Jul 13, 2008
How an Evangelical Could Feasibly Vote for Obama
A few days ago I began an experiment that aimed to look at the reasons an Evangelical may vote for McCain or Obama, I’ll still add the qualifier that I’m merely offering my own justifications and reasoning, which means I don’t speak for all Evangelicals. I’m merely presenting scenarios in which an Evangelical could feasibly vote for either of them. You’re welcome to play along in the comments. I’m having a go at Obama today.
So if I, an Evangelical Christian, was going to vote for Obama…
Health Care
Obama’s plan to provide health care for everyone who needs it is very appealing, even if paying for it makes many nervous. I’ve gone without health care before, and it can be expensive when something happens and you simply need a doctor. While the poorest of the poor at least have a health care option, our nation thrives on cheap labor, but doesn’t necessarily take care of these, the working poor. It smacks of injustice to rely so heavily on cheap labor, but promoting a health care system that doesn’t have any provisions for those unable to find insurance through their work. The poor come up very often in the Bible, and those who neglect them often end up in the dog house.
Economy
Our economy is a bit of a mess at the present time, and I have to ask if part of the problem is lax regulation, allowing greedy investors to make terrible decisions in places such as the housing market and mortgage lenders to drop all semblance or order when approving loans. I think Obama is enough of a pragmatist to seek rules and oversight. However, as a Christian I’m more concerned about the just distribution of wealth among all segments of society. While McCain’s hands off approach may favor the growth of business, Obama has some appealing ways to help those with lower incomes and the middle class who may be struggling with his tax rebates and cuts for their income brackets, while increasing taxes for those in the top income tiers.
Energy
While Obama is no Al Gore, his commitment to the Democratic platform to cut carbon emissions, boost energy efficiency, and seek alternative energy are the kind of dramatic steps we need in order to be good stewards of creation.
Taxes
As stated in the economy section, Obama’s tax plan will ease the burden of those struggling to get by, while not giving any breaks to those in the upper income tier. While no plan is perfect, this may be the more just plan of the two.
Iraq
Obama is in a tough spot with Iraq. He’s not in the briefing room with the generals, receiving detailed reports about the conflict, however, he has opposed this war from the start, which was the proper moral judgment. Blessed are the peacemakers… He recognizes the importance of giving Iraq back to the Iraqis and alleviating their suspicion that we hope to make Iraq a kind of colony or to at least exploit it for oil.
Moral Values
Obama’s major sticking point for Evangelicals is abortion, since he supports this procedure. The only way to move past this issue as an Evangelical is to recognize that other issues may very well relate to preserving human lives and are just as worthy of consideration. In addition, simply banning abortion will not stop many from having the procedure. Avoiding war through diplomacy, combating climate change before scarcity of water and food lead to additional conflicts, and helping the poor through better health care are moral issues in their own right worthy of consideration. We’ll never know how many Iraqi lives have been lost (not to mention the lives lost in Afghanistan), nor how many more could be lost if the Republicans continue to push the war on terror forward. War, the economy, and the climate are all moral issues that affect millions upon millions of lives. While abortion is tragic, there are ways to curb it beyond voting Republican.
Illegal immigration
Many analysts can’t tell Obama and McCain apart on this issue. So I’ll say ditto to what I said for McCain!
Terrorism
As a follower of Jesus who said blessed are the peacemakers, Obama is very appealing because of his commitment to diplomacy. In addition, Obama is very popular in Africa and Indonesia, two important regions where the US will want to stop the spread of Islamic extremism. If peace is our goal, then Obama is the clear choice.
So there you have it: my reasons why an Evangelical may vote for Obama. Whoever Evangelicals vote for, there will be red flags to watch out for: McCain’s bellicose policies and lack of experience in economic matters vs. Obama’s lack of overall experience and support for abortion. For me, it all comes down to the way you do two things:
1. Weigh the importance of issues.
2. Deal with those issues.
Whoever tackles the issues most important to you in a way that you believe to be effective will most likely win your vote. There isn’t one candidate here who is the clear choice for Evangelicals, nor should there necessarily be one.
Have you ever considered that perhaps the moral problem is religion itself? That the underlying root to so many of the issues that you care about is, in fact, a problem caused by religion?
All of these world conflicts that you mention are fueled by religion. Evangelicals believe that non-Christians are all going to hell. Besides making no sense whatsoever…how do you think that makes the rest of the world feel? Why do you think W invaded Iraq? Sure, there are plenty of other reasons, but isn’t a main one the pure arrogance that can only come from such an absurd belief system?
And all of your talk about redistribution of wealth is really just a belief in more institutions. the church is a massive institution that for centuries was used to control people, by telling them what to think and how to live their lives. and now we have another institution, the U.S. government, a necessary evil to be sure, that suddenly is expected to steal from the rich (the productive and their heirs) and give to the poor (the unproductive and the unfortunate)? Is that really a just solution?
I don’t mean to attack you personally, I just take strong issue with your ideas. I used to be religious myself, and I know how intense the belief can be. but i think that if you stop and look at the big picture, it become glaringly obvious that religion is simply a crutch: a set of teachings meant to control the way you think and no “truer” than some crazy guy on the street.
Chris, it seems to that the evils you described where done in the name of capitalism, a very dangerous secular religion. Of course Christians have been co-opted by capitalist society and are now complicit in the violence.
Jesus taught us that Christians would be hated, it would do us some good to consider who hates us. I’d prefer that a murderer like George Bush (Ceaser) hated us, than you Chris, you sound like you care about people. Of course, if the Bible is right, that will be all sorted out; it’ll be Bush who will be shaking in his boots.
Adam, thanks for your thoughts here. I’m working on a response to Chris, but life has been moving a bit too fast this summer to get all of my thoughts together on this one. The core here Chris is I’m hearing a lot of the arguments used by the new atheists. I don’t know how you feel about them as a group, but the bottom line is it’s not necessarily accurate to attribute religion with evil. Religion can be used as a tool for evil ends. Atheism, communism, and capitalism can all be used as tools for evil as well. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to pray for those who hate us, and that the peace makers would be blessed. So if Bush wants to invade a nation claiming some crack pot version of Christian theology, then it is a mistake to shove all Christians under his banner.
You bring up many other points that I’ll need to address at another time. Thanks for contributing.