Courtesy of Religion News Service:
It's hard to argue with the headline: "The End of the White Christian Strategy." White Christians--evangelicals, mainliners, and Catholics--made up fully seventy-five of Romney's coalition but only 38 percent of Obama's. It's the age distribution, however, that tells the deeper story.
Romney's coalition most closely matches the over-65 crowd, only older. It's whiter and less religiously diverse than seniors are. Call it your great-grandfather's Oldsmobile.
By contrast, Obama's coalition fits snugly in between the youth cohort of 18-to-29-year-old Millennials and the 30-49-year-old Gen-Xers. It's unsurprisingly overrepresented among African-Americans and a little light on evangelicals and "other Christians," but generally presents a fair picture of where America's religious layout is headed in the coming decades.
As I am sure many of you already know I view the movement away from religion and faith based perspectives to be of incredible importance to insuring the survival of this country, and of mankind in general.
I believe that once we are no longer jerked to and fro by differing religious factions battling for dominance on this planet we will see the end of terrorism, the end of war, and perhaps even the end of bigotry as we know it.
In America the Republican party is bonded to the Religious Right in unholy political matrimony, in such a way that the death of one virtually ensures the death of the other. Not a bad thing in my estimation.
And they are well aware of it too. That is why they are so focused on defunding the public school system and increasing the number of religious charter schools, private schools, and home school programs. They are not at all interested in educating our children, they are only interested in keeping them malleable, and NOTHING does that better than religious indoctrination.
If America is truly going to set an example for the rest of the world as we move into the 21st century than the movement away from superstition and anti-intellectualism needs to take root on our shores first. And thankfully it appears that we are indeed headed in that direction.
"As I am sure many of you already know I view the
ReplyDeletemovement away from religion and faith based perspectives to be of incredible importance to insuring the survival of this country, and of mankind in general."
Gryphen: I agree with you. If we could only get these religious nutcases out of the picture, this country could truly progress.
Not to mention, THE WORLD ! !
DeleteMuch agreed from me too. I do have a problem however, with the delusional 'example to the world' thing that Americans actually think they are! Sorry, but you guys DO realise we rid our leadership positions of religious nutbags a long long time ago, right? I'm afraid it is only one western country that lags far far behind. Far behind even IRELAND, that saw a woman die recently!
DeleteSorry to burst your bubble Gryphen, but that made me ROFL! I'd never vote for a Christian to lead my country, non believers need only apply. There's no room for imaginary friends and fairytales in world politics, sorry Xtians! Run your churches and bleed your constituents dry as you get rich, and enjoy it, I won't cry for the idiots that give you their money; but run a country you cannot and must stay away and let the grown ups sort out the big kid stuff okay?
Thanks for putting this up, IM. America is becoming less and less 'christian' mainly due to the extreme right shoving 'their beliefs' down our throats!
ReplyDeleteI was raised Catholic and consider myself agnostic today. Religion absolutely turns my stomach! And, I so detest their pushing their 'stuff' into our government!
I'm a senior and have found many my age to feel as I do. Seniors are NOT uncommon to be found as members of the 'unfaithful' I assure you.
And, as to Romney. He is a Mormon which is a cult and not christian based from what I know of it. I've read the Book of Mormon and asked questions of Mormons that gave it to me years ago. Every Mormon man I've known throughout the years has turned out to be nothing but a liar, lazy and deceitful. Plus, their women are subservient to them and nothing more than baby makers w/the men ruling the roost!
Religion is man made and does nothing more than control their membership. It's way past time that more and more folks (my age!) question it and stop giving them their hard earned retirement income!
Good grief, yet another woman talking about what liars Cult men are. This keeps up, they'll get a reputation!
DeleteRemember, the second "m" is always silent.
I must put a word in for Catholics. They are a very intelligent active group. Do not sell them short. They make decisions based on many sound principles.
ReplyDeleteThis year there was a big push to make the woman's issue all about abortion. It is not. (However most women do not want to have one.) It is about the right for women to be treated with respect. The issue of contraception split the vote because it was overlooked that it is used for health and family planning which is not against any religious principles. Abortions are down when women are informed, healthy, and smart. If you asked me if I would have an abortion I would say no but I voted for Obama because he cares about all Americans and has turned the USA around. ( God Bless Nuns on a Bus) That vote is more important than making a decision to vote for a Party that will take the USA back to the stone age and stomp on the rights on the whole middle class.(and increase abortions) I do not know how, when looking at the whole picture, so many people voted against their own best interests. I am proud to be Catholic and proud to have cast my vote for Obama-Biden.
To answer your question of why people vote against themselves, think of what Bill Maher often says, "We are a stupid country."
DeleteSorry, I just can't get beyond the priest abuse issues that have been part of your religion since the church was formed. Priests have historically preyed upon young boys as many priest find abstinence from heterosexual sex to be not a hardship in their vows of chastity. Instead they prey on young boys and find that is okay, with them, and with their god, as they perceive him or her. Catholics have hurt more people than they have ever helped and it's time for your religion to die as well. Sorry.
