I’ve been reading exit polls from the Pew forum regrading Tuesday’s election. The exit polls concern how the religious voted. Here is a table of their data.
There is a great deal of interesting stuff but as a self-described evangelical I find the evangelical vote and the response of some ministers most worrisome. Almost 80% of evangelicals voted Republican while 20% voted Democratic. My worry is that I have read some ministers on both sides not debating the issues so much as belittling and insulting the other side. Usually when I have read these comments and posts it has been made with what I would presume is a belief that every other evangelical was on the same side as that particular minister. Regardless of reaching those who not followers of Jesus (a possibility which I believe is harmed by some of these statements) I think it is not a wise move for an evangelical minister to talk in such a way that he/she basically calls 1 in 5 people who might consider coming to your church stupid, idiotic, or worse. I would same the same is just as true for more liberal evangelicals regarding the evangelical believers on the conservative side. Seems to me that the danger is just as great for Black Protestants where the ration is 1 in 20 voting Republican.
I don’t mean by this that pastors and churches shouldn’t deal with the issues at hand. As citizens we can and we should with the issues our nation faces. We should just do it in a manner that focuses on the issue rather than insults those with whom we disagree.
One of the many things I love about Tapestry is that we have a group of people who have a variety of political beliefs. I believe this is only possible if one either avoids political discussions OR loves the people you are having the discussion with more than you disagree with them. If you have ever been to Tapestry you know that we don’t avoid these discussions. Instead we disagree but do so in a massive amount of love. Thread Libertarians, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and others talk through the issues but do so with an amazing amount of love and respect for the ones with whom we disagree.