemakers parts?

[CarlyCorday]

Don't you remember Jesus saying 'Blessed are the Warmakers'??

"I GET OFF on WARFARE!!!"
--Rev. Ron

http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/38133-mccain-s-spiritual-guide-wants-america-to-destroy-islam?page=1

[jalapeno]

If I was an Evangelical I would stop beleiving in god and start believing in Humanity. The democrats at least offer a bit of that.
An abstract concept like god is too much for most minds to handle , so they created a Harry Potter story involving a very single Jewish dude and a virgin mother.
The fact that Blacks embrace this is truely bizarre, Blacks and Jews don't really like each other, yet the blacks love the dude!
Also, if prayer worked we would have had and end to war, disease and poverty a long time ago.
Stop praying, it's not working!!
Trust Humanism, we are all we got!!

[Countdown09]

jalapeno - I think your WAY off base with the idea that Black and Jewish people not liking each other, the civil rights movement created a real bond between the two that is still very strong. I remember in one of the debates Sen. Obama making a comment that without Jewish people helping in that fight he might not be where he is. I know many AA's who are feel that way.

[LiberalFL]

Of the 7 founding members of the NAACP, four were white and one was Jewish. The African American community was extraordinarily welcoming to the Jews who emigrated here after WWII, and Jews were vocal and active supporters (both in terms of activism and monetary support) of the civil rights movement.

Animus between African Americans and the Jewish population is a relatively new phenomenon. It isn't a historical fact, its something we have to correct.

[Waitaminute]

As a middle age black person, i tell you i haven't heard any anomosity among black towards Jewish people. I don't know anything about this and i am very active. Just because one person called it "gutter religion" and another said "h town" . Where is all this coming from. Thats a fact!!

As far as christainity and muslim, i can't figure out why other blacks practice either of them. After all., slave owners gave both of these religions to black people, to stop them from commiting suicide and to give them hope for a better life in HEAVEN. I have a problem with that concept. Why did the slave owner have a better life on earth and in heaven but my ancestors had to wait until they were worked to death to have a BETTER LIFE. They can kiss my black a**. I say the longer we practice these madeup religions, the longer we think like slaves. LORDY LORDY..

[liberaldemdave]

This middle-aged evangelical is a life-long Democrat. What people don't understand is that to be pro-choice doesn't mean you're pro-abortion.

A Question for fellow Christians: As for the gay issue (and I also happen to be gay), if it were such a horrific sin, don't you think that Jesus would have had SOMETHING to say about it?

All an open-minded Christian has to do is read their New Testament to see that, were he on Earth today, Jesus would be pulling a "straight D" ticket.

[helonias]

Notice that adultering repubs attack the gays biblically but forget which one is a 10 commandment no no.

[olivia]

"to be pro-choice doesn't mean you are pro-abortion"

Exactly.

Education
Jobs
Sex education
Education
Keep some jobs in the U.S.
Health care for everybody - everybody
Economic support for a pregnant woman
And haul in those men for financial, emotional and physical support

I don't hear any Republican politicians and mouthpieces talking about any of those things.

Michelle Obama, on the other hand, says she wants to work on women's and family issues as First Lady. Michelle Obama has a better solution - reduce unwanted pregnancy, make things easier for women and families = reduce abortion.

[dartagnan]

"As for the gay issue (and I also happen to be gay), if it were such a horrific sin, don't you think that Jesus would have had SOMETHING to say about it?"

BINGO!

"All an open-minded Christian has to do is read their New Testament to see that, were he on Earth today, Jesus would be pulling a "straight D" ticket."

Actually, I think he would be a socialist.

[Toonadude]

That $600 rebate check will bring them back into the fold. There's nothing a Republican can't fix with the tax code and that includes creating a smokescreen to cover spiritual bankruptcy at a bargain price of $600 a head.

[londubh]

Hallelujah!

[08timefortruth]

Why is this such a big deal......­.anyone with a brain sees this country has gone down the wrong road and most are ready for a change. I do think Obama's personallity which reflects his core decency and respect of others attracks many.

Religious people voting for a good leader is not news......­...now if the neo-nazi's, kkk, ect voted for him that would be news.

[themethod]

eve neo-nazis and kkk members are tired

[CarlyCorday]

I've been wanting to school you lifelong Democrats about this one thing. Bill Maher is ALWAYS ASKING it: why do the troops "like Bush" and vote Republican? Well, they don't, not as much as Maher thinks by a long shot, but I have an answer anyway.

Do you realize that in every city that has a big military base nearby (Fort Lewis, WA, for instance) there are regular "antiwar" protesters who rotate shifts 24/7, and that these people scream "baby killer" and throw rocks at on-duty soldiers? I am certain beyond all doubt that these "people" are Republican operatives. But how to convince young troops blushing beet-red at the hideous cut "baby killer" right after taking a rock upside the head? How do you convince them of who their real friends are?

They're in a highly restricted, totally different world from us. We have to stand behind them, never give up on them, never abandon them, until that day when they are free to return to us--those who live long enough, that is.

Happy Mother's Day,
Teri

PS: Coffin-spitters, I've heard enough out of you, enough to make me sick for a century, but if you simply must come out of the woodwork and throw rocks in reply, I'd like to just say F-off, in advance. Karma: It's coming for you.

[helonias]

What would Jesus do?

[CarlyCorday]

He'd take the rock out of the hand and say--well, you know what he said at the stoning.

And most of them would vigorously keep on throwing rocks, for they are without sin. They think.

I forgive them.

[helonias]

My Quaker friends who protest this illegal unchristian war based on lies, have their on rock quarry

[CarlyCorday]

Hm. My Quaker friends have no rock quarry. I have no friends who throw rocks, matter of fact. I'm going to ask a Quaker (Friend) to explain your comment to me. If she can't--out my other ear it goes.

PEACE.

[Blutus]

It is insane that "evangelicals" were ever members of the GOP.

War-lovers who hate minorities and the poor, who, in fact, believe if you are poor, then you have somehow sinned and deserve your poverty.

How America ever, ever thought the GOP was the party of Jesus Christ is beyond me.
Seems to indicate that people do not understand the Bible, cannot read it, or understand it but care not to follow its tenets.

Either way, there is no way in hell that He would sanction what we are doing in Iraq.

[Countdown09]

Well put, I've always been amazed at this as well. You have the democratic party who's the feed the hungry, care for the sick, be your brother's keeper party -- but they always chose instead the "I've got mine you get your's party"???

[Nova16]

This can't be true. Young evangelicals have benefitted greatly by the republicans. They can be home schooled or with a voucher plan in a religious setting with little contact with public school students, attend a Bible college like Messiah, then on to Pat Robertson's Law School and then gain employment in a faith-based Bush administration. Why would they want to give up such an advantage in gaining control and power for the creation of a Theocracy.

[mamacat]

It is a fact of life that many of us do not hate religion. That does not mean that I am an ignorant, superstitious, oaf. Religion may not always make sense, but it isn't going to go away anytime soon.

I hope that the country unites behind someone, anyone, who will restore sanity and good government to this country. This administrations' foreign and domestic policies are an unbelievable disaster.

[olivia]

I do not hate religion. People have a right to their religion whatever it is.

Religion became destructive when millions of Christians let themselves be hoodwinked by a cabal that saw them as a political tool. It's still happening.

Christians were USED and it must be hard to come to terms with that fact. I hope we can count on Christians to see who has Christian values - values that Christians claim but they do not own exclusively, I might add.