Poll Finds Many Voters View Both GOP and Dems as Deserting Faith
by Bill Fancher and Chad Groening
September 1, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The Pew Research Center has released a new poll that finds many Americans feel both major political parties in the U.S. are becoming less friendly toward religion. But some Christian leaders feel there are some important differences between the parties and how they relate to traditional religious and moral values.
The Pew Research Center poll found that only 26 percent of those surveyed feel Democrats embrace religion; that's down from 42 percent three years ago. Meanwhile, 47 percent of those polled feel Republicans are friendly toward religion, which is down from 55 percent just one year ago.
Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council says the Republican problem is one of forgetfulness. "There's a generation of Republican leadership," he contends, "that forgets that the reason the Party was able to return from the ashes and take a prominent place of leadership in the country -- really an unprecedented role of leadership -- was because of its core moral and spiritual values."
According to Schenck, this generation of Republicans has also forgotten that Christian voters embraced the Party and its values. But the Democrats, he asserts, turned their back on traditional, moral, family, and religious values years ago.
Schenck believes many voters today are just beginning to notice this about the Democrats. "It's starting to dawn on them," he says, "and so we're seeing these impressive numbers of people who are saying, 'Hey, the Democratic Party is morally and spiritually bankrupt.'"
Maine Christian Group Sees Clear Differences Between Candidates
A Christian leader in Maine says many in his state are seeing a clear difference between the parties when it comes to that state's governor's race. Michael Hein, the administrator for the Christian Civic League of Maine (CCLM), says current governor John Baldacci does not support pro-family issues, which is why the Christian group has thrown its support behind Baldacci's Republican challenger, who is a born-again believer.
Hein says not only does Governor Baldacci support abortion and special rights for homosexuals, but he has also recently hobnobbed with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Baldacci "not only empathizes," Hein contends, "but he takes that further step to sympathize with the Communist dictator and sees no problem being only the sixth governor to do so."
Even though Maine is in the northeastern U.S., Baldacci's leftist bent "is not something that will be stood for and will lose him, certainly, a significant amount of votes," the CCLM spokesman predicts. On the other hand, he says, Baldacci's opponent, State Senator Chandler Woodcock, is also a lay Baptist preacher and is "coming from a very distinguished background," so the Christian group feels good about "strongly supporting him."
Hein feels Christians can and should be politically involved, and should not hesitate to favor office seekers who espouse the same values that people of faith and religious conviction hold dear. And values voters' choices should not necessarily follow party lines, he advises, but should always follow moral guidelines, which should be sharply drawn.
And the choice is very clear when it comes to the incumbent Governor Baldacci, the Christian Civic League administrator suggests. "We can advocate for or against a candidate," he says, "and we have come down fairly clearly on the side of his opponent, obviously, who happens to be a Republican but more importantly is a Christian."
Woodcock is "not ashamed, not embarrassed to confess the name of Christ as his savior," Hein asserts. And this is, he adds, "in stark contrast to our governor, who declares himself publicly to be a Catholic but yet supports abortion, yet supports homosexual marriage."
Values matter, Hein insists, especially when it comes to choosing civic leaders. And values voters may well decide this election, he notes, as a recent poll has shown Woodcock only trails Governor Baldacci by one percentage point.
Bill Fancher and Chad Groening, regular contributors to AgapePress, are reporters for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
