[lbo-talk] The God Gulf

[Carl Remick]

[Dean got it wrong.  The Dems don't need guys with Confederate flags in 
their pickup trucks; they need guys with "Jesus Saves" stickers on their 
bumpers.  Or so says Nicholas Kristof in his NY Times column today (below).  
For my part, Washington isn't worth a mass.  If winning an election means 
toadying to this Greatly Awakened multitude of bible-packing zanies, I'd 
take political marginality anytime.]

... The most striking cleavage [in US society today] is the God Gulf, and it 
should terrify the Democrats. Put simply, liberals are becoming more secular 
at a time when America is becoming increasingly religious, the consequence 
of a new Great Awakening. Americans, for example, are significantly more 
likely now than in 1987 to say they "completely agree" that "prayer is an 
important part of my daily life" and that "we all will be called before God 
on Judgment Day to answer for our sins."

The Pew survey found that white evangelicals are leaving the Democratic 
Party in droves. Fifteen years ago, white evangelicals were split equally 
between the two parties; now they're twice as likely to be Republicans. 
Likewise, white Catholics who attend Mass regularly used to be strongly 
Democratic; now they are more likely to be Republican.

Since Americans are three times as likely to believe in the virgin birth of 
Jesus as in evolution, liberal derision for President Bush's religious 
beliefs risks marginalizing the left. ...

<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/opinion/12KRIS.html>

Carl

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