Excellent post!
A good amount of uneeded, heated, pettiness took place during the republican primaries…the left takes advantage of that pettiness and uses it to their advantage.
We have seen in this political cycle how those on the right and the left have unwittingly joined forces in tearing down religion in general and religious affiliations that differ from there own.
While some would rather point fingers and say who is and who isn’t going to hell(which is Christ’s job, not any of ours), at the end of the day the only thing that such activity accomplishes is a foothold for those who want to see this country go to hell.

I wholeheartedly agree with your points. I am a Christian who voted for Barack Obama. I may not agree with him on everything but I voted for him because I am tired of the negative and ugly divide that has been consuming the Republican party since the days of Willie Horton in 1988. I wanted hope over fear. I find it surreal how many Christians are willing to look askance when vicious and ugly rhetoric and behavior are on display for their “candidate”. I was absolutely appalled by the disruptions at McCain or Palin rallies calling Barack Obama a terrorist, “kill him”, “off with his head”, etc. How is that kind of language and behavior representative of Christ. Quite frankly, I find it very offensive when Christians would question my faith and my final destination because of a choice I chose to make in the voting booth. Being a Christian does not make someone more competent than the next person. Being right on the issue of abortion does not make someone morally superior to another if their other actions are immoral. Years ago I was very offended when my church invited Jesse Helms to speak on “Right to Life” issues. Why? Because I am black and his years of bigotry, support for segregation and other racist actions would not allow me to give him a pass for being right on one issue. Also, this church is a church with a significant congregation of color. I take the entire measure of a person before I commit to support. Abortion cannot be the only criteria.

Shelley,
First, McCain is no Jesse Helms. Second, Obama’s not moderately “pro-choice,” but rabidly pro-abortion.

I agree with Mark, Big G and Shelley.

Mr. Waldman,
You sound like a very reasonable man and I wish there were more evangelicals like you.
How’s this for a lesson to the rest of the intolerant evangelicals out there: stop trying to shove your religion down our throats! One of the principles on which this country was founded was the separation of church and state. Most of us would like to keep it that way since, in case you didn’t notice, this country is made up of all sorts of people, many of whom are not Christian. You do not speak for everyone.
Moreover, you do not even speak for all Christians. I’m Orthodox, and we have been practicing Christianity for 2000 years now–we trace our traditions and liturgies all the way back to the apostles. The New Testament was written in Greek. How dare you claim that your way is the only way, and that the rest of us are wrong? I don’t try to tell you that your practices and beliefs are wrong–I keep my religion to myself, practice what I preach at home, and will thank you to do the same.
In short, get over yourselves.

conservative first, Republican second — and Christian is how much farther down the list?
Your comment reminds me of me in my college days: confusing my conservative Republican beliefs with my Christian faith. Eventually, as I read Paul’s letters about how to live as a Christian among the Greeks, I realized how misguided I was and how Christ has to be more important than political belief and party affiliation.
As Christians, we are not called to be conservative or liberal or even to be Americans — we are called to be LIGHT. May it so be with us according to God’s love for all humankind!
Amen.

I believe that a candidate’s faith is just as legitimate a reason to support a candidate as are their stances on abortion, Iraq. Faith encompasses not just one value but several and they play into issues of local and global significance. When choosing, of course, one has to look a little further than this short-hand route but it is no different than any other measure.
We as a culture are getting so afraid to call something “right” and another thing “wrong” that we’re getting to a point where we’ll gladly give up our right to make any kind of choice at all. Keeping faith and making all kinds of choices based on faith is a strong way to guard against that. Now, faith is only one of any number of possible criteria (when I realized Obama was a Marxist/socialist who hung out with criminal Tony Rezko, racist Jeremiah Wright, and terrorist Bill Ayers it crossed a line or 50). I’m making faith sound so good I wish I had one.
As for the people on McCain’s side who booed during his concession speech at the mention of Biden/Obama, c’mon. You ever been to a sporting event where you cheer ardently and support your team, sure you’re gonna boo the “bad guys”. Those who booed seemed to have more energy than McCain did during the entire race.
And as for praying for Obama — I see no reason to make some sort of extra prayer just for him. He will be wrong 95 percent of the time, and we actively oppose him when he is wrong and the other 5 percent of the time we count our lucky stars. Same as praying.

