Obama and The Religious Vote: An Update

A theme that I like to return to every once in awhile when we get news on it, is about Barack Obama and The Religious Vote.

Ever since I read this post on PoliticalInaction.com, putting for the supposition that most of the attacks on Obama by the GOP were not just race related, but religion related, I have kept an eye open to see how far on or off the money the blogger was. I believe the blogger is on the money.

The ' Obama is a Muslim' LIE that arrives in the emailbox every Monday.
The ' Obama has a problem with the Jews' LIE that arrives in the emailbox every Tuesday.
The entire attack on Trinity UCC and Jeremiah Wright.

All were done to undermine Barack Obama and his religious standing.

So, what do the latest polls say?

According to David Brody of CBN:

For the most part, the various faith communities of the U.S. currently support Sen. Obama for the presidency. Among the 19 faith segments that The Barna Group tracks, evangelicals were the only segment to throw its support to Sen. McCain. Among the larger faith niches to support Sen. Obama are non-evangelical born again Christians (43% to 31%); notional Christians (44% to 28%); people aligned with faiths other than Christianity (56% to 24%); atheists and agnostics (55% to 17%); Catholics (39% vs. 29%); and Protestants (43% to 34%). In fact, if the current preferences stand pat, this would mark the first time in more than two decades that the born again vote has swung toward the Democratic candidate.

Now, isn't that interesting?

Of course, Obama's Christianity is ' ironic' according to NPR's Mara Liasson, because she has a hard time understanding how 'Liberals' could be ' Christians'.

I guess Martin Luther King, Jr., was just a big old faking athiest then.

And, I guess Black folks(the strongest base of the Democratic Party) are just pretending to go to church more than any group IN THIS COUNTRY, according to the latest study on religion by Pew. When we get in there, well, we're just pagans, I suppose.

You mean, Christianity meaning more than abortion and homosexuals?
NO!

Really?

Yes, Liasson is a stooge over at Fox Noise.

So, Obama's Christianity is ' ironic' when he's not being a Muslim and having problems with The Jews.

A Reminder: Obama and McCain will be at Rick Warren's Church this Saturday, August 16th. The 'Compassion Forum' will be broadcast on CNN.

The Democratic Party's Religious Base

From Newsweek:

SPIRITUALITY
Believers in the Pews--and the Polling Booth
A new study on the intersection of politics, religion and race.
By Grace Wyler Newsweek Web Exclusive
Jun 23, 2008 Updated: 11:45 a.m. ET Jun 23, 2008


The more religiously active an American is, the more likely he is to vote Republican--unless he's Black. That fact emerged in the second part of a Pew Forum study on the landscape of religious life in the United States, released this June.

The first part of the survey, released in February, showed that religion in the United States is both diverse and remarkably fluid--44 percent of Americans have switched their religious affiliation or denomination (or abandoned organized religion altogether). The new part, which looks at how religion informs American social and political values, further highlights religious diversity in the United States, underscoring the variety in patterns of belief and worship. "We have the tendency to believe that all members of one affiliation are the same, or that all people that frequently attend religious services are the same," says John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum and a professor of political science at the University of Akron. "But that's not the case. There is greater diversity."

Despite the country's religious multiformity, however, Black Americans are the most consistently religious--and religiously active--ethnic group in the country. More than 90 percent of Black Americans surveyed reported having a religious affiliation, and more than six in 10 said they were members of historically Black Protestant churches. Moreover, Black Protestants are among the most religiously involved Americans--85 percent say religion is very important in their lives, and more than half say they attend worship services at least once a week.

Rev. Cecil (Chip) Murray, the influential former pastor of the First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles, credits high levels of African-American religious involvement with the "heritage of the Black church" and its importance in building the African-American community in the aftermath of the Civil War. Black churches show people that "you may not have money, you may not have houses or land, but you have value," says Murray.


.....................................................

Still, Black Protestants remain loyal Democrats, regardless of how important religion is to an individual's life--77 percent of Black Protestants said they vote Democratic, whether they attended weekly services or not. Prominent intellectual and activist Cornel West points out that this is largely due to the Black community's historic ties to the Democratic Party, specifically during the civil-rights movement. "It's a matter of principle," West says. "Not just a matter of partisanship." This staunch support exists despite some Black churches' conservative views on social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. While the survey finds that those with high levels of religious commitment tend to oppose abortion and public acceptance of homosexuality, Black Protestants remain steadfast Democratic voters. West and others believe that this is because for members of black churches and of the Black community in general, "issues of economic and social justice tend to supercede issues of abortion and same sex-marriage." In other words, issues of equality and civil-rights continue to override any moral qualms Black Christian voters may have with Democratic politics. That can only be good news for Barack Obama, a churchgoing Black Protestant himself.

