Bible Belt churches putting Bush in more than prayers

By Geneive Abdo
Chicago Tribune

OSCAR SOSA / CHICAGO TRIBUNE David Johnson, pastor of the King of Kings Church in Jacksonville, Fla., says, "We are careful to be nonpartisan. But we should vote in a way that reflects how we pray."

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Johnston's 120-member evangelical congregation backs the president wholeheartedly on social issues most important to his church. There is even a red-white-and-blue church Web site, saveamericanow.us, that King of Kings started in part to campaign against gay marriage.

Johnston goes out of his way to note that King of Kings does not endorse individual candidates for office, which would be a violation of the traditional separation of church and state. He said his wife gave the contribution to the Bush campaign. Nonetheless, he is part of a formidable, and growing, political machine.

"We are careful to be nonpartisan," said Johnston, 59, who founded Kings of Kings a decade ago. "But we should vote in a way that reflects how we pray."

Across the Bible Belt and notably in the electoral swing state of Florida, patriotism, social conservatism and religious fervor have come together to give Bush a solid pillar for his re-election campaign in 2004, a power base that was born in the days of Ronald Reagan's presidency.

In interviews with pastors across Florida, many said that they invite some politicians to meet the faithful during Sunday services but that their churches never endorse candidates. To do so would risk losing the churches' tax-exempt status.

Some churches also have begun voter-registration drives to bring congregants of the religious right — who stayed home in large numbers in 2000 — to the polls. Voters guides outlining candidates' positions on issues of concern among conservative Christians will be distributed in churches in coming weeks.

Experts estimate 25 million white evangelicals voted in 2000 and another 25 million evangelicals who were part of the voting-age population did not vote, said Scott Keeter, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. About one-fourth of the total U.S. electorate, estimated in 2000 as slightly more than 209 million, is believed to consist of white evangelicals, excluding Catholics.

Some experts believe that while the Christian right might be energized in a state such as Florida, there are early signs of apathy nationwide. "We can say that two-thirds of evangelicals say they will vote for Bush. But the question is how motivated will they be to turn out to vote?" Keeter said. "There is a feeling of lack of fervor nationwide, for example, for the amendment to the Constitution banning gay marriage."

In tightly contested Florida, the scene of a disputed cliffhanger in the 2000 presidential contest that eventually sealed the presidency for Bush, an energized evangelical following could give him the edge in what many political analysts expect to be another unpredictable contest.

The activism is inspiring a national debate over whether the religious right is violating the traditional separation of church and state and whether the Bush campaign is encouraging it. The Bush-Cheney campaign sent an e-mail earlier this month to a Pennsylvania pastor, saying it intended to identify 1,600 "Friendly Congregations in Pennsylvania" where the president might pick up votes.
 
"I think churches are more involved in politics than in any time in recent history and more directly involved in partisan campaigns," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The liberal group is working to withdraw tax-exempt status from churches that are politically active.

Dabbling in politics from the pulpit is not new, nor are debates about where to draw the line between church and state. Since its inception, the United States has taken religion into account, even including "In God We Trust" on currency. From the days when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for civil rights in African-American churches to the first signs under Reagan that the Christian right could be a political powerhouse, many pastors have fused their moral and political missions. In the 1990s, groups such as the Christian Coalition became known for their voters guides handed out to churchgoers, explaining candidates' positions on social issues.

This election, congregants who identify themselves as part of the Christian right said, several factors have sparked an unusual urgency to help Bush, including a potential threat of Islamic extremism at home, what they see as the disappearance of the nation's moral compass and the closeness of the race.

Pastors said they never instruct their congregations how to vote, but in many ways, they don't have to. Even in churches with no overt sign of political activity, the link between Bush's stand on social issues, particularly his opposition to gay marriage and abortion, and a general perception that he is a good Christian are galvanizing the faithful.

The president's support of an amendment to the Constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman also sits well with the Christian right.

"The evangelical community and this church are supporting Bush, primarily on moral issues," said the Rev. David Smith, executive pastor of the Calvary Assembly in Orlando, Fla. "Bush is a man of moral integrity. His courage is leading our nation. He has done unpopular things. People feel pressured to be sure it [the race] is not as close this time and we don't lose this state."