Obama represents a generational change that promotes our best selves over our worst. Americans are done with candidates who claim to be spiritual, but spew hatred, distort reality, and lie continually. This election was a clear message that we the people, will no longer allow ourselves to be defined by a completely self centered and limited world view that has disgraced and discredited us throughout the world. Pray for wise guidence for him and ourseleves as we embrace positve and cooperative change to restore our credibility and respect of people everywhere.

If the evangelicals refused to back candidates who spew hateful messages and twist what the other candidates say, that would gather a lot of respect from those of us who share the Christian part of their values but not the political views that have been put out there in the recent past because we’ve only seen the hypocrisy. When pro-life actually equals true pro-whole-life, then evangelicals will get the respect of more people. When conservatives back better educational institutions and better public school education, then more people will see through shallow arguments, so those candidates with such arguments won’t get nominated. We’ll have better candidates and better leaders when we all stop tolerating the type of people who only run on single issues and who can’t tolerate people who agree on some things and not on other issues.

You know what struck me watching the election night gatherings for each of the candidates. The McCain gatherig consisted of maybe 1000 white middle aged men and women with a few children. It was extremely homogeneous. At President Obamas gathering there was a sea of color. It was a truely representative cross section of America. If you want to take a lesson from this how about “Our values don’t really represent the USA” You may have gotten about 48% of the popular vote, but a reasonable portion of that can be attributed to racism. Another portion can be attributed to fear based campaigning. If those were removed I’d bet your views represent less than 1/4 of the population of the US. Maybe far less. Now, here’s the big thing to learn… The rest of us don’t have a problem with you following your value system, but we’ll fight like hell to keep you from trying to impose it on us. Live the way you like, but if you have dreams of forming some kind of religiously derived nation you’re no better than the nation of Iran, which your spokesmodel W. called an axis of evil. It is evil to try an impose your beliefs on the nation. It’s evil to assume you have the right to try and make everyone live according to your moral code. It’s evil to run a business as a church with the purpose of brain washing people into forgetting that other people have rights too. You’re right, there’s a lot you should learn from this election, and the biggest thing is we don’t want you, so mind your own business and let us live the way we want to.

I am frankly surprised that Christians have to be reminded OF THE MOST BASIC MESSAGE OF TOLERANCE . I am a Christian and I am black. When i look at ALL THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS I DO NOT FIND ONE VERSE THAT ENCOURAGES ME TO BE VINDICTIVE, HATEFUL, DIVISIVE AND TO ATTACK THOSE WHO DO NOT LOOK OR SOUND LIKE ME. SADLY EVANGELICALS TODAY HAVE TWISTED GOD’S MESSAGE OF LOVE INTO INTOLERANCE. SOMEONE SAID THAT IF JESUS WERE TO STAND FOR ELECTIONS, WITH HIS ALL EMBRACING LOVING AND CHALLENGING MESSAGE THE EVANGELICALS WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE HIM. THEY WOULD VOTE BUSH OR PALIN. I AM SO TRAUMATISED TO IDENTIFY WITH EVANGELICALS. I AM ASHAMED THAT THE CHURCH IS UNABLE TO SHOW THE WAY BECAUSE THEY HAVE CHOSEN HATE OVER LOVE AND EQUALITY. LOVE WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH OVER FEAR AND SHAME ON EVERY CHRISTIAN WHO WELCOMES THE HATEFUL MESSAGES AND IT IS AN EVEN BIGGER SHAME THAT THE EVANGELICALS FAILED TO DISTYANCE THEMSELVES FORM IT.

I am glad to read your article to see that you look beyond your belief system to always keep yourself abreast of change if need be. Evangelicans are a scary bunch who would have this country back to the civil war times of fighting for our rights. I am so glad that people realized that they needed to get out and vote to stop this madness. We can now have the peace we had before Bush took office. Did anyone notice it was Bush who was in office when we got bombed in NY? But yet he was voted in again?

