Florida’s Evangelicals on God and Government

Florida has one million Evangelicals who either were not registered or did not vote in both the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections. President Obama won Florida by a margin of 204,577 votes in 2008 and in 2012 by 73,189 votes.

The question: Will Floridians of faith stay home or vote in November 2014?

The RNC and DNC party platforms and looming social issues in Florida may hold the answer to this question. Which party platform mentions God the most? Answer: The Republican party’s platform refers to God twelve times. As recently as 2004 God was mentioned in the Democrat party’s platform seven times but that has declined to zero.

Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council in a 2012 email notes:

Commenting on the absence of God in the Democratic platform, Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan said yesterday, “I guess you have to ask the Obama administration why they purged all this language from their platform … I would put the onus of the burden on them to answer why they did all the purges of God.”

Last month, FRC and our allies at the Liberty Institute issued a new report cataloging 640 cases of anti-religious activity in the “land of the free.” Now, the Democratic platform speaks of “faith,” but not of Him in whom true faith must be placed. In a nation whose motto is, “In God We Trust,” this is a sad commentary on the mindset of our present political leadership.

The current crisis of the usurpation of the Constitution, the administration’s anti-Israel stance and lies perpetrated by the President may cause Evangelicals to come to the polls on November in large numbers.

In 2012 the DNC took God and support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel out of their party platform. This change was approved by President Obama when he signed the platform. Immediately there after, this change became national news, drowning out the DNC message of more government, more social programs and more spending on green energy programs. When this change in the party platform became the narrative an attempt to add God and Jerusalem back into the platform was initiated but that led to even more controversy as many DNC delegates booed the change.

Julian Pecquet and Pete Kasperowicz from The Hill report, “The additions were approved by a voice vote that seemed to split the crowd evenly and confused Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was leading the proceedings. Villaraigosa looked around the stage and appeared uncertain over how to proceed after an initial vote, in which the “nays” to adding Jerusalem and God back into the platform sounded just as loud as the “ayes.”

“Villaraigosa called for a second vote with similar results. He then called for a third voice vote, and while it sounded evenly split, he proclaimed that two-thirds of the delegates approved the changes, which sparked some grumbling in the audience,” note Pecquet and Kasperowicz. All of this platform drama at the DNC was captured on video.

VIDEO: Boos And Multiple Votes, DNC Reverses Position And Reinstates Jerusalem

Perkins notes, “‘The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.’ These words weren’t spoken by Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan, but John Kennedy in his inaugural address.”

Finally, pollster John Zogby found that 51.4 percent of voters back the GOP’s traditional marriage position that the “ideal family is built around a stable marriage between a man and a woman.” Florida passed a Constitutional amendment in 2008 by 61% which defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Social issues are looming large in Florida in 2014. The ongoing attacks on marriage as between one man and one woman, the ballot initiative calling for the legalization of marijuana and attacks against the Church via Obamacare are of growing concern to those of faith.

RELATED COLUMNS:

Politics and the G-word by Jeff Jacoby

A Democratic Chorus of “No” Rejects Mention of Jerusalem in Platform – Huffington Post

Moving America Forward: 2012 Democratic National Platform

We Believe in America: 2012 Republican National Platform

Obama Attacked Over Party Platform on JerusalemWall Street Journal

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