A new poll by the Barna group finds that Obama is leading in 18 of 19 different religious faith communities defined by the survey’s strict standards. McCain leads in only one–evangelicals.
This is good news for Senator Obama and should translate into serious voting power in November. It also provides a caution to him as he heads into Rick Warren’s church tomorrow night for the Faith Forum. Senator Obama has made inroads in the Evangelical community, largely by appealing to that block’s newly found interest in issues outside of abortion and homosexuality such as poverty, the environment, and the trafficking of women.
Of course these are issues that progressive main-line protestant, Catholic and Jewish groups have been working on for much of the last century and to which the Evangelicals are playing serious and somewhat embarrassing catch up. I hope that Senator Obama remembers that his most natural home is within the progressive Christian church which gave us such influential societal prophets such as Reinhold Niebuhr, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr; William Sloan Coffin, and Desmond Tutu.
When Obama receives pressure tomorrow night to concede to Evangelical demands on issues such as abortion rights for women and gay rights (as he surely will), he should stand firm in his convictions in support of these “hard issues” as well as the other issues such as social inequity, environmental degradation, well considered international diplomacy, and religious pluralism and know that there are millions of religious voters who stand with him.
posted August 16, 2008 at 12:35 pm
When Obama receives pressure tomorrow night to concede to Evangelical demands on issues such as abortion rights for women and gay rights (as he surely will), he should stand firm in his convictions in support of these “hard issues” as well as the other issues such as social inequity, environmental degradation, well considered international diplomacy, and religious pluralism and know that there are millions of religious voters who stand with him.
Amen. There millions and millions of committed religious people who support progressive concerns that are part of Obama’s natural base. Our voices have been silenced and drowned out by Evangelicals and conservative Catholics who have come to dominate the public square when it comes to religion. Let’s hope Obama remembers that concessions on human rights, civil liberty, and equality when it comes to women and gays is not the answer.
posted August 16, 2008 at 3:33 pm
while Jesus said that He came that we might have life in the fullest, the Evangelicals seem to have forgotten the last part, “in the fullest” and the left have ignored the forst part Have life.
posted August 16, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Do you honestly believe that obama is ahead 43% to 34%? I don’t trust Barna, but I still take your point.
posted August 19, 2008 at 11:55 am
I completed a poll 8/18 on the effect of the Warren Forum on public opinion of the two presidential candidates. I searched for but cannot find the results of that poll. HELP!