Getting the Evangelicals Wrong - Again

The upcoming primary in South Carolina will be critical for both the Democrats and the Republicans, say the media pundits. And South Carolina is full of evangelicals, they also say. But they have absolutely no clue about what that means.

For example, the exit polls in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary have asked departing Republican voters if they are "evangelicals," but they don't ask the same question of exiting Democrats--therefore assuming there aren't any evangelicals voting for Democrats, an assumption that is demonstrably not true. The leading Democrats in the race--Obama, Clinton, and Edwards--speak explicitly and articulately as Christians and their campaigns have reached out as much to faith communities as the Republicans have.

The media experts on religion then go on to explain to us that evangelicals care mostly or only about abortion and gay marriage, and not about other issues. That is even more mistaken. The issues that most concern evangelicals today, especially a younger generation, include poverty, the environment and climate change, human rights, and the morality of a foreign policy where war is the first resort. This year those issues are drawing a growing number of evangelicals to consider the Democratic candidates.

Along with a number of other evangelical leaders, I just signed a letter to the media outlets in the National Election Poll, which says:

By omitting the question of evangelical/born-again identification from the Democratic polls, you prevented the public from seeing the full picture of how the bipartisan courtship of evangelical voters affected the outcome of the first contest of the 2008 campaign and perpetuated the misperception that all evangelical Christians are Republicans. No party can own any faith. Evangelicals have broadened their agenda to include care for the planet, the poor and the stranger, and as a result are increasingly diverse politically.

One of the leading Republicans, of course, is Mike Huckabee, who is also an outspoken evangelical. Huckabee recently spoke to Reuters about the broadening evangelical agenda:

Unquestionably there is a maturing that is going on within the evangelical movement. It doesn't mean that evangelicals are any less concerned about traditional families and the sanctity of life. It just means that they also realize that we have real responsibility in areas like disease and hunger and poverty and that these are issues that people of faith have to address.

Yet the media, which is paying such close attention to Huckabee, doesn't seem to pay any attention to that. You might conclude that the media still just doesn't understand much about religion and the enormous changes taking place among evangelicals in particular. So far, the media analysts and prognosticators about South Carolina are about as accurate and credible as their insightful and confident predictions about the expected results from the New Hampshire primary. Will the media celebrities ever really listen to the American people or just tell us how we are going to vote? Religion could, indeed, play a major role in the outcome of the South Carolina primary, on both sides of the aisle. But our non-stop talking heads in the media parallel universe and the professional polling truth inventors haven't got a clue about how.

Jim Wallis is the Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners and blogs at www.godspolitics.com.

Click here to get e-mail updates from Jim Wallis

Comments

[marignymitch]

A lesbian Jewish friend posted this bumper sticker on her car

Jesus: Save us from your followers

[Chocolate2008]

Both parties keep forgetting that Blacks are , for the most part, evangelical and have the most conservative views in the Democratic Party. The only reason why we vote Democrat, is because of the perceived racism in the Republican party. It would be in the Democrats best interests to make sure the race ain't between Clinton and say, Huckabee. Because after all the race baiting done by the Clinton's, I think there would be a huge surprise if she managed to win using bigotry against Obama.

A HUGE surprise.

[Gregorio]

Well, Jim, it appears you have become a lot more mainstream since the Post Christian days, because I don't see Evangelicals differentiating themselves very publicly on behalf of the oppressed of our day: gay and lesbians. This has been the cutting edge with evangelicals since the 70s, when a few tried to break out of the evangelical slavery to biblical literalism, finding new meaning in liberation and justicemaking, as well as peacemaking, and the majority fought back with fundamentalism and homophobia. Women in the church? Give me a break. When a woman or gay/lesbian becomes a mainstream church leader its national news. If evangelicals would disavow themselves from FUNDAMENTALISTS and their slavery to pre-1st. century tribal paternalism and a worldview based on a flat earth, then I think you could say there's hope for an incarnation of justice on planet earth. Until then, Christian mediated oppression will continue unabated. What good is a Green apologist for Evangelical homophobic oppression of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters? The contradiction is too much to stand.

[Tellmethetruth]

Just a note to educate readers on evangelical Christians, there are two kinds - peace churches which came out of the Holiness Movement in the early 1800's and were part of the abolition movement (Quakers, Free Methodists, Mennonites, etc) and slave churches which were largely located in the Southern states, but who migrated to the West Coast in later decades. All the mainstream Protestant churches were divided into slave owner churches and "peace" churces such as Lutherans, Presybeterians, Methodists (Free Methodists). Slavery was what caused the division and there is a reason it is called "Southern Baptist" which is the largest Protestant denomination in America.

Point made - not all evangelicals are "war churches" - certainly not Quakers who regard themselves as evangelical.

What you find as a disconnect between human rights, civil rights in these conservative churches traces back to the influence of Wealthy White masters who owned slaves on the congregations in the South before the civil war and after.

