"I think there is a viable religious left who can be persuaded [to support Obama] by a carefully articulated religious argument, but no one is making it. I get frustrated when I talk to evangelical friends or students and they ask, 'How can you be a Christian and a Democrat?'"For background, read Bishops Throw Down Gauntlet: Obama War on Christianity and also read Obama's Base Support is the Unchurched (barely) as well as 'Traditional Black Churches' Criticized as Homophobic by Obama in addition read Obama Defeats Marriage, Again - Congress Responds and take note that Most Americans Oppose Obama's War on Christianity
-- Valerie Cooper, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
UPDATE 8/1/12: Black Pastors Line up to Oppose Obama
UPDATE 10/11/12: Pornography Industry Backs Obama by 5-to-1 Margin over Romney
UPDATE 10/27/12: Non-religious less likely to show up to vote than Christians
UPDATE 9/6/12: Christians OK with Romney, Non-religious Prefer Obama
-- From "Losing faith in Democrats' religious outreach" by Rachel Zoll, Associated Press Religion Writer 6/3/12
. . . some religious leaders and scholars who backed Obama in 2008 are skeptical. They say the Democrats have, through neglect and lack of focus, squandered the substantial gains they made with religious moderates and worry it will hurt Obama in a tight race against Republican Mitt Romney.
. . . as evidence of their concerns, critics point to the public debate that followed Obama's endorsement of gay marriage, a decision the president said was based in part on his Christian faith.
In 2008, the Obama campaign sought ways to cooperate with religious moderates and conservatives and make them feel more welcome among Democrats. Many political veterans dismissed the idea as quixotic. For the past decade or so, exit polls have found that the more often a voter attends church, the more likely he was to back a conservative candidate, earning the GOP the nickname "God's Own Party."
But from 2008 to 2010, when control of Congress was at stake, the DNC cut its faith outreach staffing from more than six people to one part-timer, according to The Washington Post.
Some Democrats see no problem with consigning faith outreach to the sidelines. They argue that attempts to please moderate and conservative religious groups have kept Obama from fully enacting some policies important to party members.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Catholic voters key to presidential win" by Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 6/3/12
Worry about eroding religious freedom could sway Roman Catholic voters further away from President Obama, and the Catholic voting bloc typically predicts the winner in presidential elections, experts say.
"Religious liberty is becoming a major campaign issue as many Catholics, along with other Americans, are realizing that religious freedom and conscience protection can no longer be taken for granted," said Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor and a former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.
In April, a Pew Research Center survey found Obama's approval among Catholics dropped 8 percentage points since March, down from 45 percent, as support for Romney rose 6 points to 57 percent.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "'Heart-Broken' Black Pastors Want to Meet Obama Over Gay Marriage" by Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor 6/2/12
"We pray for the President ... President Obama is the fulfillment of our dreams for our sons -- and he has broken our hearts by using his power and position to endorse as a civil right something that is simply wrong," the Rev. William Owens, founder and president of the Coalition of African American Pastors (CAAP), wrote in a letter to [Attorney General Eric] Holder late Thursday.
"I would pray you have enough residual respect for this group of clergy, to agree to meet with us and other national leaders to discuss our concerns over your and President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage as a civil right," Owens said in the letter, signed by numerous black pastors. "Some things are bigger than the next election."
Referring to a May 17 press conference against Obama's support for gay marriage in Memphis, Tenn., the CAAP president quoted civil rights activist Elder Morris as saying, "We marched so we wouldn't have to sit in the back of the bus, so our children could go to the same schools, so we could go to the zoo every day." Owens then wrote, "That's what it looks and feels like when genuine civil rights are violated. I can promise you personally, as an organizer of the civil rights movement in Nashville, I did not march one inch, one foot, one yard for same-sex marriage."
The coalition's letter also refers to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who laid down the markers for how one can distinguish a genuinely unjust law, a law that violates civil rights: "How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years" posted at Pew Research Center for the People & the Press 6/4/12
About three-quarters of the public (76%) say prayer is an important part of their daily life, while an identical percentage agrees that “we will all be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins.” And eight-in-ten say they never doubt the existence of God.
The partisan gap over the three religious values questions, while substantial, has not increased much in recent years. Currently, 81% of Republicans agree with all three religious values statements, compared with 62% of Democrats and 61% of independents. In the 2007 study, there was a similar gap. In the first political values survey in 1987, however, there were only modest differences in the percentages of Republicans (71%), Democrats (69%) and independents (64%) who agreed with all of these statements.
The gap between Republicans and Democrats increases dramatically when only white non-Hispanics are considered. African Americans, who make up about a quarter of all Democrats, are more likely than whites to hold more traditional religious values (82% of non-Hispanic blacks agree with all three statements vs. 65% of whites.)
There are widening ideological differences among Democrats over the statement “I never doubt the existence of God.” The percentage of liberal Democrats who agree with that statement has fallen by 13 points since 2007, from 73% to 60%. In the first political values survey, 84% of liberal Democrats said they never doubted God’s existence. By contrast, conservative and moderate Democrats continue to overwhelmingly say they never doubt God’s existence (91% in 1987, 86% today).
Since 1987, there have been declines in the percentages of independents and Democrats who say they have “old-fashioned” family values. But Republicans’ views are largely unchanged.
To read the entire Pew Research study, CLICK HERE.
Also read Obama Declares He's Christian, Again as well as President Obama Reads Easter Message Speech