DeleteMary, you don't know your own religion!!!
DeleteBC used for family planning is certainly against RCC beliefs. Of course most women don't want an abortion - but that is disingenuous - on your part,aka a strawman argument. I don't want a root canal either, but I will fight to the death for MY right to make choices about my body - be it abortion or root canal.
Perhaps you just wrote inelegantly?
Yes, many American Catholics are cafeteria Catholics - and frankly, the RCC hierarchy doesn't give a damn, as long as you keep putting money in the collection plate. That money allowed the continuation of the misogynist (look what the RCC is doing to nuns!), pedophile protecting, all male hierarchy lux lifestyle and power trip.
Today, much of cafeteria Catholicism is done for other reasons: affordable, private school for the kids, a place to have a big church wedding,burial in a catholic cemetery and the social aspect. And I'm sorry to say this, but catholics with a conscience like you have to wake up. You will never change the hierarchy unless you first tear it down.Your continued support is complicity in the misogyny and pedophilia.
Off topic but our brainless wonder is in the news again. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-allen-palin-for-president-20121118,0,1525685.story
ReplyDeleteI read a few replies. Now, I need a drink.
DeleteExample: "Palin, an intelligent, focussed candidate, known for her measured and reasoned analysis, would be the ideal candidate against, say, Hilary Clinton."
Okay, I'll bite.
Palin/Jindal/2016 ! ! ! !
Yeah, count me in, too, also. I can't wait until Sarah and her wonderful family hit the road in that awesome bus, seeing the country and educating everyone about what true American values are all about. But I'm not so sure about Jindal for VP. He looks like a foreigner to me. Right now, I'm thinking Dick Morris for VP. Maybe Jindal for a cabinet position. Allen West for Defense Secretary. John Whatshisname with the big fluffy mustache for Sec of State. Bolton, I just remembered. I'll think of all of the others later. I'm so excited that "we the people" have already made out choice for 2016 for the Republican nominee, Our Sarah. The campaign started yesterday in the LA Times. Go Sarah! Show those librul haters what you're made of!!! Sarah Palin 2016!!!
DeleteBoney Boo Boo
Although I do think that here in Anchorage we have lots of young evangelicals ... in my neighborhood, anyway. But this is Alaska, and it's nice to see the statistics that represent the whole country.
ReplyDelete"...movement away from superstition..."
ReplyDeleteWhile that may be true in our country, our enemies are still brainwashing their young subjects in the madrassas to turn them into religious zealots. Until that changes, nothing will really change.
This "over 65," white, former Catholic is proud to have voted for Obama.I can't say the same for some of my friends of the same generation.
ReplyDeleteI was also one of those Baby Boomers who openly protested the Viet Nam War and saw others of my generation come home from that conflict all screwed up. We hated war. I still do. Don't know what happened to others in my age group, but I have little respect for those who supported the GOP.
2:46 I wrote the note above indicating I was agnostic after having been raised Catholic.
DeleteI am 70 and also voted for President Obama and VP Joe Biden for the 'second' time. I also hate war and detest the Republicans constantly pushing it.
I also have friends (mainly due to the industry in which I worked for years prior to my retirement) that are Republicans who indicated they were voting for Romney. When I asked them specific 'why' questions, I found they could not answer them well. They just kept saying they didn't trust President Obama, but couldn't give me specific reasons. I learned I was far more informed then they on our candidates which really amazed me being the ages we are (seniors).
I'm delighted President Obama and VP Biden were reelected. But, the Republicans are already after him and spouting things that are not true. Here we go again!!!
I relish the thought that President Obama knocks them on their butts every step of the way. Watching McCain in action again just makes me laugh. He's such an untruthful bully!
You give me hope...I turned 60 this year and have given up so many "friends" of my generation due to their political leanings.... I can't change my age, but I like to think I give the young people I associate with the idea that just because you get old, you don't automatically shut your mind to what is happening in the world...the changes I have witnessed in the past year I never thought I would see in my lifetime...it is good..
DeleteYou give me hope for my generation. I turned 60 this year and have written off too many "friends" for being on the far right fringe. I like to think I give the "kids" I associate with a perspective that just because you are older you can't associate with reality.... The highest praise I can recall happened last year was when my rowing coach (who was all of 21 years at the time) told me he wanted to be like me when he reached my age!!! Heady praise indeed!!!!
DeleteDo not forget the travesty that is vouchers, either. At least charters have some oversight in the form of the state's charter board. vouchers are a blank check to parents who are at the mercy of these pseudo-educational charlatans
ReplyDeletei believe that repubs and hard right christians both want complete control of power and also money. the rest of us want ALL our citizens to be successful. that's the path to prosperity i am rooting for.
ReplyDeleteNate Silver is gay, in case you didn’t know. Until yesterday, practically no one did.
ReplyDelete...So, why does it matter that Silver is gay?
Times have changed, and for the better.
But not necessarily for kids.
Kids need role models.
