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INTRODUCTION
Faith and morality played major roles on November 2nd as American
voters re-elected President Bush and approved amendments to protect
marriage in 11 states.
Ohio's Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell, estimated that 25 percent
of Bush's raw vote in Ohio came from white evangelicals. "The faith
factor was the difference in this election," said Richard Land,
president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission. Not only did more than 75 percent of evangelicals vote
for Bush, but "a whole lot more of them voted" than in 2000, Land
said. Even The New York Times acknowledged that faith was a major
factor "Because people of faith voted their values, their beliefs
and their convictions...."
BACK TO BASICS
Bush is the first wartime president in modern history to not only win
but to increase his majority in the House and the Senate and win a
majority of the popular vote. Gary Bauer, president of American
Values, said, "The upsets in the Senate and House races and the 11
marriage amendments showed that no matter where you lived, people
came out to support the kind of values that founded and built this
great nation...." (source: www.Crosswalk.com).
A Cultural Revolution in Respect
The day after the election, City Covenant Coalition hosted a
roundtable meeting for Tristate leaders in Brooklyn, NY, where Tony
Carnes, a senior editor of Christianity Today magazine, was able to
give us some analysis of the election. In the lead up to November
2nd, Tony had interviewed President Bush. He said that the election
result was a deep expression of a cultural revolution going on in
this nation.
 "The
core of Bush's support has been the Evangelicals, whose primary
motive was that the the Democrats did not respect them..... We have
not gotten much respect from the elites in this city.... The
churches today are asking for a cultural transformation.... There
are 7,100 Evangelical/Pentecostal ministers in New York City…. Most
are conservative/moderates, a number that has doubled since 1997.
The galvanizing issues have been gay marriage, the Bush Presidency,
and lack of respect from the power block" said Carnes.
SILENT NO MORE!
For many years, conservative evangelicals in America have been
considered the 'silent majority.' The secular minority, aided by a
left-leaning media, believed that they had the power to create the
impression that they were the mainstream. They had worked hard in
re-defining values from being traditional to secular. Again, the
media elite failed to respect the 'silent majority' who had enough
of being characterized as dumb hicks in 'fly-over country' and let
its voice be heard in the vote. A lion roared and was silent no
more!
There is more hope for America now that the
church has begun to wake up and take responsibility for its mandate
to transform culture. Let the cultural revolution begin!
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