There’s a holy war brewing here in the States.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain flew to Ohio last week to woo the traditionally right wing bloc, but rival Barack Obama’s intent on trumping McCain’s efforts:
Between now and November, the Obama forces are planning as many as 1,000 house parties and dozens of Christian rock concerts, gatherings of religious leaders, campus visits and telephone conference calls to bring together voters of all ages motivated by their faith to engage in politics. It is the most intensive effort yet by a Democratic candidate to reach out to self-identified evangelical or born-again Christians and to try to pry them away from their historical attachment to the Republican Party.
Obama, who will speak in Ohio today, hopes to use the power of Christ to compel voters to heal the rifts that have for so long divided the electorate.
While not all Evangelicals will flock to the Senator, many observers predict a fairly good turnout:
Mark DeMoss, a public relations executive who represents Franklin Graham and other church leaders and conservative religious organizations, said recently that Mr. Obama could conceivably win as much as 40 percent of the evangelical vote.
“He is going to do reasonably well,” Mr. DeMoss said, “and that is due to a combination of things. One of them is a lack of passion and enthusiasm for John McCain among a lot of these folks, and Obama seems to be doing the right kinds of things to reach out to them.”
From his lips to God’s ears…
How about we take this to the next level?
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Rock
Obama’s a phony! He’s pandering to these Christian bigots who would love to exterminate us all.
Disgusting.
fredo777
haha
I used to listen to Christian rock. Some of it was pretty good.
I liked that band Relient K. Really upbeat stuff.
Rock, “pandering to these Christian bigots” doesn’t (necessarily) make him any more anti-gay than “pandering to we LGBTs” makes him gay. Frankly, if a more progressive candidate can woo some of the evangelical voters to see things his way, I think it’s a good thing. I’ll keep an eye on it, of course.
fredo777
Also, there are (shocking) some gays who consider themselves Christians + Christians who aren’t gay-bashers. It happens.
blake
Maybe people should read the newspaper. There is a schism happening amongst evangelicals. Younger ones are rejecting the social conservatism of their parents!
Obama’s campaign has always been focused on getting younger, progressive voters. By dismantling the evangelical connection to the Republicans, he effectively can crush the GOP!
Obama has repeatedly spoken out for gay rights in churches. Therefore, anyone who is Christian and pro-Obama already know that he supports gay rights.
This is about destroying the GOP by taking away a chunk of its support base. Do some research.
emb
The current New Yorker has a lengthy article about the schism Blake is referring to. If Obama can woo the less-neanderthal christians to vote for him, well that’s just dandy. If evangelical christianity is going to be playing a major role in an Obama administration, that’s just unacceptable.
The belief in one’s ability to communicate with invisible sky people should not necessarily qualify one for a seat at the government table. Quite the opposite, in fact, it seems to me. If their invisible friend were called anything but “god” we’d be medicating them.
CHURCHILL-Y
Here we go again more altar pandering and possibly another homophobic religious singer tour.
And then his plans on expanding Bush’s Faith-based programs including hiring and firing based on faith. Why is this guy considered an agent of “change” again? Especially when it comes to gay people?
Rock
I refuse to sit at the back of the bus.
Fuck that! (I’ll ride in a limo)
RPCV
I sense that the dear Right Reverend Jeremiah “God DAMN America, Whites Planted AIDS in the BLACK Community” Wright is scripting Obama’s speeches. Hussein is a master at trying to make people believe he is sincere, a Christian, and a patriot, when in fact he’s a panderer and a Muslim and has contempt for America (as so clearly expressed by that two-faced Michelle).
Steve
Actually, I think the Democrats, and Obama, are much closer to what most Christians believe than the Republicans. “Give to the poor.” “Love your neighbor.” All of that new-testament stuff is what we now call “liberal.” The right-wing hateful judgment-based crap that has been passed off as Christianity for the last couple decades is just a lie. Most real Christians are inherently liberal. And, most of us are angry at the Republican party and at the “Evangelical” preachers, because they have hijacked the Christian religion for their own purposes. The Evangelical preachers have USED their congregations to gain power and wealth. The Republican party has USED the Christians to gain power an wealth. Christianity is inherently “liberal.” It’s about time we voted that way.
Konrad
it wouldn’t bother me if Obama said “fuck off” to all the gay bigots who would love to exterminate anyone who disagrees with them.
Our movement built on tolerance should give the boot to those with no tolerance for others.
todd
All he has to do is get them to like him enough not to vote AGAINST him for McInsane, whom they hate anyway. If they like Obama a little bit, then they won’t vote… it’s that simple. And that will supress the turnout for McCain.