Is The Obama Administration Distancing Itself From Faith?
May 24th 2010 16:20
It seems not so long ago that “faith” was a popular topic in Washington DC, with “faith based initiatives” as the talk of the day and the hope of the future. Not only were conservative Republicans on board, there were many liberal Democrats vocal with their support and participation as well.
There seems to not only be a distancing of the Obama Administration from religion (faith-based initiatives in particular), but an increasingly antagonistic approach to religion. Back in 2008, even Barack Obama spoke openly about having a relationship with God while he was on the campaign trail. Today, he has distanced himself from religion, especially that which emanates from an evangelical Christian perspective.
Before Obama became President, the Democratic National Committee had six employees on its faith-based staff, but only one part-time employee remains today. The Faith Department web site has only been updated twice in the past ten months. It once played a significant role in the election process by reaching out to religious voters, but has been virtually non-existent in the 2010 primaries.
The DNC is not alone in curtailing its emphasis on faith and religion. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent more than $82,000 on faith outreach in the 2008 elections, but has spent little on the 2010 primaries. The Eleison Group, who has served as the primary “faith consultants” for Democrats in 2008, is not under contract for 2010.
What this turn of events fully means is hard to define. Have the Democrats written off “religious voters”? Are they trying to paint the “religious voters” as being of little electoral significance? Do they view “religious voters” as their opposition? Is it their agenda to turn America into a fully secular nation? Whatever, the case may be, they are at risk of losing a very large block of voters.
At best, many “religious voters” are beginning to feel they are being dismissed by the Democratic Party. Part of this feeling may be attributed to the fact there is such a wide divide between the policies and values of the Obama Administration and mainstream evangelicals. The current administration has shown a propensity to view differing viewpoints from their own to be that of obstructionists and extremists.
Though we have become an international community as a nation with many religions represented, mainstream America remains faith-based. That fact may be ignored by the “progressive left” at the moment, but it cannot be ignored when the ‘faith-based” community turns out to vote.
There seems to not only be a distancing of the Obama Administration from religion (faith-based initiatives in particular), but an increasingly antagonistic approach to religion. Back in 2008, even Barack Obama spoke openly about having a relationship with God while he was on the campaign trail. Today, he has distanced himself from religion, especially that which emanates from an evangelical Christian perspective.
Before Obama became President, the Democratic National Committee had six employees on its faith-based staff, but only one part-time employee remains today. The Faith Department web site has only been updated twice in the past ten months. It once played a significant role in the election process by reaching out to religious voters, but has been virtually non-existent in the 2010 primaries.
The DNC is not alone in curtailing its emphasis on faith and religion. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent more than $82,000 on faith outreach in the 2008 elections, but has spent little on the 2010 primaries. The Eleison Group, who has served as the primary “faith consultants” for Democrats in 2008, is not under contract for 2010.
What this turn of events fully means is hard to define. Have the Democrats written off “religious voters”? Are they trying to paint the “religious voters” as being of little electoral significance? Do they view “religious voters” as their opposition? Is it their agenda to turn America into a fully secular nation? Whatever, the case may be, they are at risk of losing a very large block of voters.
At best, many “religious voters” are beginning to feel they are being dismissed by the Democratic Party. Part of this feeling may be attributed to the fact there is such a wide divide between the policies and values of the Obama Administration and mainstream evangelicals. The current administration has shown a propensity to view differing viewpoints from their own to be that of obstructionists and extremists.
Though we have become an international community as a nation with many religions represented, mainstream America remains faith-based. That fact may be ignored by the “progressive left” at the moment, but it cannot be ignored when the ‘faith-based” community turns out to vote.
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The Political Brief
Sort of looks like the only Christians they're interested in these days are the ones they can buy.