Religion and Politics

A friend sent this to me:

"From NBC, MSNBC and news services:

In the end, Ohio was the fulcrum, and exit polling data suggested that it was older voters and white evangelical Christians who clinched the deal for Bush. The president won 56 percent of the vote among voters ages 60 and older, and he took three-quarters of white evangelical voters, who made up 25 percent of the state’s electorate.

"Continuing to inspire young voters and targeting the political motives of evangelical older folks, especially in the "red" states is the goal. Is it just me but didn't the map showing the red and blue states look like a red cancer growing in the middle of the country and pushing to the edges?"

Let the evangelicals go. They want the endtimes to come as soon as possible, and they think Bush will bring them about. This story finally explained to me why religious fundamentalists have no interest in preserving our envirionment, or paying down the deficit, or understanding people in other nations, or anything else that has to do with planning for the future. I don't expect Jesus to come down at the end of armageddon and take me to heaven. I just want the world my kid grows up in to be better than the one I inherited. That's all.

I think it's wrong to point the finger at the "Red States", or write Bush voters off as stupid or ignorant. We all have seemingly sensible and compassionate friends, neighbors and family members who voted for Bush because they're under the mistaken impression that he has unwavering Christian Values. Look at CNN's Election Results map -- click on any state, Red OR Blue, and you'll see a microcosm of the map of the whole country.

Yes, we do need to continue to spread the facts and argue for the truth. The only way this election was even close was because so many people everywhere woke up and switched allegiance sometime over the past 2-3 years (remember Bush's 90% approval ratings? Remember "Mission Accomplished"? He seemed unbeatable back then!). Maybe a few more months of horrible news and mistakes and lies uncovered would have brought enough people around to pull this one out, but it wouldn't have changed the fact that we were still backing a campaign of "Kerry: He's Not The Other Guy!". And the Radical Right would have torn him down before we'd had the chance to build a strong and widespread enough system to back him up. As it happens, now we've got some time to do that. But the truth alone won't be enough.

What we need to do is put forth a clear and contrasting set of values along with a vision for the future. And we need to connect with those we know who are moderately religious, not write them off! Most religions (and the non-religious) share the same values: honesty, fairness, cooperation, compassion, responsibility, and a balance between security and freedom. Unfortunately, our best hope for an opposition party has yet to figure this out. Even after the anti-war protests and the populist Dean campaign re-energized the DNC (and gave them hope of winning after writing 2004 off), the old guard fell into the same trap of trying to be everything to every undecided voter while not offending anyone (particularly when it came to the war), and it was their downfall once again. It's time to acknowledge that this strategy flat out does not work, especially right now when the main thing so many people seem to crave is a strong and steadfast leader, regardless of his (or her) ideas or ideology.

If things continue as they are, soon millions more Bush-voters will no longer be able to deny the horrors of what's happening, both here and in Iraq, and will be ready to listen to explanations and look for new leadership. We who are already there need to be ready to speak to them with a clear understanding of our ideas and a positive vision for the future. The trick is, we don't need one leader telling us what to do or think -- we each have the knowledge and wisdom within us to do what's right. It's when we stick together that we have the power to improve the world. As I remember from grade school history, that was the whole idea of a democratic United States of America, wasn't it?

If you want to read a good definition of what the "progressive moral vision" could be, I found one I really like, along with a lot about the very clever methods the Right uses to "frame" their messages to make them palatable -- in this brilliant little book: "Don't Think of an Elephant", by George Lakoff. It's just 8 bucks at Amazon, and just might blow your mind, like it did mine.