Call me naive, but I did think for a while there that Obama was going to start taking substantial Christian votes from the Republican party. Surely here was a guy, whose policies towards the poorer members of society Christians would identify with.
But alas all I hear are the same old polarised politics – Christians so convinced that Jesus would vote Republican that they don’t even stop to think about who to vote for.
Or they make it all about a few select moral issues – abortion, gay marriage etc. Now I’m as opposed to abortion anyone, but abortion didn’t disappear during the last 8 years of Bush’s presidency. Very little changed. And isn’t it a moral issue when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, or when the poorest members of society struggle to afford basic health care?
Or the protests of “he’ll raise our taxes!”, as if that would be the worst thing in the world. Putting aside the fact that Obama has now pledged to cut taxes for 95% of working families, and that Americans generally pay much less tax than their European counterparts, maybe Jesus wants to see the rich pay more tax.
Once upon a time God gave a group of people a very detailed set of instructions for how their society should function. He instructed them to treat every 50th year as a special year – a year of Jubilee, and on that year all land had to be given back to its original owners. Does that sound like free-market capitalism? If a politician suggested that we’d call them a communist!
So my plea is as simple as this -take some time to think about who you are going to vote for.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’m with you, Rowan. I hate to tell you that the Christian conservatives have it all worked out too. It’s not that they’re against the poor, it’s that individuals should be serving the poor, not the government. So they say.
Forget the fact that God’s commands regarding the poor go back as far as Moses, and were commands to the nation, not individuals. Also forget the fact that the conservative right wants the nation to be Christian in every other way (e.g. keeping gay marriage illegal because it somehow, magically affects my marriage).
*Sigh* Like I said. I’m with you. But then nobody ever called me conservative.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I used to buy that argument about individuals vs the state. But now I see it as part of the mindset that instead of wanting to see society changed, wants to withdraw from “secular” society and create a separate “Christian” society.
I think its also partly just an excuse. I mean doesn’t God want everyone to pay less tax so they can buy the new iPhone?
I guess I’m a disillusioned conservative, on his his way to becoming a socialist!
September 4th, 2008 at 1:00 am
So, please explain who your “plea” is to? Is someone a member of the US Christian Right if they support the Republican party? Or is it if they say they are conservative? Or is it if they are a Republican ONLY because they are a Christian? If the latter, how can anyone really know if that is there only reason?
I think there is an assumption on your part that there IS a Christian Right made up of non-thinking Christian people who choose to support the Republican party without engaging their mind!!!
May I suggest that you engage your mind before responding (a friendly challenge for you).
btw I’m a member of the US/GB Christian Socialist McCainist Centrist Obama Coalition. I didn’t really choose to be – it just happened in a mystical fashion – please enlighten me, oh wise one?!??!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I think you’re almost right about my assumption – I would say “largely made up”. I’ll concede that there are some good reasons to vote Republican. My frustration is that all the good reasons to not vote Republican don’t seem to enter the equation for the majority of our US brothers and sisters.
Part of the problem as I see it is that there are very limited voting options – if you want to vote morally conservative, you have to vote conservative in every other aspect. But instead of voting conservative, despite the right-wing economic and social policies, US Christians have ended up embracing right-wing economic and social attitudes.
Which is a very different situation to Europe, where Christians seems to more often align themselves with socialist parties, e.g., our own Christian Socialist Movement aligned with the Labour Party.
PS. Ironic how you mispell “their” after our chat about grammar. And I have no idea what your last paragraph is about.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
You might be surprised to hear that if I had the opportunity to vote – I would vote for McCain.
I really appreciate McCain’s apparent honesty and the fact that he actually gives a straight answer when he is asked a question. I find Obama so full of rhetoric, flip flopping between ideas and not really coming up with a clear plan. He’s all about “change – change – change” but doesn’t say how. His track record in the senate isn’t exactly one of a trailblazer. I don’t think “being black” is a good enough reason to become president. I think the US needs a strong leader especially with the current economic pressures. I think ultimately McCain is a safer pair of hands.
In USA national Politics there is no real left wing. Its all about how far from centre you are too the right. Does it really matter then between democrat and republican.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:17 am
So is your arguement basically that Christians should vote for the most socialist politician running? Did you know that compared to McCain, Obama is anti free trade? Something I think would help poor economies around the world. And aren’t Obama’s tax cuts for the middle classes?
And (as I understand it) with abortion, the nominations in the last 8 years mean that the next supreme court judge nominated will be crucial to the outcome if they are called upon to make any judgement on abortion.
I’m with Alan. There are fewer brainless Republican voters than you think.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Jonny: I am surprised! I had you pegged as an environmentalist at the very least. I watched Obama’s acceptance speech and was very impressed – lots of specific promises and very little rhetoric. I watched (some of) McCain’s speech and heard a lot of vagueness and patriotism… coming from a man who looked old and tired. And as for the gun totting Miss Alaska – she scares me. I’ve no doubt McCain would make a decent president, and he seems likeable and down to earth. But I don’t think he can deliver the change of direction that the US needs.
September 7th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Peter: As far I understand Obama has said he is all for free trade… just not the NAFTA agreement made with Mexico which has caused a lot of manufacturing jobs to head south of the border.
My argument is not that Christians should vote socialist – just that Christians should stop giving the Republican party their unquestioning support just because they play the abortion and gay marriage cards.
I’m with you on abortion – it saddens me that Obama just doesn’t get it, but that’s only one issue.
What about gun control? McCain recently praised the Supreme Court’s overturn of DC’s handgun ban. Obama has always supported gun control laws. Isn’t that one good reason to not vote Republican?
September 9th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Obama says he is for fair trade. Not free trade. The NAFTA agreement allowed free trade with Mexico – so all the American jobs went south, something which has benefitted the Mexican economy.
I haven’t made up my mind yet about either side. There are plenty of good reasons not to vote for either side!! America does need a change of direction. And I hear what you’re saying. There are a lot of people who vote Republican solely on the issue of abortion. But on the flip side there are a lot of people who vote Democrat because they are pro abortion. I agree with you about gun control but as Europeans we will never really understand the strange relationship Americans have with guns. Obama may have supported gun control laws but it will always be constitutional to bear arms and I can’t see any president making much of a change to that.
I know what you think about abortion – and I’m not trying to get into a debate with you about it. Just to say that I think abortion is different. I don’t really care what the state says about gun control, taxes, economy, war, even gay marriage. But abortion is an moral issue. I know many will disagree but to my mind, surely the protection of innocent life is not one issue among many, it is the most basic, foundational commitment of a just society. And on a personal level, no matter what other great qualities Obama may have, his view on abortion reflects how highly he regards human life.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I normally avoid discussions like this, as I tend to come across as opinionated, but… I fully agree with Rowan on this one. Abortion and gay marriage are both legitimate causes, which are worth talking about. However, I can’t see Peter G’s point about innocent life.
How many are dead now due to the UK and US’s recent wars? Last I checked it was over 250,000 in Iraq alone, since the 2005 invasion. Do those lives not bear some level of moral responsibility? McCain has pretty much said he will continue with GWB’s policies in that direction, which is about the most important direction that America does need a change in.
I think the thing that has upset me most about the last few years of American politics is the rating of us v them – American lives are worth more than everyone else. That’s a broad brush that covers Guantanamo, Iraq, the International Criminal Court, trade agreements, border search and entry policies, rendition, etc. If a candidate could stand up and say that he intended to afford the same weight to all lives, born and unborn, white and black, western and eastern, friend and foe, then he would be worth listening to.