[lbo-talk] The God Gulf

Carl Remick carlremick at hotmail.com
Tue Nov 11 23:13:34 PST 2003


[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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