Democrats Gain With Religious Voters

This article does a good job of showing us the current spiritual state of our nation – it’s not good. Let’s take a look at some of the statements/quotes in this article.

“Reversing his party's poor showing among faith-based voters in the 2004 presidential election, Mr. Obama won among Catholics, 54% to 45%, made gains among regular churchgoers and eroded a bit of the evangelical support that has been a fixture of Republican electoral success for years, exit polls showed.”

So, 54% of people who consider themselves Christian (Catholics) voted for a candidate that supports the killing of our unborn children in all its forms. Obama has voted for every pro-abortion bill in the Senate. Why would people who consider themselves Christians vote for someone who clearly opposes God’s Word?

Here’s the worldly reason – we’ll get to the spiritual reason later.

“Democrats' gains among the religious undoubtedly were aided by worries over the economy, which surveys have shown to be the main concern for voters.”

What’s the reason? Money. Let’s look past the abortion issue – because I believe Obama will fix the economy. Is this a wise choice? Can Obama fix the economy? If you’ve read my earlier posts on our monetary system – then you know that what Obama has proposed will not fix our economy. I can understand why people are upset with George Bush’s policies – but voting for someone else simply because he belongs to a different political party and offers ‘change’ – isn’t the solution.

Think about this for a moment – if something in our world (a disease) killed 50 million of our children over the past 35 years and continues to kill 1 million each year – what would we be doing right now? Our #1 focus as a nation would be preventing any more of these deaths. Every other issue would pale in comparison. But because these deaths have been deceptively disguised as ‘choice’ – and given the stamp of approval by our highest court – we stick our heads in the sand and lump this ‘issue’ in with all of the other issues. We’re talking here about life and death of innocent children – who cannot defend themselves – and we deceive ourselves into believing that because they are labeled ‘fetuses’ in the world – that they are not human – and can be killed without consequence. I assure you – there is a Judge who is aware of all of this – and there will be consequences – serious consequences.

“The campaign wooed clergy in ways small and huge, from personal notes and meetings with Mr. Obama to large Christian "faith rallies" intended to win over young Protestants. It trained thousands of volunteers to frame social concerns such as poverty as moral issues, while benefiting from the work of several small, liberal Catholic nonprofits that separately contacted churchgoers to present topics such as poverty, immigration, war and the environment as moral issues, while downplaying abortion.”

I know this for a fact – someone who has been regenerated by God cannot be ‘wooed’ by someone who ‘downplays’ abortion. The Holy Spirit is repulsed by this abomination – and so those who are listening and obeying the Lord’s spirit – are also repulsed by abortion. All of the ‘wooing’ in the world will not convince me that supporting someone who supports the killing of our children – is a good choice. I would rather live in abject poverty and end this insanity than be rich and watch more of our children die. It’s that simple. Don’t let our enemy convince you otherwise. When I see ‘faith rallies’ used in the context above – it almost makes me sick.

"They let it be known, 'We want their vote, he deserves their vote...and we are not going to automatically assume you are going to vote for the Republicans,'" said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Houston supporter of Mr. Obama and a United Methodist pastor who has had longstanding ties to President Bush's family.

I would like to ask Mr. Caldwell which Bible he teaches from. Is he focused on the world or God? His actions tell us the answer.

“The Obama campaign prevailed among Catholics despite sermons and letters from several conservative bishops across the country, who warned it would be a grave sin for Catholics to elect a candidate who favored legalized abortion.”

Here we see a couple of things – teachers who are preaching the truth – and people ignoring them.

“The campaign staff enlisted Doug Kmiec, a Catholic adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign, and former Reagan White House aide, who threw his support behind Mr. Obama because of his opposition to other "life issues" such as the war and lack of health care. "People realized for the first time that there was an alternative way to promote the culture of life and how much they were missing in their faith tradition when they focused on the Supreme Court," Mr. Kmiec said.”

What, exactly, does a ‘Catholic adviser’ do? Instruct a Mormon how to appeal to Catholics? How is that possible? I have absolutely no idea what Mr. Kmiec’s statement means. ‘An alternative way to promote the culture of life’? ‘How much they were missing in their faith tradition’? I need someone to translate. Is he saying that killing unborn children is ok if you are trying to save someone’s life elsewhere?

“In 2006, Mr. Obama made a speech, "A Call to Renewal," before a large crowd of Christians in which he discussed his faith and urged secularists and progressives to embrace moral issues. His staff mailed excerpts of that speech to 40,000 pastors, an aide said.”

