Let me just state up-front that I am not trying to break our community rule by posting a "dueling diary" to one currently on the rec list ("Should ‘end times’ belief disqualify you with voters?"). I was actually asked by the diarist and a couple of other folks within the comments to do a diary and expand on my posts. So please indulge if you would.
As the diarist "Something the Dog Said" referenced in his/her diary, this is indeed some deep water we’re treading into. Religion and how it plays a role in the everyday lives of folks is such a vast topic, it’s hard to place your arms around it. I’ve posted several diaries as part of this community. Many of them well received and they’ve sparked a bunch of discussion. So when asked to do another diary, I didn’t know what more I could say. But there’s one thing I’ve barely been in my life, and that’s speechless. So I’d like to approach this diary from a different perspective. Follow me...
The question posed in the diary on the rec list now is should those who hold a belief in some sort of end-time scenario, as is common among Evangelical Christians, be disqualified from holding office. As an Evangelical Christian, here is how that question sounds to me: "Should anyone dumb enough to believe in a deity and His teachings be trusted to make decisions for those of us smart enough not to believe that crap". Ensuing comments went on to suggest that those who DO believe in an end-time scenario shouldn’t even be voting. Whew. Pretty serious stuff.
As a full-fledged Evangelical Christian, my mind and emotions ran hither and yon when I read the diary this morning. Did it touch a nerve? Yep. Was I offended by some comments? Yep. I know I must respond, but how. I’ve wrote about feeling disrespected as a member of this community before. I’ve tried to dispel myths about my faith, and have tried really hard to present my faith in a way that hopefully changes minds on what it means to be an Evangelical Christian.
DKos to me is at a crossroads. If you’ve noticed, there’s a seeming rising level of intolerance on this site. Perhaps I’m sensitive to it because of my race and faith. But I believe we have a decision to make as a community. How open is this community, for really real?
So in this diary, I’ll just ask a question and see how the community responds: What if I leave?
To some of you, the answer will be "Goodbye and good riddance. We don’t need ‘your kind’ here anyway". But let me tell you who my "kind" are:
I’m an African-American. There are over 41 million African-Americans in the U.S. We make up 13.5% of the U.S. population.
I’m a Democrat. It is well documented that African-American’s vote with the Democratic party almost 90% of the time. In fact, 65% of African-Americans voted in 2008. It’s said that 90- 95% of them voted for the Democrat. That equates to about 6 -7 million votes.
I am a Christian. 76% of the U.S. population identify themselves as Christians. Over 50% say they are of a Protestant denomination.
I’m an Evangelical Christian. 26% of all Protestant Christians say they are Evangelical Christians. 85% of African-American’s say they are Christians. Most all of these are Evangelical Christians. The vast majority of Evangelical Christians hold some sort of eschatological view (end-time scenario).
This is who I am. As you can see, there are many like me. We are not "a few crackpots". We are teachers, politicians, waiters, flight attendants, insurance brokers, maids, CEO’s, and the list goes on and on. We’re engaged. We spend money. We vote. We pay taxes. Our kids go to school with your kids. I’m the cute, vivacious, brown-skinned woman you seen in the grocery store and wanted to ask out (and yes, I am single!) We love the environment. We minister to the poor. We hate "hate". We have views that make folks cringe. And some of my brothers and sisters in the faith are just downright ignorant. But it’s a reflection on them personally and not the faith – you know, like most of you say when talking about muslims and terrorists.
Some of us are (or are at least trying to be) part of this DKos community, and I participate full-well knowing that my faith is not respected here.
So I’ll just end by asking this: With these kind of numbers, is this community really willing to say that I/we don't matter?
I put this diary together rather quickly in order to seize the moment, so forgive me for not getting deep into the percentages and the like. I cede the floor back to you all. Thanks for reading. And Blessings to each of you.