As many of the readers of this blog know, I do not give much credence to organized religion. I turned away from ritualized spirituality as soon as I left the refugee camp in Turkey, after having practiced Islam for almost 2 full years. The conservative right's hijacking of religion in the mid 1990s, on the heels of the Republican "contract with America," coupled with my experience in the Bosnian war which, in my mind, was to large extent stoked by the institutions of organized religion, transformed me from a cynical agnostic to a more militant atheist.
Having said this as a caveat, I believe that Barack Obama's attempt to reach out to the Evangelicals today, meeting them in a secret location and launching a full scale campaign to bring them into the Democratic tent, was a good start to his promise to remap the electoral landscape. Despite being utterly disgusted with most Evangelical leaders, I do believe that this country will never move forward if we do not try to reach at least a modus vivendi with some of these folks. Barack has to set some things straight before inviting them to roll up their sleeves and be a part of our movement. He has to reaffirm the basic principle on which we will NEVER compromise: the secular nature of our government. This means the unconditional sovereignty of women over their own bodies; the rights of gays to enjoy full constitutional protection; and some others. Having set these principles right at the start, we can reach a consensus on a number of other issues. 1) Environment. Many of the Evangelicals have become passionately involved in the global attempts to stop and reverse the horrible consequences of the Global Warming. 2) social issues. It can be argued that Jesus was the archetypal socialist. Creating a fair and a generous social system in which we take care of those who cannot afford to take care of themselves can be also seen through the lens of the Christian doctrine. 3) America's image in the world. It think that many Evangelicals are sick and tired of being chastised as shallow war-mongers who want to conquer the world in the name of Christianity. Joining Barack's movement in reshaping America's foreign policy is in their interest.
While many of Barack's supporters might be a bit uncomfortable with his reach out to the Evangelicals, this shows, once again, the honesty behind his mantra of change. He truly does believe that the destructive blue-red/secular-religious division in this country can be healed through a modus vivendi, which in turn can help us focus on the everyday problems facing this country (and the world), and move away from the polarizing and unproductive debates.
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I think evangelicals were hijacked by Reagan administration in the late 70's. Once they hjelped him get elected, he then of course turn his back on them.
Evangelical vote is not as important anymore as it used to be. Lots of evangelicals are just not interested in elections anymore since they don't have a candidate to speak for them. McCain does believe in evolution after all. Church attendance is on huge decline in US right now. New poll shows that by 2020 16% of churches and synagogues will have to close the doors because of attendance and financing troubles (crossing fingers).
Every politician (including Obama himself) understand naive mind of the hard core religious ones and will try to exploit it to their benefit, because all these people need is for their leader or pastor to tell them who to vote for and they will organize like no other. How can someone be that naive you ask? They believe in talking snake and people living inside of whale for Christ sake! No pun intended.
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