Interesting Poll Results

At this website is an interesting poll:
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081023/survey-most-americans-believe-god-uniquely-blessed-u-s_pageall.htm. According to the results, "Most Americans strongly believe that God has uniquely blessed America, and a similar majority believe that the United States should set the example as a Christian nation to the rest of the world, a survey released Wednesday found. Sixty-one percent agree that America is a nation specially blessed by God, and 59 percent believe the United States should be a model Christian nation to the world, according to a poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc. for the PBS news program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and the United Nations Foundation."

The more religiously active respondents - as in those who attend services weekly - more strongly affirmed such an idea. 86% of evangelical Christians agreed with this idea, but only 48% who attend services less regularly than that agree.

Along with this notion of a uniquely received blessing from God is a sense of responsibility. From the article, "People who strongly believe that America is blessed by God and should set a strong Christian example are also more likely to say that the United States is morally obligated to play a significant role in world affairs. Overall, most Americans also believe the United States has a responsibility to be very engaged (24 percent) or moderately involved (70 percent) on the global stage. However, most Americans believe (67 percent) the United States’ relation with the rest of the world is on the wrong track."

This poll was taken at the end of October, prior to the election. I wish we could know how these folks voted and whether they would change their response now compared to then.

A deeper question for me, though, is how did the respondents understand the concept of "being uniquely blessed by God"? Many might point to the natural resources America has; others could tout the religious liberty we enjoy; still others may suggest that our democratic system is the evidence of God's blessings. Or, you could say the whole package shows it.

One other question I have relates to how these folks believe America should be engaged in world affairs. What values do we want to promote for the rest of the world and how will we promote them? What leverage will we employ to get other nations to do what we think should be done? What will we do if these values we promote are not embraced by other countries?

What do you think? Where would you weigh in on the question of unique divine blessings for our country that no other country has? How would you advise the new administration to engage in global diplomacy? What issues should drive our foreign policy in the years to come?

Where do you fit in this?

Back in September, Baylor University's Institute of Studies of Religion issued another set of findings from its biennial study of Americans and religion. Among them are the following:

** One in five Americans reported hearing God speak to them.

** Forty-four percent felt God had called them to do something.

** More than half believe they are protected from harm by a guardian angel.

Do these findings reflect your experiences? Do they represent what the people in your family and your church believe? Do you think these experiences represent "normative" Christianity, however you define that term?

One last piece of advice

Mark DeMoss is featured as a guest columnist for Stev Waldman's blog on BeliefNet. Mr. DeMoss offers four lessons from Tuesday's elections for evangelicals. You can read the entire column at: http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/stark-lessons-for-evangalicals.html.

DeMoss begins by giving his bona fides:
I am an evangelical Southern Baptist who worked for a Mormon candidate in the primaries and voted yesterday for John McCain. According to exit polls some 72 percent of white evangelicals joined me in a losing effort. While there is much we can learn from this historic election--I'll propose just four lessons.

Then, the lessons (in the full article, DeMoss gives commentary which is worth reading):

First, a positive, inspiring, uplifting campaign can actually lead directly to the White House.

Second, no candidate or party is always right, and none is always wrong.

Then, evangelicals must accept and embrace the reality that money is the fuel which drives campaign machines.

Finally, I'd like to see evangelicals look for competent, qualified candidates who share our values, whether or not they share our faith or theology.

I wonder how many within the conservative community believe these are actually worth learning?

Whither the evangelical vote?

Much of the post-election slicing and dicing to tell us what really happened on election day and why centers on the question of what happened to the power of the Evangelical, read "Conservative Christian", voters. Since the Reagan Presidency, at least, when ministers like the Rev. Robertson and the late Rev. Falwell, claimed that the Republican Party was triumphant because of the voter turnout and loyalty of this group, the "Religious Right" has been seen as a core constituency of the GOP, and its social agenda was seen as the bottom-line definition of what America should be.

Now, with the Democratic victories of Tuesday, various theories have been advanced about just why the GOP lost ground and the Dems gained. Some say that Obama cast himself in such a way that he appealed to the evangelicals; some suggest that America repudiated conservative Christian values; some say the economy trumped every other consideration; some say that the "Religious Right" may be down now, but it is not out; some say that the current Republican administration failed to remain true to the "true values".

So, what can we know? From Christianity Today (see: http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/the_evangelical.html) comes a report that Obama only received 25% of the evangelical vote, which is about what Kerry got. That does not suggest an evangelical groundswell for the Democrats. A Pew Center report (http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=367) confirms that, while the Democratic ticket realized some gains among evangelicals, the largest gains for the Dems were among Catholics and those unaffiliated with any religion. The Pew report also indicates that there was an increase in evangelical voters from 2004 to 2008 of 3%. That suggests this group is still strong.

So, what does all of this mean? Who really knows? I am convinced that the leadership of the evangelicals believes the GOP lost its way during the Bush Presidency and that now is the time to regroup and refocus. In fact, a pre-election story from the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-gop28-2008oct28,0,3963149.story) reports:
The social conservatives and moderates who together boosted the Republican Party to dominance have begun a tense battle over the future of the GOP, with social conservatives already moving to seize control of the party's machinery and some vowing to limit John McCain's influence, even if he wins the presidency.

In skirmishes around the country in recent months, evangelicals and others who believe Republicans have been too timid in fighting abortion, gay marriage and illegal immigration have won election to the party's national committee, in preparation for a fight over the direction and leadership of the party.

This will be an on-going story at the intersection of religion and politics.

A Hope Expressed For The Future

The polls in Utah have been open for several hours now. Our church is a polling place - I vote here in fact - and I have been pleased to see a pretty steady stream of people coming to vote.

After today, though, the hard part begins. Regardless of who wins, the issues facing our country seem so daunting that I cannot imagine how they can be addressed. Worse still, it seems that our country is even more divided than ever before.

So, it was with great interest that I read this guest editorial on the Washington Post On Faith site. It was written by Tim Harrison. Let me let him speak for himself:

I'm a conservative Christian - what the media calls an evangelical. I believe in creationism, oppose gay marriage, and think abortion is the killing of a life ready to change the world. I'm a leader in my church and I volunteer to better my community by serving others. ...

If we are going to tackle the huge, complex issues and problems facing our country today, we are going to have to check our religion-based stances at the door. This country is too large and too diverse to apply one set of religious absolutes to every citizen. If we are a country that has been a "melting pot" for generations, and will continue to be --- if we are a country that embraces diversity, then we must build a new bridge of common ground across divisive religious issues. At the very least, we must be able to see the one who disagrees with us (no matter what their religious beliefs) as a partner in overcoming the huge problems (our new common ground) that we face as a nation--problems such as alternate energy sources, the financial markets, national security, Iraq, healthcare, and poverty (both here and abroad).

This is a message of reconciliation. It's a message of trying to set aside the partisan politics and instead, pick up the mantle of responsibility to solve the serious problems facing America and the world. Why can't we all do that? Why can't we quit trying to prove we're right and the other side is wrong, whatever side the "other" side happens to be?

This is all a new thought for me. I'm still not totally comfortable with it yet. However, I know that I've been part of the problem. I've done my part in vilifying those who disagree with me. But things must change, both in my family, my workplace, and in my nation. One thing's for sure, I want to do my part and put aside the religious issues while I play my part in solving the larger issues, whatever they might be.

May his tribe increase. The only way we are going to be able to tackle the issues facing our country is for all people to work together, despite their differences with each other. Surely we can agree that the campaign slogan for the McCain/Palin ticket is applicable here - "Country First".

That is certainly a hope for the future.