For Religious Conservatives, Election Was A 'Disaster'

http://www.wbur.org/npr/164711265/for-religious-conservatives-election-was-a-disaster

Barbara Bradley Hagerty November 8, 2012


Attendees pray during The Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit on Sept. 14 in Washington, D.C. (AFP/Getty Images)

Many religious conservatives thought this might be the year of an evangelical comeback, when voters would throw President Obama out because of his support of same-sex marriage and abortion, and his health plan's birth control mandate. It didn't work out that way.

"I think this was an evangelical disaster," says Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Mohler says white evangelicals moved in lockstep: Seventy-nine percent voted for Republican Mitt Romney, the same percentage as voted for President George W. Bush in 2004. He says they boldly telegraphed their concerns about Obama, and "our message was rejected by millions of Americans who went to the polls and voted according to a contrary worldview."

Mohler says there's a danger that evangelicals won't see this larger lesson — that they will say Obama won because of his unique story and personality.

more at link, including the audio link