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Christianity Today, November (Web-only), 2008 |

Election Honeymoon

Will evangelicals learn to work with an Obama administration?

Sarah Pulliam | posted 11/05/2008 03:18PM

Barack Obama received a mandate for change November 4, and now evangelicals must decide how they will work with the new administration.

Despite heavy religious outreach by Obama, exit poll results suggested ...

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CJ	Posted: November 09, 2008 9:16 PM

Christian Democrats revile Palin for her prayer one day and proclaim how short we fall from the Old Testament commands to help the poor on the next. Collecting forced donations to help the poor, their democratic government is as fearful a theocracy as any. Biblical justification for the democratic platform is a thin fiction. Christian democrats are the only ones who believe it. The reality of the democratic leadership belies their dream—universal health care for everyone but babies who survive abortions—where is that in the Bible?

Lisa Weber

Posted: November 09, 2008 1:45 PM

Chika...who are we to say what is or is not important to God? Do you not think that ALL life is important to God? Why is it that he specifically mentions the widows and orphans and helpless, rather than other, when calling on us to care for people? We are called to love ALL people, but we are NOT called to condone what people do. THAT is why the emphasis on gay marriage and abortion. Perhaps you could use a little more soul-searching on those points. You've made a good point overall, but I still must ask why you appear to think that gay marriage and abortion are somehow less abhorrent to God than moral laws, since they are HIS laws that OUR MORALS are based off of.

Gracie

Posted: November 08, 2008 5:13 PM

I knew that since God is a Perfect Gentleman Who gave us all free will,that He would most likely allow the U.S to get the "rock star"president that the U.S. wanted. I was hoping and praying that Senator McCain and Gov. Palin would be the ones elected because I felt that unlike Senator Obama/Joe Biden that they were both truly for America and Israel, and that God would more abundantly bless America asa result of protecting and supporting Israel. I also liked that McCain and Palin were overall for the divine institution of marriage,and that they unlike Obama/Biden, seemed to have some understanding that government (which is also another divine institution) should be about helping and properly protecting Americans, NOT taking over and governing every aspect of their lives. America's choice for president in this election made me very sad indeed because I firmly believe that Obama's Marxism/socialism ideology and policies are very detrimental and extremely harmful to America's future.

Rochelle

Posted: November 08, 2008 12:45 PM

Pray for those in authority! We must put aside our opinions and judgemental attitudes and PRAY! We must love all persons and always keep in mind that we are all sinners... fallen from grace... but through the precious blood of Jesus Christ we have been saved by grace. We live in a sinful world and we Christians should be even more aware of how sinful we are than anyone else. So, let's join together and pray for this new 'leader-to-be.' God is glorified when we pray in spirit and in truth. Good article - quite objective.

Joy	Posted: November 08, 2008 10:50 AM

I so agree with the person who said that we must "lift up" those in authority. The Bible does command it and we will reap the benefits of our unselfish prayers. No one is perfect, and so we must respect what God has allowed. Judging president-elect Obama at this time (or any time for that matter) would be pre mature and furthermore, not biblical. Who is righteous? Not one. Let us look at his life and see how he lives it with his family, the choices and the decisions he makes to lead the country out of its dilemmas.

cajetano

Posted: November 08, 2008 10:45 AM


St. Paul wrote; "Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus." This sinner is praying and watching attentively to the lead of the Evangelicals.

stuart lawrence

Posted: November 08, 2008 8:23 AM


so called right wing reactionary christians should also speak up for gun control and abolish the death penalty if they are series about pro life issues

scottys

Posted: November 07, 2008 6:40 PM

why is it that the only evangelical community that seems to be important is the white evangelical community? There are evangelicals of other colors, races and sizes who love Jesus. And there are white evangelicals who want to share the Gospel to the unsaved, but who voted FOR Obama. Whatever happened to the multi-faceted Body of Christ with Jesus as the head? And what happened to Peter's admonition to "Honor the king"? Maybe we (the Body of Christ who are called by His Name- all colors, all stripes, all political leanings) should humble ourselves, pray, and turn from our wicked ways so that the Lord can reach out and heal our land.

Mitch

Posted: November 07, 2008 3:35 PM


Thanks for being honest and non biased. I've seen so much hate from "Christian" conservatives. That's no way to win over people for Christ. Great job. Spread the word...extremism is not necessary. Thanks again. God bless.

