According to a study by the Pew Foundation, 87% of Evangelicals voted for President Bush in 2004. His support among our people has remained solid, even as the rest of the nation has become increasingly disappointed with his administration. I can understand why that support has remained steady considering his continued opposition to gay marriage and abortion. What I don't understand is why Evangelicals do not express deep concerns, if not downright opposition, to many of his other policies. Considering what he owes us, he certainly would have to listen to us.
Why aren't Evangelicals irate over the creation of a regime in Iraq that has a constitution legitimating a Shiite theocracy? Tens of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq under a siege of discrimination and even persecution. Churches are being burned down in Baghdad for the first time. There is little doubt that evangelizing, which ironically was allowed by the evil dictator America drove from power, will be curtailed under this new government which we helped establish. Christians aren't the only ones endangered in the new Iraq. Already the rights of women are being threatened under the jurisdiction of Shiite mullahs. Why isn't there an outcry by Evangelicals in response to these outrages?
At what point will we Evangelicals acknowledge that the evil generated by Bush's war is far greater than the good it has accomplished? To date this war has led to more deaths and generated more suffering for the Iraqi people than that which resulted from the rule of Saddam Hussein. As many as 100,000 Iraqis have already been killed and the end is not in sight.
There were no known terrorists in Iraq prior to the war. The men who flew the planes on 9/11 were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, not Iraq. But today Iraq is a hotbed that is breeding terrorists by the thousands. Jesus said that when you cast out a demon you can be sure that a host of more destructive demons will come in to take his place. Are the demons of Al Qaeda who have replaced the demonic Hussein worse that that old demon? Are the terrorists who have been emigrating to Iraq, and who are being created through the insurgency, more of a threat than that demon ever was? Shouldn't Evangelicals be asking these questions?
And what about the environment? President Bush remains indifferent to the convictions of most of the world's scientists who believe that global warming is a major threat to the survival of future generations. Not only has the president not responded to the urgent need to cut the carbon dioxide emissions that create global warming, but his administration has relaxed the regulations that had been in place to control the polluting of the atmosphere. There isn't an Evangelical theologian around that does not affirm that God requires a stewardship of creation that involves ecological responsibility. So why aren't Evangelicals upset with Bush about his environmental policies?
I applaud the growing commitment of Evangelicals to the needs of the poor and oppressed in urban America. What troubles me, however, is that Evangelicals refuse to go against this president on the issue of gun control; especially since inner-city people, troubled by violent crimes, are desperate to have some surveillance as to who can own guns.
There seems to be little concern that constitutional rights for privacy are relaxed so that phone messages and bank accounts can be surveyed with court orders. I've heard the arguments that such intrusions into our private lives are necessary for national security reasons, but shouldn't we also have detailed information on who owns guns? Shouldn't we have gun control in the name of national security? Terrorists don't have to smuggle guns into this country. With as little checking on purchasing of firearms as is required by the government, they can buy the guns they want at a shopping mall.
Finally, for those of us who are pro-life Evangelicals, when will we recognize that a primary means for preventing abortions is by making it economically viable for pregnant women to have babies? Studies indicate that when single pregnant women have to work at relatively low minimum wages, have no daycare programs available, and have no hospitalization coverage, abortions go up. I ask, when are Evangelicals going to raise their voices to push this administration to meet these needs? We know that our simple plan for abstinence is not going to make the abortion problem go away.
Don't get me wrong! I'm not suggesting that Evangelicals will get all that they want if they vote Democratic next time around. Neither party embraces all of our concerns. I'm only saying that since Evangelicals put Bush in office and still support his administration, isn't it time to call some of his policies into question and to press him to make some changes?