I’m glad to come to a faith-based website and see some real feedback – even if you didn’t vote for President-elect Barack Obama! I’m on the verge of canceling subscriptions to another supposedly faith-based site for their LACK of touching on this seemingly ‘touchy’ subject.
Thank you for speaking from your heart. Thank you for keeping it real. I have to ‘second’ what Ann said. I just have to say “Hallelujah”! Frogman even pointed out the difference between the election parties that you saw on TV all night.
Post-election, God is STILL getting the glory or not regardless to who likes it. We need to not only pray for the new administration. But…pray for minorities as well all over this nation. I know that my husband had faced attitudes from non-Black co-workers since the election. Another poster commented online talking about the SAME thing. Why?
November…now…we are in a season of reaping and revealing. God is uncovering people for who they are. Let’s join together as one. Now is not a time for division; it IS a time for unity. Let God be God.

I am curious why Mark DeMoss voted for John McCain. Does he seriously believe that McCain was going to make abortion illegal? McCain and Obama had the same positions on homosexuality, civil unions, but not marriage.
DeMoss said, “I believe it’s wrong to oppose a candidate because of his faith (Mitt Romney), and equally wrong to support a candidate primarily based on common faith (Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin).” Neither Mike Huckabee nor Sarah Palin share my Christian faith, especially Palin. Huckabee frequently smeared Obama on Hannity’s show. He did stand-up for Rev Wright.
McCain/Palin’s campaigning was not only negative; starting in June the McCain campaign lied nonstop about Obama’s position on taxes, health insurance, etc. The number of threats against Obama increased significantly after Palin started demonizing Obama.
I agree with what LoieJ said, “If the evangelicals refused to back candidates who spew hateful messages and twist what the other candidates say”
Obama was the exception rather than the rule for surviving negative campaigning. I believe Obama would have had a major landslide if the media and almost everyone else had not demonized Rev Wright without ever listening to his entire sermons.
Obama has a very special and very rare gift. In addition, after eight years of Bush/Cheney, people were ready for an Obama.

Sadly, I don’t think it’s always true, as you say, that “We don’t choose people for any other positions using this test [of belief]“. My father, who just retired from a position as a chief financial officer of a large company, told me that the first thing he looks for when he is screening resumes is church affiliation. He said that he prefers to hire churchgoers because they are more reliable workers. I also have heard his boss, the former CEO of the firm, say to a large group of people that he hired his father because he was a “good Baptist”. I think that at least some Baptists tend to hire other Baptists for positions that are important to them, even in the secular world. So we shouldn’t be surprised if Christians apply the same logic to hiring a president.

“I was absolutely appalled by the disruptions at McCain or Palin rallies calling Barack Obama a terrorist, “kill him”, “off with his head”, etc”
THAT NEVER HAPPENED! It’s a complete media fabrication by left wing liberal wing nuts. Probably the same wing nuts who attempted to sabotage McCain’s concession speech.

Why shouldnt we choose a leader based on his faith? I don’t care if he hates abortion, and opposes gay marriage, if he is going to pray to a god other than Jehovah God then he will not get my vote. Yes, I trust God to guide. But I would like the leader of my country to be willing and able to listen to Him.

I’d simply ask Mr. DeMoss what in the world made him align himself with McCain, Palin and the national Republican party in the first place?
Before they go back and consider their political activities and endorsements, I’d like to see “Evangelicals” (whatever that means) go back and do some soul searching about their Christianity and what it means to be a disciple. Support for war, worship of money by fighting taxes, refusal to allow people to go from one place on God’s earth to another simply based on which of man’s principlities they are a citizen of, lack of respect for individuals because of the religious “club” they belong to, these do not seem like the attributes of a person who claims that Jesus Christ is his/her personal savior. Instead of t-shirt slogans, membership cards and crosses on chains around your neck, try examining your principles and values in light of Christ’s teachings. Then maybe you can look at political parties and align yourself with the candidates that reflect your values.

I’m a Christian first, a liberal second, and a Democrat last. I am so thankful that I am not the only one who thinks something should be done to put an end to negative campaigning. It muddles any message we as voters and citizens would wish to hear in order to help us make an informed decision about a candidate. I also think that candidates for all public offices, including the Presidency, should have a LIMIT on how much money they can raise to aid their campaign. I voted for Obama, and I’m happy he won, but when I think of the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by him and other candidates combined, all I can do is wonder how many people that would feed, clothe, heal and house.
I also agree with you that McCain’s speech Tuesday night was the best I’ve ever heard. I don’t dislike McCain and I probably would have voted for him 8 years ago. I might have even been swayed more in his direction if it wasn’t for Palin. But I was almost brought to tears when I heard his concession speech. If he had presented himself that way throughout the whole campaign, he would have had a much better chance of winning. That’s the kind of absolute sincerity this country needs and is famished for.
I am personally so very eager to see what the next four years will bring. I am just as uncertain as anyone about our future. Will it get better or worse? All we can do is pray, and have faith that we are in God’s hands, regardless of who the President is.

