Nov. 8, 2012
Column #1,628
Is America Losing Its Christian Heritage?
By Mike McManus

I have to admit I have egg on my face. I predicted that Obama’s support of same-sex marriage in May would make him “a one-term president.” I also predicted defeat for all four same-sex marriage referenda in Maryland, Minnesota, Maine and Washington state.

While six states and Washington DC had legalized gay marriage, they came as the result of a court case or a state legislative vote. In the 32 states where the public could vote on the issue, traditional marriage was upheld every time. That gave me confidence that America’s historic Christian values would triumph - again.

Not so. Obama won a sweeping victory, and same-sex marriage will soon be legal in Maryland, Maine and Washington State. Minnesota’s attempt to pass a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to the union of one man and one woman – was defeated.

On top of that, Colorado and Washington passed ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana for recreational use – though the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it is illegal. What responsible adult thinks it would be great if more young people could get stoned regularly? Maryland also voted for a huge gambling casino.

Most important, how could a nation where nearly two-thirds of Americans are members of a church or synagogue vote for President Obama who not only favors abortion on demand but encourages lawsuits against states who decide to stop funding Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion mill?

How could anyone with kids vote for a man who pledged to cut deficits in half, but actually doubled them, imposing huge debt on our children and grandchildren? Oddly, he appointed a deficit reduction commission that came up with a good plan – and then ignored it.

Small wonder the stock market plunged the day after the election by more than 300 points, the largest one day drop this year! Those with investments in the market see a future of higher taxes, anemic job growth and plunging stock values.

I don’t understand how 52 percent of Catholics could vote for a man who told Catholic universities and hospitals - with a sixth of the nation’s beds – that they had to offer free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees, a step morally repugnant to committed Catholics. How could Catholics support a man who trashed their religious liberty?

Both parties nominated a Catholic to be vice president, but only the Republican nominee supported traditional marriage and freedom of religion, while opposing rampant abortions.

Most evangelicals passionately share these pro-life, pro-marriage values and are concerned about the nation’s descent toward bankruptcy. Yet Obama carried such evangelical-rich battleground states as Iowa and Virginia. Evangelicals and Catholics dominate Ohio, yet it was another swing state for Obama.

Romney was not the perfect candidate. He talked about Hispanics deporting themselves rather than suggesting the need for immigration reform. In the third debate, Romney should have asked Obama about his mishandling of the Libyan attack and his cover-up lies about mobs that did not exist two weeks later at the UN. Also, Romney is a Mormon, which is a puzzling faith to most Christians.

There were some mitigating factors that must be acknowledged.

A poll by the Faith and Freedom Foundation on Election Day reported that white evangelicals voted by almost 4-1 for Romney. Catholics who regularly attend Mass voted 2-1 for him.

Maryland’s vote for same-sex marriage was 52 - 48 while the liberal state supported Obama by a 62 – 37 margin. Some black evangelicals voted for traditional marriage and Obama.

But not enough of them. Why?

Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, which raised $5.5 million to buy ads supporting traditional marriage in the four states balloting on the issue, confesses, “We were outspent 8-1 in some states. There were a lot more folks with wealth to fund their side. People remembered their ads but did not see our ads. There was complacency on our side, to be honest. We won by such a large margin in North Carolina five months ago, we did not have enough donors.”

However, something much more fundamental has gone wrong. David Aikman, author of a new must-read book, “One Nation Without God: The Battle for Christianity in an Age of Unbelief,” deplores the “overall movement of American society away from the Christian core values that we were established with.

“America is in the same condition as England in the 1750’s before the Wesleyan Revival – corrupt, immoral and alcoholic.”

What can be done?

Aikman calls for “a massive revival that we have not seen since the Great Awakening.”