Stark Lessons from the Loss for Evangelicals (Guest Post By Mark DeMoss)

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.

Shelley,

First, McCain is no Jesse Helms. Second, Obama's not moderately "pro-choice," but rabidly pro-abortion.

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.

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.

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.

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'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.

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.

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'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.

"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.

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.

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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