Chika Chukwujekwu

Posted: November 07, 2008 7:12 AM

I am a Christian but I'm deeply disappointed in the American Evangelical church. You've become more pharisaic than Christ-like. Have you all read Amazing Grace and The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey? When I read my bible, I see that if Jesus were here today, his concern would not be gay marriage and abortion. His concern would be Poverty and Injustice and compassion for the downtrodden. It is shameful that rather than being moved by the tears of hope on the faces your African American brethren who have suffered brutally in a christian country, you are more concerned about your moral laws. Which is more important to God? Unborn fetuses or denigration and indignity meted out to people that bear his Name. A fitting name for the American Christian Coalition is Ichabod. You really have no clue that the glory has departed, the minute grace disappeared.

stanman

Posted: November 06, 2008 7:59 PM

Shannon, it seems like you have some built-up resentment or anger toward Evangelicals. You should be in support of the Defense of Marriage act signed by Obama's fellow Democrat Bill Clinton in 1996. As for RU-486, I gather that sexual relations outside of marriage is something you're not against. I feel the same way you do about the war, however I don't understand why you would be blaming the financial crisis on Evangelicals when in fact the Democrats in Congress back in the 90s forced banks to hand out loans to people that had no business of getting them in the first place, thereby setting the stage to this point. (It was part of the idea to make home ownership more available and it backfired)You should be forgiving to them like somebody like myself would be to your anger.

albieon

Posted: November 06, 2008 6:24 PM

Josh: I'm a 71 yr old Christian who voted for Obama > My parents were registered republicans. In 1957 after high school, i worked as a "gofer" during Eisenhowers re-election campaign and gained some poise and skills in my first job with fulltime hours. I voted for Obama because he includes me in as part of THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA. Senator McCain and Satah Palin did not. McCain and Palin reflect a white only, southern point of view. McCain and Palin live in a bubble, Obama does not. No one is perfect including Obama, McCain and Palin. But Obama stuck to the issues, McCain did not. He also treated McCain with respect, but obviously McCain/Palin did not! Let the young take over the 21st century.

Anonymous

Posted: November 06, 2008 4:33 PM


Nice reporting here......

Diane

Posted: November 06, 2008 4:20 PM


Will be interesting to see if Dobson gives Obama a honeymoon or lashes out in his newsletters like he did with Clinton.

Josh	Posted: November 06, 2008 1:50 PM

Leah, thank you for a respectful and accurate response. Please overlook the criticisms of those who are unloving and unfair in their judgements against "evangelical." Y, Craig, csmith, good job being respectful, classy, and constructive with your input. Craig b, I will not say you make me embarassed to be a Christian, in which part of the Bible or Jesus words did you find that it was justified for yout to say so? Y, all you want to be is personally offensive. Like I said in my first post, I hope Obama makes wise and moral decisions, but if "Change" is some of the more detrimental policies he supports, then I will fulfill my call to pray for the Presidential office that he either change course or take that "Change" out of the office with him. My guess is that you 3 probably have some very judgemental and unjustified criticisms of President Bush, how often did you pray for him? DId you even give him a chance before you criticized, or did you join so much of the world undermining him?

csmith

Posted: November 06, 2008 12:04 PM

Leah - Craig's point about Evangelicals being lazy is right on the money. Is the issue that we should be focused on changing the law to make abortion illegal or stopping abortion...they aren't the same thing (and by the way, abortion is not the only act that kills innocent people, it's just seems to be the only one that we Evangelicals care about). The biggest single cause of abortion in the U.S. is poverty but I don't see many Evangelicals fighting poverty with the passion and resources we've put against abortion. If creating a new welfare program was guaranteed to eliminate 75% of abortions (I'm not saying it would but 75% of women who have abortions say that the primary reason is because they can't afford to have a child), would we fight for that program as hard as we fight for legislation to make abortion illegal? Is our goal to stop the practice of abortion or simply to make it illegal?

Leah	Posted: November 06, 2008 11:04 AM

Craig B, I disagree. To call evangelicals lazy because we want to outlaw abortion is incorrect. We want it outlawed because it is seen as murder of innocent people. For someone who seems to think evangelical Christians are intolerant, you have some pretty intolerant statements there. Just because Evangelicals decide to stick to what the Bible says is true and not shift with every whim of the culture doesn't mean that we are less loving. It simply means that we strive to obey God at any cost, even if it means being hated by the culture and being called things like "lazy" and being accused of intolerance. As for gay marriage, it is wrong because God created man and woman for each other and homosexual acts are condemned in the Bible. It sounds like you are aware that the Bible backs up both of these views. E's believe these, among other things, because it is written in God's Word and God's Word has proven to be more reliable than any other book from antiquity to this day.