It’s strange to me that you separate values from a person’s faith. Your faith is usually the origin of your values. I’m pro-life and anti-gay-marriage, exactly because I’m a Roman Catholic, and I believe the reasoning behind the Church’s positions on those issues makes sense.
Now that’s not to say a person of another faith can’t have similar values. Huckabee, Palin, and Romney are all good examples of people from different religions who have the same values as me.
And then you have Obama. He says he’s a believing Christian, but many of his views just don’t gel with actual scripture, or Church tradition.
In the words of Father John Corapi, if you can’t realize that killing innocent children in the womb is wrong, then what can we expect ya to get right?

“Support for war, worship of money by fighting taxes…”
Sometimes a war is necessary and just. The Old Testament makes that more than clear. Whether or not the war in Iraq fits that criteria is a matter of debate, but support for a war in general doesn’t make a person less Christian. The ancient Israelites fought more than their fair share of battles. Sometimes it’s required.
And saying no to higher taxes doesn’t exactly equate to “worship of money”. I want to make sure my money goes to causes I feel are worthy, like a Christian charity for example, rather than an unworthy cause, i.e. lining the pockets of corrupt politicians.

I believe that the Evangelicals who wouldn’t vote for Romney because of his religion were wrong. We were not electing a leader of Evangelicals. We are electing a politician to lead our country. The last time I looked, Mormon’s weren’t chopping off people’s heads and Romney didn’t require that the people of Massachusetts convert to Mormonism. Such short sighted thinking gets us stuck with loser politicians like McCain and Hucksterbee. Why not concentrate on being better Christians instead of better Evangelicals? I wrote about this on my blog today also, http://www.angrywhitedude.com. Thanks for your blog…great stuff!
Angry White Dude

Excellent post! This is exactly the kind of reasoning that appeals to me. Our country has been so divided for the last eight years that many young evangelicals like me have begun to feel disenfranchised. I agree with everything you said.

Great points. The money raised by Obama’s campaign is more than the worldwide box office receipts of the deeply symbolic Shrek 2 and less than half of Titanic.
Followers of Jesus who are called to be politically engaged should read Mark’s post over and over. Thanks Mark for challenging us all to step away from this campaign with many lessons to absorb.

Conservatives & Evangels have lost site of the reasons for their core beliefs. As a result, they end up fighting for very questionable causes, like “my party’s win regardless of the compromises”, Mickey Edwards, a verifiable conservative & patriot, said it well in his book “Reclaiming Conservatism”. Here’s a review from Publishers Weekly:
This book is a cri de coeur by former Republican congressman Edwards, a veteran conservative founding trustee of the Heritage Foundation who once ranked as the national chairman of the American Conservative Union. Edwards believes that conservatism has abandoned the ideas of limited government that once inspired it. This has been, he argues, the paradoxical price of conservative electoral success, and the process of winning and retaining this power has brought its own temptations. Taking Washington required coalition forming with neoconservatives, the religious right and former supporters of George Wallace who all owed little to the Goldwater-style conservatism in which the thing being ‘conserved’ was the liberal revolution embodied in the Constitution. According to Edwards, these other views have intensified as the Bush administration presides over an evolving security state, and the movement Edwards once held sacrosanct is now unrecognizable. This is a critique with force and eloquence, but its author is better at defining what has, from his perspective, gone wrong, than providing persuasive suggestions as to how conservatives of his mindset are meant to win elections today. (Mar.)
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Well written, Mr. DeMoss.
Evangelicals, as hard as it is for us to admit, have ourselves to blame for being talked out of voting for a “Mormon”.
Yes, Mitt Romney likely would have defeated Obama on economics alone, but thanks to our pastors in Sunday School spreading un-Christlike thoughts, and yes, sometimes hate, toward the lds candidate, we’re left without.
Now, instead of having Romney selecting new Justices who oppose abortion, we’ll have the opposite -
AND OURSELVES TO BLAME.
We need to be more like God – less like the 1694 Puritans.

Hello. And Bye.