< Previous page

Democrats tend to talk about religion most often in African-American churches, which remain strongly Democratic in their voting patterns. Some successful Democrats, such as former four-term Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt, frequently injected religious appeals into his speeches.

James Guth, an expert on religion and politics at Furman University, said it is simpler for Republicans to attract religious voters because much of their base is conservative -- whether they be evangelical Protestants, conservative Catholics or Mormons.

"The Democratic Party has always been a party of religious minorities," Guth said. "When talking about religion, it is pretty hard to find a common denominator because so many religions are involved. And the Democratic Party has increasingly become dependent on secular voters."

The risk for Democrats was evident Friday during the WUNC program. Several callers, apparently secular Democrats, objected to discussing public policy issues in religious terms.

A shift toward GOP

Wrenn, the Republican strategist, said Democrats have a difficult time talking about such issues as religious diversity or separation of church and state without appearing hostile to religious conservatives. Unless Democrats support voluntary school prayer in the public schools, Wrenn said, they have little hope of winning back religious voters.

The Rev. Coy Privette of Kannapolis has seen working people move from the Democratic column to the Republicans during his four decades as a legislator, gubernatorial candidate and now Cabarrus County commissioner.

"The Democratic Party is on the wrong side of the biblical issues, like right to life, and issues on same-sex marriage," Privette said. "That has made all the difference in the world."

But Jim Wallis, an evangelical minister, says that is too narrow a view of religion. He says, for example, that the Bible contains 2,000 verses about fighting poverty that at times seem to be overlooked.

Wallis, the founder of Sojourners Magazine and author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It," told the Duke Chapel audience that the debate among Christians has been broadening to include not only such hot-button issues as abortion and homosexuality, but also poverty, AIDs and the suffering in Darfur.

"The worst mistake progressives have made is conceding the area of religion and values to the political right," Wallis said.

< Previous page