Greg	Posted: November 06, 2008 10:25 AM

I hope that Evangelicals don't stand back and cast stones as bitter hyprocrites for the next four years, but rather engage this president, lift him up and pray for him as we are commanded to do. We have been trying to win battles in the flesh for too long, relying on our own strength (though masking it in prayer and self-righteousness) instead of relying on God and behaving as Christ called us to behave: with love and respect for all, even our enemies. God's victories are of the heart and soul, not the ballot box and identifying with a particular historical political ideology such as Republicanism/Conservatism. The kingdom must be interior before it can be exterior and we cannot impose it. God does not impose himself on on us! Therefore, we should not impose ourselves on others, but persaude through our own humility, kindness and love.

Y	Posted: November 06, 2008 9:53 AM

To all of the Obama "haters" all I have to say is Ha Ha Ha!!!! We did it!!! In your face! Give Obama a chance before you start criticizing him! It's about time Change has come to America and these so called "evangelicals" can't handle it! Well it's too bad because the White House is Obama House now! If these so called "Christians" don't like it then move to Canada! Obama is definately the change we need! Stop criticizing and pray for him!

craig b

Posted: November 06, 2008 8:50 AM

the evangelical demographic as a whole makes me embarrassed to be a christian. as Shannon said, all they care about is the moral issues on which they think they are infallibly correct, and not the actual charge of christianity which is to create & participate in loving relationships with people. evangelicals want to outlaw abortion because they are lazy, and they want to outlaw gay marriage because it's something they privately think is gross and happen to find a couple of lines in the bible that say its wrong.

csmith

Posted: November 06, 2008 7:19 AM

Sadly, I suspect that the Evangelical community will turn its back on this opportunity and choose to stand on the sidelines and throw stones at the Obama administration. We have become so myopically focused on abortion and gay marriage that we can no longer see beyond them to find common ground on other issues (while holding firm to our position on those issues). We seem to believe that our position is unassailable, we fail to seek common ground with that African-American church, and we continue to ignore the biblical mandate to "do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God". Jim Wallis has it right, we need to work with the new administration, hold them accountable, and work for change (following in the footsteps of William Wilberforce). Sadly, it's more likely that we'll spend the next 4 years stirring up support for the next Republican candidate for President, reinforcing the fact that the Evangelical church has becoming little more than a Republican PAC.

Fred Gazendam

Posted: November 05, 2008 11:39 PM

As a born again Christian 9which began in 1959 at Billy's Graham crusade in Sydney Australia, the country I migrated to the year before at the age of 30 years. Of all the countries in God's world I fail to see if any leader governs on God's sufficency, instead of their own! On our daily devotions my wife and I pray for all govenments in the world. If there are any questions about what God's sufficency is, open the Holy Scriptures, the most important book in this world. May the Lord bless you all.

Annette

Posted: November 05, 2008 10:48 PM

The ball is clearly in Obama's court....he didn't get my vote....however, i must live with what america decided...just as die hard democrats had to "live" with George Bush for 8 years!!!! Only time will tell if he was the right candidate. And to roger from australia my eyes are dry...and my trust has only been on God and never on Bush, McCain or Obama.....Cursed is the man who places his trust on another man....

Josh	Posted: November 05, 2008 8:42 PM

Roger, thank you for your input. Unfortunately I think you mischaracterize (slightly) the view of Govt. authorities that "American evangelicals" uphold. While it is Biblically accurate to agree that all leaders are placed in God for His purposes, it may very well be that "praying that God uses Obama for His glory" may in actuality be in Obama displaying the moral bankruptcy of some of his positions and Christians being even more affirmed in their choice in candidate next election. I certainly do hope Obama makes wise and moral decisions, but for example, playing the hypocrtical and two faced line of being against 'same-sex marriage" (so he could get elected) but being against California's Prop. 8 (which only affects same-sex marriage, not civil unions) is a good sign that he may have difficulty (whether due to inexperience or naivety) of making such decisions. As for others who take offense with the reference to Nero, Hitler, Stalin et al., I apologize, not equating them with Obama.

Shannon

Posted: November 05, 2008 8:23 PM


I hope Obama's first two acts upon taking office are to declare gay marriage absolutely, irrevocably, legal, and to put RU-486 vending machines on every corner. If only to pay back Evangelicals for what they've done to the USA over the last 16 years. Thanks for the war and the financial crisis, hypocrites.

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