As to why these church have a disconnect with being "war" churches - the South was militarily occupied after the Civil war - which explains why today so many military bases are in the South - and militarism became a way of life, not to mention an industry in which many people's livlihoods are dependent upon.

[leftflank]

The evangelical christian movement is currently the largest pro-war movement in the world. How Christian is this? I know people who voted for Ronald Reagan because they believed he would bring the apocalypse on more quickly. At the end of the day, christianity has morphed into a massively profitable death cult that threatens to engulf us all.

[kellygrrrl]

honestly, I do not think I could care any less what the pundits, pollsters and media say.

[emerywood]

Evangelicals never change. Witness the defeat of " Intelligent Design " in Pennsylvania but they still worship the concept and denounce evolution in church. Some of my neighborhood church members recently have been e-mailing each other, insinuating that one of the Democratic candidates is actually a Muslim and asking everyone not to vote for him. Is there anything that they wouldn't do to further their political ambition and religion ?

[Justis]

Of course there are Democratic evangelicals--Jimmy Carter, remember him?

However, I suspect their numbers are a great deal smaller than Mr. Wallis would hope. For example, Jimmy Carter's SBC went over to the dark side a long time ago, and shows no sign of returning. Pretending that the rightwing Baptist takeover was not favored by the great majority of Southern Baptists isn't going to make it so.

I live in rural southwest Ohio. I know and work with Democratic religious persons of every faith, from Catholic to Muslim, and I have yet to encounter a truly liberal devout evangelical (as opposed to a yellow dog conservative Democrat). Maybe forty years ago there were more of them on the ground, but the evangelical churches has been so corrupted since then, these rare birds might as well be listed as endangered species.

I realize this is really hard for decent evangelical Protestant Christians to deal with. It is easier to blame media bias or liberal snobbery for the evil rot within your churches, rather than accept the blame for letting it happen.

[AMolinaro]

A message to Evangelicals: Don't feel too bad, the pundits are always telling every demographic who they should or should not vote for. It isn't like they're proven right on a regular basis.

[HippieChick]

You may believe the disgust that so many feel in response to the term "evangelical" is not warranted, Mr. Wallis, but intolerance for this expression has been earned. The "unholy" marriage of politics and religion has become a powerful and genuine threat to our previously secular society, and our educational and scientific community now struggles against this march of our nation into a return of the Dark Ages. "Faith-based" has no place in taxpayer subsidized entities, and religious dogma is not a viable substitute for secular rule of law.
It is tragic that evangelicals such as you profess to be have failed to "clean house," and speak up loudly against those like Robertson, Dobson, Falwell, et al who have been actively determined to take control of our country and turn it into the "christian nation" of their fantasy.
Religion is the most fatal of human diseases, and religious dogma is the single most powerful obstacle to the evolution of human consciousness and a peaceful planet.

[lungfish]

"The issues that most concern evangelicals today, especially a younger generation, include poverty, the environment and climate change, human rights, and the morality of a foreign policy where war is the first resort."

Evangelicals don't seem to care about anything but gaining control and converting nonbelievers to their brand. The work that they could be doing for the benefit of others is not really for the benefit of anyone but themselves. They are only concerned with those who believe as they do and converting those who don't. Afterall, its really about saving souls to gain favor in the afterlife....nothing selfless about it. Would a Christian be a Christian if he lived next door to you all your lives but never tried to convert you? The answer is no because the fundamental practice of Christianity is conversion...that is how one gains points in the afterlife...

[raptor]

What most concerns Evangelicals? You forgot home schooling and not exposing their children to Halloween. I worked with an Evangelical who happened to be a lawyer. Before becoming an Evangelical, he was a Maoist. I rest my case. He vehemently didn't believe in evolution. His wife was a former nurse; she didn't believe in germs or viruses, and home schooled their kids. Whenever he said "Christian", it as if he was expecting some sort of holy light to fill the room, and he didn't mean people like mainstream Methodists. Only Evangelicals need apply. Maybe we need a Constitutional amendment providing for freedom from religion. We're electing a President, not a Pope, or whatever the right-wing conservative compassionate christian equivalent is.

[FreeThinkn1]

Any religion can be distorted and used as a tool to obtain power, wealth, or to promote a doctrine. We need to recognize those using a religion to gain national political control to promote intolerance of other religions, languages, political views, economic systems, and cultural practices as being what they truly are--fascists.

[Stanley]

Character is an issue when electing a leader. Religion shouldn't be one though. Values and moral stands are evidence of character, but so is wisdom and willingness to find empathy with others. Our Religious power brokers are instigating fear and hatred in order to wield the votes of their flock for their own gains. Good shepherds they are not. Bringing this to the Democratic Party only extends the pulpit in another direction where lust for power will abuse it again, regardless of the good intentions. The best use of religion is to speak truth to power, not to grab power by claiming authority on truth.

[research]

Christians! Evangelicals!

Support the democrats, not the republicans.

The repugs have created a government this is distinctly anti Christ-like.

Jesus is Love, Tolerance, Charity.

Who do YOU worship?