The Origins of the God Gap

[question everything]

Thursday, Jul. 12, 2007
The Origins of the God Gap
By Amy Sullivan
TIME

(snip)

Carter was also the first politician not just to speak of a generic, "God Bless America" sort of civil religion but also to talk openly about his own faith. When he used the phrase "born again" to describe himself, Carter connected with millions of Evangelicals who had previously stayed away from politics. In the summer of 1976, an overzealous pastor introduced Carter to the Southern Baptist Convention as the only candidate in the race whose "initials are the same as our Lord's!" And he earned the endorsement of Pat Robertson. On Election Day, Carter took home more than half the evangelical vote, a feat that still hasn't been matched by any other Democratic presidential candidate.

While Carter was the right candidate for the new politics of values, his party was rapidly moving in the other direction. Educated élites, particularly on the left, increasingly placed their faith in the tangible power of political action rather than the unfathomable might of a divine being. And they misread the direction of the country. Far from becoming less religious in a postmodern age, Americans remained strongly devout, with 80% or more consistently reporting that religion was an "important" part of their lives. A schism widened between the people who ran the Democratic Party and many religious believers.

Instead of finding another way to talk about character and values, Democratic leaders rejected the Carter model altogether, effectively opting out of a conversation with Evangelicals. Later, as debate over abortion laws heated up in the 1980s, Democrats compounded the mistake by ceasing to talk to Catholic audiences as well. When Michael Dukakis ran at the head of the ticket in 1988, his campaign turned down all requests for appearances at Catholic institutions.

The GOP, meanwhile, aggressively courted faith voters. Ronald Reagan famously told religious conservatives, "You can't endorse me, but I can endorse you." Republicans relentlessly charged Democrats with waging a war on faith (or Christmas or the Bible). And the party built an extensive infrastructure to reach and mobilize religious voters, a strategy that reached its zenith in 2004.

When Bill Clinton came along, he defied the stubborn conventional wisdom that had formed about the two parties' relationship to religion. A Southern Baptist who could literally quote chapter and verse, Clinton freely talked to publications like Christianity Today, made religious freedom a key focus of his domestic agenda and insisted his staff work with conservative evangelical leaders in addition to progressive religious allies. But in many ways, Clinton's personal comfort with religion and ability to act as his own religious liaison masked the ongoing problems of his party. Democratic leaders were happy to let Clinton sermonize. They had no interest, however, in changing their approach on abortion to reflect his "safe, legal and rare" mantra. Nor did they expand their outreach efforts to include religious constituencies other than black churches. By the time Clinton left the White House in 2001, the party was as disconnected as ever from faith voters. And George W. Bush was able to get away with arguing that his White House would protect religious organizations that had been "discriminated against" by the antireligion Clinton Administration.

(snip)


* Find this article at:
* http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1642651,00.html

[Spangle]

1. Democrats are to blame?

I don't think so.

[wyldwolf]

2. of course. We fell back, the GOP took advantage.

[wyldwolf]

3. Thy will be done, Almighty God, Amen

“Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their load will long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest – until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war. For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom…I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God, Amen.”