How many DUers consider themselves "religious voters?"

[BurtWorm]

I ask because of the fashion for chiding Democrats for not appealing to "religious voters." It seems the media have swallowed the right wing's definition of "religious." Maybe it's warranted? Maybe lefties--even religious ones--don't think of themselves as "religious voters?"

What do you all think? And please try to be honest rather than polemical about this if possible. In other words, if you consider yourself religious but do not consider yourself a "religious voter" please say so. Thanks!

[rabid_nerd]

1. I vote "religously", does that count?

Toungue-in-cheek

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. I'm an atheist, but I vote religiously. eom

[tk2kewl]

3. Religion is there to cope with the unexplaineable

Frankly, I want my government to deal with more mundane issues.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. I am a devout cradle Catholic

...I believe that Christ was a liberal and I try very hard to live my life in a Christ-like manner. That being said, I don't believe the religious right, while perhaps hijacking Christianity, are particularly Christ-like. I was brought up to believe in the Corporal Works of Mercy and to be non-judgmental and that is how I try to live. Does that help?

[BurtWorm]

6. Do you think of yourself as a "religious voter?"

Whatever that means?

[Midlodemocrat]

8. I think I vote the way I think Jesus would vote.

...to help people, try to bring peace, etc. I don't look to my government for my moral barometer, I think I have that pretty well in check already.

[bunkerbuster1]

13. If you're a Mets fan

faith in Jesus is a plus. I'll grant you that.

[Lisa0825]

5. I am a voter who believes in God, but i don't vote BASED ON God.(nt)

[wicket]

7. My Christianity is what makes me a liberal

But then again my religion is a very private thing and I hate to see others try to force it down people's throats.

[noel711]

9. Amen!

[wicket]

20. Welcome to DU Noel!

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

26. Same here. My concern for others comes right

Christ himself.

-----------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/

[seabeyond]

10. i am christian, not religious and i vote

but not a vote influenced by christianity...........

[BurtWorm]

11. Is it fair to call religious Republicans who vote religious voters

but not religious Democrats who vote? Why do we assume in the US that religious people are conservatives? Do the religious among us share in this conception? If so, why? If not, why not?

[Midlodemocrat]

14. I think it has to do with proselytizing.

I wouldn't dream of telling someone they were going to Hell because of their beliefs, but the RW has no problem telling us that. I am more tolerant of others beliefs as well, whereas the RW isn't. Either you're wit me, or agin me. I personally worship God, Jesus and Mary, as do most practicing Catholics, but if you want to worship Mohammed, I wouldn't condemn you for it. The RW would. I think that is the profound difference. IMO

[bunkerbuster1]

12. I've become more religious of late

Joined a church; wife teaches Sunday School. So I guess I'd qualify, although I don't really consider myself a "religious voter."

I find much of the focus on people's religious beliefs to be rather offensive. I share John Kerry's reticence about discussing his personal beliefs (he did near the end of the campaign--too late to suit many, alas). I think garish displays of religion (which is to say, in this country, Christianity) are rather gross, and I suspect that's one thing many Democrats have in common.

Let's get real--who isn't embarassed for our country when they flip past some ridiculous televangelist? who isn't disgusted when they hear Rev. Fucking Fallwell is going to resurrect his oxymoronic Moral Majority?

Someone else mentioned it in the Atrios blog--one other problem we lefties have is, we don't have our own strong religious leaders arguing our case on the TeeVee. If Pat Robertson is representing the wingnut view, the producers usually book some secular figure to provide a counterpoint (say, a Norman Lear.)

[papau]

15. religious but do not consider myself a "religious voter" - just a values

voter!

:-)

[meow2u3]

16. I may be religious

but, unlike the radical right, I don't think God died and left me in charge.

[seraph]

17. No.

[HuskerDem]

28. Your graphic just made me

hungry again. As a Christian with a healthy sense of humor......

very funny. B-)

[sangh0]

18. I am a religious voter

I'm religious and I vote.

I think a big part of the problem is the emphasis on identity politics. What I actually call myself is not nearly as important as who I am and what I believe.

[m berst]

19. I am

Traditional Christian, far-left and progressive politically. Feel like one in a million most of the time. Actually get far more flack from the left for Christianity than I do from the right for my politics. I know, I know, I am not supposed to say that.

The right wing political so-called Christianity that is floating Bush's boat is actually just a scam and has no theological basis. There is not any threat from the Christianity of 90% of the conservative Christians I talk to. It is the perversion of it into the public realm, and the misuse of it by a group of evil and unscrupulous men that are the threat. Bush and the people he represents will toss the Christians into camps with the rest of us just as soon as they are done using them to gain political power.

[aprillcm]

21. I am

But my Religion evidently taught me different than the far rights did them!

My Moral Values Come from The New Testament and what Jesus taught, while theirs seem to come from hell.

