The story of election 2016 was the Christian vote. And, for me, that's perplexing and more than a little disappointing. Hold it. Not that Christians voted or even cast their ballots for Donald Trump. It's the story element, the surprise among media elites that Christ followers would favor the Republican agenda and their candidate rather than the clearly secular path of Mrs. Clinton and the Democrats. Of course, the main stream media made the results about the two candidates and questioned how a majority of believers could ever vote for a dirt bag like Donald Trump. Lost somewhere in their post-election blather was the truth about issues. Christians across the fruited plain voted for Mr. Trump because they favored the Republican platform heart and soul. Many of them winced when they put their check mark beside Mr. Trump's name, fully knowing his questionable past, lack of government experience, and some of the character issues the MSM broadcast in every media outlet.
Post 2016 election analysis reveals great voter division in the religious categories. A March 10, 2017, blog at Religion in Public noted the diversity of the religious vote among Black Protestants, Evangelicals, and Mainline Christians. They also tracked the voting preferences of the other religious groups in America, including the atheists. To review their data, please click here. Black protestants clearly favored Mrs. Clinton, registering 81.1 % of the vote. Mainline Christians voted predominately for Mrs. Clinton as well, at 43.4%. Evangelicals totaled 75.8% for Mr. Trump. Of course, the results have been debated greatly since the previous election. Many Christian leaders and groups seemed almost embarrassed by the large evangelical preference for Mr. Trump. Still, that was then, and this is now. Today, as November 3 approaches, the big question is how the Christian community will vote in 2020.
Who's chasing the Christian vote in the coming election? Well, part of that is already known after the recent Democratic convention. They chose to leave out the name of God in their recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Even more, their candidates have made disparaging remarks about the Christian faith and the role of Christian beliefs in the dynamics of the 2020 vote. One of the significant discussion points is about the real factors that will define the Christian vote this year. Will it be the candidates? Or, the issues?
A January 2020 article at Relevant Magazine indicates that the issues are not what most of us would think. Now, it must be noted that the Relevant Magazine system questioned the voting preferences of younger Americans, primarily twenty and thirty somethings. Their studies indicate that white evangelicals top issues are terrorism, immigration, and health care, closely resembling the favored preferences of white mainline Protestants. Among Black protestants the top issues are health care, crime, and the fairness of Presidential elections. The people at Relevant list abortion as a middling influence in them all. Evidently, the issues in the 2020 election have changed over the past four years. Just as clearly, it is obvious they didn't ask me or many of my evangelical friends.
If their conclusions are accurate, it reflects a yielding of strong evangelical beliefs to the whims of our secular world. And, that brings me to Scripture. My faith leads me to favor biblical themes and political positions that resonate with the principles of the Christian worldview. Several texts are examples of this stance---
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable
and perfect.
Romans 12: 2, ESV
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to
human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to
Christ.
Colossians 2: 8, ESV
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of
God.
James 4: 4, ESV
As usual, there are many others. The vote of Christians in election 2020 should be consistent with Christian doctrine. This week, we'll review some of the issues that should characterize the Christian vote. Join me!
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