I’m not sure what Mr. Obama’s ‘faith’ is – but it is clear that it doesn’t involve our God. You can’t say that you are a Christian and then support killing unborn children. That may seem somewhat harsh – but it’s the truth. As Jesus taught us – it’s not what people say that will show you the truth – it’s what they do.

This leads me to answer the question I mentioned above:

Why would people who consider themselves Christians vote for someone who clearly opposes God’s Word?

The truth is – they are not Christians. As I’ve mentioned before – it’s time for all of us to take a very hard look at where we are spiritually – and start making changes.

jg
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NOVEMBER 6, 2008
Democrats Gain With Religious Voters

By SUZANNE SATALINE
Wall St. Journal
A concerted effort since 2004 helped Barack Obama and the Democrats make significant inroads with religious voters.

Reversing his party's poor showing among faith-based voters in the 2004 presidential election, Mr. Obama won among Catholics, 54% to 45%, made gains among regular churchgoers and eroded a bit of the evangelical support that has been a fixture of Republican electoral success for years, exit polls showed.

The Democrats' gains among the religious undoubtedly were aided by worries over the economy, which surveys have shown to be the main concern for voters. But Democrats also have made a strong effort to woo faith-based voters, hatched in the wake of the 2004 loss, which was adopted by Mr. Obama in the early days of his campaign and carried through the convention and the fall campaign.

Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic standard-bearer, lost the Catholic vote while President George W. Bush gleaned 78% of white evangelical voters. Mr. Obama reduced that to 74% and also cut the Republican share of votes among those who attend church weekly or more often to 55% from 61%.

The campaign wooed clergy in ways small and huge, from personal notes and meetings with Mr. Obama to large Christian "faith rallies" intended to win over young Protestants. It trained thousands of volunteers to frame social concerns such as poverty as moral issues, while benefiting from the work of several small, liberal Catholic nonprofits that separately contacted churchgoers to present topics such as poverty, immigration, war and the environment as moral issues, while downplaying abortion.

"They let it be known, 'We want their vote, he deserves their vote...and we are not going to automatically assume you are going to vote for the Republicans,'" said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, a Houston supporter of Mr. Obama and a United Methodist pastor who has had longstanding ties to President Bush's family.

That said, it could be a challenge for the party to hold its gains long term. Some religious supporters will be looking for Mr. Obama to quickly end U.S. involvement in the Iraq war, ensure that detainees aren't tortured and bolster programs to aid the poor and those without health insurance. Hispanic Catholics and evangelicals may press him to modify immigration laws that have led to the detention of thousands of illegal residents.

But Mr. Obama has indicated the economy will be his top priority. Having raised expectations for left-leaning religious voters, he may be hard-pressed to deliver on some of them amid the financial crisis and economic slump.

The Obama campaign prevailed among Catholics despite sermons and letters from several conservative bishops across the country, who warned it would be a grave sin for Catholics to elect a candidate who favored legalized abortion. In a nod to abortion concerns, the party platform suggested bolstering aid programs to reduce the operations, which total more than one million annually.

The campaign staff enlisted Doug Kmiec, a Catholic adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign, and former Reagan White House aide, who threw his support behind Mr. Obama because of his opposition to other "life issues" such as the war and lack of health care. "People realized for the first time that there was an alternative way to promote the culture of life and how much they were missing in their faith tradition when they focused on the Supreme Court," Mr. Kmiec said.
The model for Mr. Obama's religious outreach was framed in 2005 by two Democratic advisers -- Mara Vanderslice and Alexia Kelley, an evangelical Christian and a Catholic, respectively. They blamed Mr. Kerry's loss among religious voters on his unwillingness to talk about his faith and address their moral concerns. In a white paper that circulated around Washington, the women said that if Democrats were going to shed an anti-religion reputation, candidates had to talk about faith, go on Christian radio, grant interviews to reporters for Catholic media and discuss issues that Republicans were not addressing: namely, poverty, immigration and the environment.

In 2006, Mr. Obama made a speech, "A Call to Renewal," before a large crowd of Christians in which he discussed his faith and urged secularists and progressives to embrace moral issues. His staff mailed excerpts of that speech to 40,000 pastors, an aide said.
The next year, he began courting Christian professors, theologians and ethicists, writing letters expressing enthusiasm for their work and inviting them to meet with him. One, Christian ethicist David Gushee of Mercer University in Atlanta, eventually was invited to the Democratic convention to talk about his faith-based effort to stop torture.

Write to Suzanne Sataline at suzanne.sataline@wsj.com