[HuskerDem]

29. Well said and WELCOME

to DU! :hi:

[aprillcm]

34. Thank you :)

[AnIndependentTexan]

22. religious voting doesn't mean anything when the fate of the world

I'm Christian and I could care less about religion in the white house.

[aprillcm]

23. Great point

The Founding Fathers knew religion had the ability to destroy this country, and were concerned about it. People have taken it to the extreme yes, but going the other way and making laws because of it is not the answer.

[HuskerDem]

24. I am a religious person. I vote for Democrats because I feel they

most closely follow the tenets of my faith. Compassion, respect for others, equality, humility, the good of the many, individual rights, respect for the earth, generosity, forgiveness, charity, strength through peace, cooperation, justice for the meek.

I'm sure I'm leaving much out but I trust you get the idea. I vote Democrat BECAUSE as a Christian I try to abide by my faith.

I would never vote for a candidate based on their religion. I am pro-choice. I am pro-gay marriage because marriage is a CIVIL legal arrangement and NOBODY is saying that it will be forced upon any church to bless any union any more than it is now. Just see how far a Lutheran couple gets trying to get married in a Catholic cathedral. Thank God, I belong to a church that does not discriminate. I couldn't stay in one that did.

Am I a religious voter? Depends on how you wish to define that term. I would say yes, but many of faith would claim otherwise I guess.

[H2O Man]

25. Yes, I think I am .....

My religious beliefs are influenced by Gandhi and King in terms of applying them to political actions. As a "religious" democrat, my goal is not to impose my belief system on anyone else. Rather, it is to have it guide me in the decisions that I make for myself.

The single most important religious issue for me at this time is what I consider to be the dangerous direction that the extreme right-wing republicans are taking our culture in. In many, even most cases, I believe that their reactions show the potential to create wide-spread suffering, not because they are consciously "bad" .... but because when higher learning falls on lower levels of being, it is unfortunetely destructive. I believe that this administration is moving at a fast pace towards commiting some of the worst evils in recent history.

My religious beliefs teach me not only to try to feed the poor, but more: to try to reach their status. I believe that God is found primarily among the poor and broken, and the social outcasts. In human terms, my beliefs encourage me to vote in ways that benefit those people, as opposed to the group that Bush calls "his people" in the infamous clip in F 9-11.

My beliefs also form a foundation for environmental issues. I believe that people have the right to clean air and water. I believe that industries that pollute the environment violate a sacred trust.

My religious beliefs do not allow me to put any value judgement on the sexual habits of two or more consenting adults. If it is abuse or rape, I've got a problem with it. But if it's consenting adults, my religion not only passes no judgement, it gives me the obligation to tell the right-wing to mind their own business and stop trying to deny citizens their human rights based on something that is none of their business.

[Walt Starr]

27. My religious faith is an imperative consideration when I vote

:D

[neoSattva]

30. We've let them take morality away from us,

along with values and patriotism. We have to stake our claim to them again - and it will take time and persistence. The right has been working on this for decades.

I got a ltte in the Denver Post today on this point & urge you all to move this message into the public consciousness when and wherever you can - Progressives have values. Here's the unedited version. They shortened it a bit:


We took offense at the Post's editorial statement, "Democrats are more likely to vote on issues than on values. Many Republicans see it the other way..."

Last Tuesday we voted for John Kerry, precisely because he embodies our values much more closely than does President Bush.

The central value we see in Senator Kerry is a true respect for life - for all people. His positions on stem cell research and the environment come from a respect for life. Making health care more available, funding schools, and improving economic conditions for lower and middle income families come from a respect for life. Those in turn lead to lower abortion rates, one of the president's main selling points. In reality, abortions have increased with Bush, after years of steady reduction under President Clinton.

George Bush's "with us or against us," mentality does not respect life. His rush to war, without clear evidence, when viable options were still available, does not respect life. His 'War on Terror' strategy does not respect life and makes us less safe. As Secretary Rumsfeld feared, we are creating terrorists faster than we can kill them.

We voted our values this week – we voted for John Kerry.

[m berst]

31. not only us

The Dominionists and the men around Bush have taken morality away from the people who voted for them as well, and perverted it and channeled it into the service of tyranny.

[qwlauren35]

32. In some ways I am...

With the exception of abortion, I generally tend to vote with a Buddhist conscience. I tend to vote toward those things which support and enhance life. I tend to vote against those things which promote violence and war. There are many gay folks in my sect, so it would make no sense for me to support that stupid Marriage Amendment...

However, if I was REALLY a conscientious Buddhist voter, I would probably be an environmental activist. If you believe you're coming back in the future, the last thing you want is to have fucked up the planet this time around...

[hiphopnation]

33. not even remotely

but I'm not sure I follow you here. The media have swallowed the right's definition of "religious" how?

