Shaun Casey, a professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary is coordinating evangelical outreach for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign. As he walked to a meeting, we spoke about how the religious outreach at this convention is different from 2004.
“It’s completely different in the sense that there were only sort of side groups talking about religion, and here it is the party itself at the heart of what it’s doing. That’s a radical departure.
What did you think about the interfaith service?
You heard a variety of views, clearly no screening of the speakers. You heard a variety of positions taken and embraced. It showed the diversity of the Democratic Party and its openness to evangelicals, there were mainliners. It was an accurate reflection of the diversity of the party.
What do you think about the Democratic platform on abortion?
It’s something that evangelicals ought to take quite seriously that the Democratic Party has made a commitment to reducing the number of abortions without reverting to criminalization. Based on my conversations with evangelicals, I think that resonates, I think a lot of evangelicals find that attractive, they find that helpful and hopeful, and it’s a reflection of who Sen. Obama is.
Barack Obama’s sympathetic, he’s open to evangelical voices, he’s serious about global poverty, domestic poverty, global climate change. I think a lot of young evangelicals will find that very, very attractive.”
