Many Republicans are unhappy about the midterm election results, which saw Democrats taking back control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Many Republicans believe that Democrats are misguided and all of their policies are wrong.
But for some Republicans saying Democrats are wrong is not going far enough.
Several white Christian Republican pastors in Texas are now saying that the Democratic Party is “godless” and Democrats themselves are “evil.”
Mega church Pastor Dr. Ed Young, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention said that the Democratic Party is “some kind of religion that is basically godless” during a speech he delivered at Congressman John Culberson’s election watch party Tuesday night. Culberson was a GOP incumbent who lost his House seat in Texas during this year’s Blue Wave. Young’s remarks were mae after Rep. Culberson gave his concession speech.
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And Young is not the only white Republican Texas Christian pastor expressing those kinds of sentiments. Republican anti-LGBT rights activist Dave Welch, who is leader of the Houston-based Texas Pastor Council, wrote in a Friday column that Young is right — secular Democrats are a “godless party” that embraces legal abortion and “moral anarchy.”
Before the election another Texas pastor, Bob Long of prophecy-driven Rally Call Ministries, wrote that he had a vision of a demonic attack on the election by “supernatural evil.” Long was chosen by Texas Republican lawmakers to leads prayer services in the Texas Capitol.
There is an electoral divide in America. We are divided by race, by sex, by geography and increasingly by religion. And Evangelical Christians from all denominations and races are sharply divided over what their message should be. Do they preach morality and evangelical political power and support a president of questionable morals? Or should they be most concerned about justice, righteousness and social issues?
CNN’s exit polling showed that around one-fourth of Texas voters this month were white evangelical Christians. And GOP Sen. Ted Cruz won 81 percent of that vote.
But Republicans’ suffered some losses also, including Culberson who is a member of Young’s Second Baptist Church in Houston. At the election night gathering of Republicans Young said:
“The Democratic Party is no longer a party. It’s some kind of religion that is basically godless, and as long as America — and this is represented by every Democrat I know — does not believe in the sacredness of the life in the mother’s womb, God will not bless America or make us a great nation.”
In an October Facebook post Young warned of a demon prince who would “corrupt the vote.” Another post talks about a “large satanic star” and witchcraft controlling Texas.
The unfortunate thing is that millions of evangelical Christians all over the United States have been told similar things by their own pastors. These pastors are not expressing spiritual or theological views but political views. Increasingly evangelical churches are political organizations promoting Republican policies, and it calls into question whether they should be taxed as political organizations rather than as churches. What they are doing is not really right, and they are having a negative effect on the political discourse in this country.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
