Obama and The Pastors, and more . . .
The Not-So-Secret Secret Meeting…
Obama’s intentionally-leaked private meeting with high-powered pastors strikes me as a very smart bit of politics.
It probably is for Obama, but is it generally, and especially for Evangelicals? Reuters reports:
America’s largest evangelical denomination adopted a resolution on political engagement on Wednesday signaling its intention to flex its muscles in the November presidential election.
With all the hubbub we have seen this week, and having the general consensus to be that Evangelicals are the “deciders” in Republican primaries, and given how from this blog’s perspective they have overplayed their hand in that regard, this sort of talk takes them from “Nominee maker” to “king-maker.” I don’t have much faith in their ability to handle that perceived role.
Christianity Today does a little follow-up calling on the WSJ blog entry we looked at yesterday and wonders just how many Evangelical votes are actually in play.
Who knows? What is clear is that a narrative is being established about Evangelicals, as it has been for the last several cycles, and frankly I am getting tired of it. For one, this Evangelical, and most others, don’t like being pigeon-holed, or cast as a demographic group that contains a lot of people I don’t care for all that much.
But what is amazing is that if anybody has followed this with any actual thought, they have to conclude that Evangelicals simply CANNOT be pigeon-holed. The term is too amorphous and the group too diverse. Frankly, anymore it is just an excuse to talk about religion in election settings. The only people that really benefit from all this are those that set themselves up as Evangelical power brokers, and most politicos are starting to discover there is more flash than substance to those claims.
Because We Can Never Lose Sight . . .
. . . a little hearty dismissal of religious people in general out of Australia. I am really getting tired of being cast as a fool.
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