In Defeats, Evangelicals' Political Unity at All-Time High
In Florida, voters defeated a constitutional amendment that would have overturned the state's ban on public funding for religious organizations. Amendment 8 would have allowed faith-based organizations to receive state funds (so long as the funding did not violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution). The amendment also would have allowed people to receive certain public services from religious organizations without government interference. Supporters saw Amendment 8 as an expansion of religious freedom; opponents saw it as an establishment of religion and a backdoor to providing vouchers to religious schools. Also defeated in Florida: an amendment that would have banned state funding of abortion or the use of the state constitution to expand abortion rights.
One bright spot for evangelicals was the overwhelming victory for California's Proposition 35, which lengthens prison terms for human trafficking. The measure was spearheaded by Daphne Phung, a Christian activist who immigrated from Vietnam at age eight. Motivated by her faith, Phung founded Californians Against Slavery. The organization was able to put Proposition 35 on the ballot with the financial backing of Chris Kelly, former chief of privacy for Facebook. Early returns show the proposition passing with about 80 percent support.
It also appears Massachusetts voters did not approve a measure to legalize physician-assisted and relative-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Fifty-one percent of Massachusetts voters voted against this measure. Had it been approved, Massachusetts would have joined Oregon and Washington as the only states to allow physician-assisted suicide.
Star Trek Into Darkness
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Jon Hakim
I'm still waiting for the authors to explain why they think it's okay to act like the only real evangelicals are white evangelicals. They purposely ignore Black evangelicals, Latino evangelicals, Asian-American evangelicals, and Native American evangelicals in all their statistics. And in most cases, including the headline, they don't even admit that they're ignoring them! So what if 94% of White evangelicals voted for Romney in Mississippi - almost all White people in Mississippi voted for Romney! But don't the Black and Latino and Asian evangelicals, who may have had a different opinion, have a vote that counts too? Why are "African-Americans" a separate category there, as if they're not evangelical? I've commented before, sent an email, left a message...why haven't the authors realized how important this issue is? If you're going to segregate voters out and only count the White people, at least be clear that you're doing it and explain why.
Paul Schryba
Claire: There are many factors in the decline of the middle class and increase in the numbers of poor, not do to Pres. Obama. The elimination of good paying government jobs at all levels through budget cuts is one of them, ignored by you. The migration of jobs overseas is another; you have implied elsewhere that is due to over taxation and government regulation. While that is a factor, I suggest to you that it is more due to the fact that there are millions of poor who are willing to work at subsistence level in countries that have no minimum wage, don't care about workplace safety and environmental conditions. Owners who seek only to 'maximize profit' and 'remain competitive' build where its cheap; and Joe/Josephine Six Pack buying cheap Chinese at the local mega-store, bypassing small business. Some poor have no choice- most do. Walmart reported a 9% increase in 3rd quarter sales, and accounted for 10% of non-auto retail sales in the US.
Annie Weatherly-Barton
I was very interested to read your response Claire. I think I can understand where you are coming from in terms of abortion, re-definition of marriage and immigration. I do have sympathy with your arguments. However the use of certain pieces of Biblical texts to back up the argument is choosing one text against the other. We have to take the whole gamut of God's word in order to understand what God is saying. Even then it would be somewhat arrogant to say we all know the mind of God. I do not believe I am biased towards Mr Obama and thus I am against Mr Romney. As you know Mr Romney came here and most people found him obnoxious and arrogant in the extreme. Perhaps I just do not see things in such black & white terms. Behind every decision and action there is a human face and when I am with folk who are facing very difficult decisions I choose to listen to them and as Ken Leech "walk through their hell with them."