It has long been ignored that the Democrats had their own religious base. It's always been African-Americans. Obama understands that, which is why he wasn't afraid to come out for the Faith-based Initiatives last week. And, why I have no problem with him taking the religious battle to the GOP. It's been infuriating to watch Democrats run away from religion, as if believing in Jesus was a crime. I believe in the social gospel teachings of Jesus. And, I have long thought it was ridiculous for the religious left to let the religious right so narrowly define 'True Religion'=Only discussing Abortion/Homosexuals, when Christianity emcompasses so much more.

I don't know what it is about Black folk, but generally speaking, the only folks, outside of Jim Wallis(Sojourners), that have been effective in defending social gospel Christianity are African-Americans. I'm not expecting Obama to take a majority of the evangelical vote. He doesn't need a majority of that vote. But, if he made inroads with keeping the evangelicals that the Democrats got in 2006, and just slice off a few percentage points more, especially with young evangelicals, that wouldn't just mean the Presidency; that would mean helping downticket races too. The right is scared of Obama's religious outreach, and I hope that he continues with it, not only because I believe it's coming from a genuine place, but because it's smart politics. The secular left needs to understand this, and respect it, because I and others in the blogosphere challenged them, during the Donnie McClurkin brouhaha, to explain to me how ANY Democrat, not just Barack Obama, could win WITHOUT the Black Bible Thumping Voter Base? Oh, yeah, that's right....they can't.

Obama Campaign Will Launch 'Joshua Generation Project'

Hat tip:Politicalinaction.com

From CBNNews.com:

The Brody File
EXCLUSIVE: Obama Campaign will Launch 'Joshua Generation Project'
June 6, 2008

The Brody File has learned that in the next two weeks Barack Obama's campaign will unveil a major new program to attract younger Evangelicals and Catholics to their campaign.

It's called the "Joshua Generation Project." The name is based on the biblical story of how Joshua's generation led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

A source close to the Obama campaign tells The Brody File the following:

"The Joshua Generation project will be the Obama campaign's outreach to young people of faith. There's unprecedented energy and excitement for Obama among young evangelicals and Catholics. The Joshua Generation project will tap into that excitement and provide young people of faith opportunities to stand up for their values and move the campaign forward."

The official rollout won't be for another two weeks or so, but The Brody File has been told the activities will include house parties, blogging, concerts and more.

Rest of article at link above.

I have discussed the Obama/Evangelical Push in two previous posts:

Religious Right - Leaning Towards Obama?

Obama & The Right Wing: Is it All About Race, Or Not?

Last week, Mark DeMoss, who may be the most prominent public relations executive in the evangelical world, stated that he wouldn't be surprised if Obama got 40% of the evangelical vote.

40%?

I'm not saying Obama would get that much, but does he really need that much in order to tilt this election? No.

Remember the original hypothesis about Obama and Religion was brought forth on Politicalinaction.com

Now, we have Obama specifically outreaching to evangelicals. Evangelicals are to the GOP what Black folk are to the Democrats. What would happen if there was a Republican candidate that could get 40% of the Black vote? Exactly. That's why this is so serious.

And, it is the reason for
a) the Muslim Smears
b) why The Right went apecrazy over Jeremiah Wright

Those were both attempts to marginalize Obama as a Christian.

Obama is trying to rework the electoral map. He's going after voters in states that previously would have been ignored.


UPDATE: Found this at the Time.com, Swampland website

June 9, 2008 5:07
Evangelicals for Obama?

If this Barna poll of Evangelicals* is right, McCain has a LOT of work to do. From the poll’s synopsis:

But the big news in the faith realm is the sizeable defection from Republican circles of the much larger non-evangelical born again and the notional Christian segments. The non-evangelical born again adults constitute 37% of the likely voters in November, and the notional Christians are expected to be 39% of the likely voters. Among the non-evangelical born again adults, 52% supported President Bush in 2004; yet, only 38% are currently supporting Sen. McCain, while 48% are siding with Sen. Obama. Although notional Christians voted for John Kerry in 2004 by an 11-point margin, that gap has more than doubled to 26 points in this year’s election. Protestants and Catholics have moved toward the Democratic challenger in equal proportions since 2004.