[BurtWorm]

35. By referring to one type of voter as a "religious voter."

Listen to the media. They reserve the term "religious" for the religious right, as though people on the left cannot be religious, and as though voters on the left cannot be "religious voters."

[hiphopnation]

36. I see.

Now that you mention it, I suppose that the reasons for my voting the way I do and being a liberal could come from a religious or a spiritual place.

But there's a reason that "religious voters" and the right have become synonymous to the point of stereotype.

It's time to rescue the language. I thought Kerry did a fantastic job answering the issues of "faith" during the debates and frankly if it wasn't good enough for you average "religious voter" then fuck 'em. I refuse to accept the terms of the debate. These people say they push a 'culture of life'. Nope...it's most definitely a 'culture of death' especially after "religious voters" ratified a war-time president.

I know this is all about winning elections and such but it's also about a fundamental restructuring of the party right down to our base. Rescue the language.

[lgardengate]

37. I Am

I'm a traditional Christian.My beliefs decide my vote. I don't agree with Churches telling people how to vote.Talking about issues is fine but then people must come to there own conclusions about a vote.
I don't even believe AA churches should have candidates for public office speak from there pulpit because i am against ANY church directly endorsing a Dem or GOP candidate.Unlike most here i don't hate the Christian RW. I know some who are good people who do good things for others and are loving people. (like my family).
I just want people to be informed and make there own decision.

[karlrschneider]

38. I'm an atheist who agrees with Jesus

whether or not he existed at all...

[More Than A Feeling]

39. Finding my faith has made me more liberal.

Ironically, I was flirting with being a Republican until I got into a debate with a hardcore Catholic and he was using Christianity to justify what he was saying. So I went to the Bible so I could argue with him, and that was the end of my atheism as well as my brief look at the Republican Party. So, I do consider myself a religious voter, and I expect to have a long and (happy?frustrated?) affiliation with the Democratic Party.

[lgardengate]

40. Happy some and Frustrated i would think {grin} I know....

I am sometimes happy with my party and other time i want to strangle the leaders! :hi:

[coeur_de_lion]

41. My born-again sister thinks Michael Moore needs to be saved

because he sent out an email saying "17 reasons not to slit your wrists."

I tried to explain to her that he is Catholic (as am I) and does not need to be saved. When that wouldn't do I asked her to pray not for Michael Moore but for Bush. I asked her when she was done with that to pry for the 1141 (last count?) American soldiers who have been killed, the scores of others who have been maimed, the over 100,000 Iraqis who have been slaughtered, many of whom were innocent children, and then when she was done praying for all those people she should pray for the Americans who are unemployed or underemployed because of * economic policies.

I am a devout Catholic and I voted the way my Christian conscience told me to vote. I really don't understand why the "religious right" can't see how misguided their "Christianity" is.

I give up.

[LiberalAndProud]

42. Me.

cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
defend the powerless,
plead for the defenseless.

Isaiah 1:17

[LeftyMom]

43. I am

My religious beliefs influence my morality, which influences my politics. I also do not vote for people who denigrate my chosen religion or the religion I was raised in, which leaves a lot of people on the right out.

However when the SCLM talks about religious voters or moral values voters or whatever I doubt they are talking about uberliberal pagan recovering catholics.

[AlienGirl]

44. Tikkun olam, baby!

Voting for the ethics I believe in, voting for a more sane and liberal society, is a way to help repair the world, which is a religious obligation.

Tucker

[salin]

45. a "spiritual" voter - yes

religious - not so much. Defining spiritual as belief system that is at the core of one's life - in my case based upon a religion. While defining "religious" as externally "observant" (eg faithful church attendance....) the two are not necessarily synonomous, nor are they exlusive (eg if you are one you are not the other.)

[Lexingtonian]

46. count me in

If I didn't think it a matter of conscience and morality and spiritual possibility, I'd be apolitical.

'The media' reports what it is told. The Religious Right is indeed, as it claims, religious. Sadly, there is a problem of wheat and chaff involved. The RR rejects the wheat kernals and revels in the chaff- it rejects in its politics stuff like the Sermon On The Mount and the Law of Love and the rigorous application of the New Covenant doctrine, in Christianity, and rejects similar things in its Jewish, Islamic, and other forms. In all cases the RR prefers an occultically corrupted version of the religion (e.g. fundamentalism or charmismatic extremism) and as it politics it insists on defending pagan (external) accretions (from fertility cultism, Nature religions, rituals involving killing, simple idolatries) and reading its texts with external/paganistic assumptions and interpretative method.

The Religious Right is the corruption of valid religious paths which is used to justify the indefensible, and that in turn reflects the educational failures of the society as well as the corruption of the ruling class which -always- exploits that "traditionalism". Most 'traditions' are embarrassing in being either a lot younger than their champions imagine, or a lot older- and of far more alien origin- than supposed.