Typically elections just move the chairs around the room. Those who make the decisions shift a little in one direction or the other, but we don’t get new chairs.
This week’s election in the United States election appears to be a different matter. It’s clear that what was once considered impossible, happened.
Commentator Jim Wallis says this was not only a racial shift, it was also a religious shift. Barak Obama picked up 4.4 million more Protestants and Catholics than John Kerry, the last Democratic candidate. In Florida Christian voters shifted to Obama 485,000 votes. That was the difference. Obama won Florida by 200,000 votes.
There was a time when the religious right could count on these votes. Not this time. Does this mark the end of the religious right leaders’ ability to deliver religious votes to the republicans? It appears that the former religious issues of abortion and denying gay rights are no longer the only issues of concern. A significant number of Christians now are showing support for racial and economic justice, care of creation and peacemaking. If the early analysis is accurate and is sustained, then we have entered a new era.
Peter
About Me
- Reverend Peter Lougheed
- Peter Lougheed is married to Jan, a Diaconal Minister, serving at Woodroffe United Church in Ottawa. They have three children, Tonja, Dan and Deb and a granddaughter Mackenzie. Growing up in a traveling family has led Peter to sojourns in Saskatchewan, India, Kirkland Lake, Shawinigan and Oshawa. Peter obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Victoria College and a Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel College in Toronto in 1979. The Lougheeds served congregations in Gaspe, East Labrador; Kanata and Eganville, Ontario. Currently Peter sits on the Ottawa Presbytery Stewardship Committee.
2 comments:
Perhaps the American voter is beginning to realize, perhaps for the wrong reason, that of selfishness, but regardless, that voting for the "let's get them guys" only gets you an economy that is going down the toilet. Spend and spend like there is no tomorrow and when the tax collector shows up at the door, realize with a thud that the party is over.
That realistically speaking, the fringe right can rally for no abortion all they want but the majority no longer have a problem with it. THat our planet really can only support so many people and that while the Chinese approach of one child may sound cruel, we are all going to have to think about the long term survival of our species, not "go forth and propagate" with a abandon.
That evil gay person who is going to hell, who you suddenly find out lives next door, isn't all that bad, and darn, he can make a mean batch of ribs.
Perhaps the American politicians, like the Canadian of the last few years, are going to realize that the voter is no longer interested in topics that are only designed to inflame. That equality, my Lord we elected a black guy, who is probably better than the low grade white moron currently in office, may really be OK. And let's not mention Hillary who didn't quite make it.
Yes, perhaps, this is a paradigm shift. One of those totally unexpected changes that results in major upheaval, for the good.
I don't know but I certainly wish Obama all the best, hope he keeps his head down, and manages to do what he wants to, starting with no drilling for oil in sensitive areas. He does have his work cut out for him.
Russ
Interesting analysis. I am very encouraged by Obama's commitment to close Guantanamo Bay and show more concern for the environmental impact of North America's insatiable hunger for oil. He can't solve the big problems overnight, but he can make small changes that have a big influence on people's attitudes towards issues of social justice.
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