You have probably heard these statistics--
In 2003, according to a Gallup poll, "42 percent of Americans self-identified as 'born-again or evangelical,' up from 36 percent in 1992." (
Religion Link) In 2004, 78% of white evangelical voters voted for George Bush. (
Pew Center for the People and the Press) The conventional narrative went: this growing juggernaut of socially conservative, born-again megachurchers are going to keep putting conservative Republicans in office.
As the
awesome political power of evangelicals story got more and more play in the media during this decade, left-of-center Americans increasingly began to equate evangelical Christianity with rabid social conservatism and Republican party loyalty.
But what about the 22% of white evangelicals that didn't vote for Bush in 2004? What about the outspokenly progressive "social justice evangelicals"? I think that many of my friends and colleagues don't believe these people actually exist. I wouldn't either, except that I've met a few, and some of them are friends.
This impression may stem in part from the overrepresentation of
conservative Christian leaders in the media. Media Matters
recently released a report that found that
"Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders.
On television news -- the three major television networks, the three major cable new channels, and PBS -- conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders."
Media Matters' Paul Waldman discussed the report
on On The Media last week--it's an interesting discussion, worth checking out. In this interview, journalist Jeff Sharlet makes a
very important point: abortion is a deal-breaker for many conservative Christians and plays a huge role in their political behavior. They'll "hold their noses," in Sharlet's words, and vote for a Republican based on this alone--even if they strongly disagree with the party's or candidate's position on other issues.
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