Just days after the conclusion of an epic two-year presidential campaign, students and faculty gathered Wednesday night at the Office of the University Chaplain over a common meal to discuss the role religion played in electing America’s first black president.
The event, entitled “How Religion Shaped the 2008 Elections,” featured speakers Lisa Sharon Harper, Columbia alumna and director of a faith-oriented advocacy group, and Gary Dorrien, a professor in Columbia’s religion department and at the Union Theological Seminary. In an election in which the religion of President-elect Barack Obama, CC ’83, was frequently scrutinized, the speakers said they wanted to air out inaccuracies that cropped up during the campaign.
The discussion addressed the history of evangelicalism in a political context, and the influence of Obama’s religious platform on his election. Harper noted the discord between “black” and “white” evangelicalism and how this relates to party affiliation.
Harper noted that in general, black evangelical faith centers on the altruistic themes of the Old Testament. “I am my brother’s keeper,” Harper said, turning the famous Biblical question into a declarative sentence. As a result, she explained, those who follow the faith often find themselves falling behind liberal party lines.
Meanwhile, Harper described white evangelicals as holding the individual more accountable for his actions, and are typically more conservative.
But the speakers thought that Obama has been able to appeal to both divisions, stressing that though each person is personally responsible, the fate of the nation is collective.
The speakers also said the president-elect’s popularity among evangelists was evident in the fact that he won 26 percent of votes among evangelicals, an impressive showing for a Democratic candidate. Harper attributed the 74 percent whom he lost in part to race relations and said this most likely stemmed from suspicion that Obama is Muslim.
Dorrien agreed that religious ethics played a prominent role in the 2008 elections. He said he thought the Democratic primaries, in which Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Obama spoke about faith, was vital to bridging disagreement within the Evangelical communities.
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