That geeky, nerdy gay fifth grader needs to know there are geeky, nerdy successful and respected adults. That nine-year old girl who knows she’s different from other girls, needs to know there are lesbians like her and one of them just became a U.S. Senator.
And the school yard bullies who beat the crap out of geeky, nerdy gay fifth graders need to know that the gay kids they’re beating up today may well grow up to be revered statisticians.
It doesn’t matter that Nate Silver is gay. It matters that people who don’t like or respect gay people — or who even hate gay people — people who think we’re immoral and a danger to society, know that Nate Silver is gay.
And that should help them start to change their perception.
It doesn’t matter that Nate Silver is gay. But it matters people know because there are lawmakers who want to ban same-sex marriage. And religious leaders and pundits who want to criminalize our relationships. And presidential candidates who want to take away our right to visit our loved ones in the hospital. And schoolyard bullies who cut gay boys’ hair — who grow up to be presidential candidates who want to take away our right to visit our loved ones in the hospital.
America is changing, because people know we’re not going away.
It doesn’t matter that Nate Silver is gay. It matters that America knows he is.
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/3-it-doesnt-matter-nate-silver-is-gay-it-matters-america-knows-he-is/politics/2012/11/18/54038
Nate Silver being gay is of no concern to me unless he needs a date on Saturday night.
DeleteThat being said, I am very grateful that this information was not spread around before the election because it would have been used in an attempt to tarnish him and all the very accurate work he produced. We should all be thankful for that.
He is a very smart and honest young man. He is indeed a role model for all ages.
White House Petition: Strip Tax Exempt Status Of Churches Mixing Religion And Politics
ReplyDeletehttp://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/white-house-petition-strip-tax-exempt-status-of-churches-mixing-religion-and-politics/politics/2012/11/17/53949
3:13 Wouldn't this be the best thing to happen in the entire world? There goes the Baptist Temple in Anchorage, AK!!!! It would be a godsend across the nation!!!
DeleteI'm all for it, and want it done retroactively. Huge dent in the national debt. Why is this legal in the first place?
DeletePalin In 2016, Seriously?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/11/18/palin-in-2016-seriously/
Sarah Palin will not be picked to run for President in 2016. There is no way.
DeleteThe Republicans will look for a strong candidate if they have to go up against Hillary Clinton. Hillary would clean Palin's clock in a debate and is so far above her in intelligence and world edxperience. There is no comparison.
Yes. We need to pray that happens.
DeleteHey, I'm fine with Sarah running for office! She won't win, but she'd finish the job Romney did to the reputation of the GOP.
DeleteCome on, Sarah, run!
Great Graphic! Old Habits die hard, and the GOP can't possibly catch up to speed in time for the next election cycle. Look at the Women they hold up compared to the Women the Democrats placed in offices already. No Contest. Same with the male candidates, no contest.
DeleteThis was the part that got me:
"I believe that once we are no longer jerked to and fro by differing religious factions battling for dominance on this planet we will see the end of terrorism, the end of war, and perhaps even the end of bigotry as we know it."
Thank You! Not one word wasted!
No Hate, No Anger, just love for humanity.
Sorry GOP: We Do Not Need Churches in order to Prosper Economically
ReplyDelete...But conservatives simply cannot conceive of a world where religion – their religion, to be precise – does not occupy center stage, holding society together against the vicissitudes of the modern world (there is more than a little Luddism involved in the religious conservative’s distrust of science and technology).
It’s that old lie, but a much-loved lie among believers, that there are no atheists in foxholes.
There are. It is just that are just no conservatives who believe there are. They cannot allow themselves to believe such a thing, just as they cannot allow themselves to believe that anyone – anyone, no matter how fanatical an atheist – could lay on their deathbed without repenting.
Christian history is full of such tales.
But they are just that. Tales.
more..
http://www.politicususa.com/gop-churches-prosper-economically.html
Good riddance. If they've ever made the case as a necessary part of the check-and-balance of government, we've never seen it. Never.
ReplyDeleteMay they go the way of Hostess Twinkies and Rush Limbaugh.
I'm in late on this post, but I want share this quote from (former) Republican Governor Goldwater, as it is relevant to what's going on with the ReThugs and religion these days:
ReplyDelete"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them." - Barry Goldwater, 1994.
Vero Guy
Amen (pun intended). Seriously, G, I am a huge Jesus freak, but Jesus said to pray in secret and not let anyone else know. So, I really don't see the problem in the separation of Church and State. We all saw how the Catholics killed the heretics when the Pope was the Government (remember the Inquisition). There were many a so-called Christian who used the Bible to justify slavery and all kinds of immoral acts. Hitler used religion to kill the Jews and others he did not like. Who can forget Ireland all the troubles there. Indeed, just about every war has been because of religion. So, I have long reached the conclusion that folks need to keep their religions to themselves. And from what I read, God would also prefer that.
ReplyDeleteBut those hypocrites who profess whatever belief they claim to have really do not have any belief beyond their own quest for power and shoving their views down our throats.