Richard Cizik wants evangelicals to reach out to Barack Obama as he takes on his new role. I just spoke with Cizik, who is the vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals.
I think anybody who doesn’t see the extraordinary significance of the first African American being elected the United States, they’re missing history. I think it’s an extraordinary moment in American history. I have to say, I never really believed I’d be able to see the day that I would see an African American or any minority would be elected the president of the United States. I never thought it would happened.
America is changing. The religious communities of America are changing, too. Anybody who doesn’t understand that the multi-racial nature of American politics today fails to capture what’s happening. The Republican Party has to be afraid that it’s monochromatic.
I suspect that millions upon millions of evangelicals around the world are extremely proud of America tonight. I’m confident that Barack Obama wants to unite this country. I hope the better angels of Obama’s nature triumph, and I frankly don’t agree with everything on him. I suspect there will be actions he takes I don’t agree with. I think it’s important to have the right attitude – the attitude of Christ – which is he needs our prayers and our support, even if we don’t agree with him.
