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Many year-end lists are putting the election of the first African-American president of the United States as the news story of the year. And, indeed, the election of Barack Obama as president was a defining moment for the United States, and the world.
But what, precisely, did his election define? A closer look at his election—and, for that matter, most of the “defining moments” of 2008, reveal that life is not just a question of black or white.
Obama Nation?
When the year began, many polls showed Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton as the frontrunners in the presidential sweepstakes. But with support from evangelicals and born-again Christians, an estimated 60 percent of Republican caucus goers, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee swept to a clear victory on the GOP side of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Jan. 3.
Also in Iowa, America got its first look at the Obama mania that came to be called the “Obama Nation.” Obama pulled in 37 percent of caucus voters, which gave him a surprisingly comfortable lead over Edwards and Clinton in a race that just 24 hours before the election was too close to call.
Of course, we all know the rest of the story. Obama goes on to a convincing win in November over the eventual Republican nominee, John McCain. But along the way, some critics came to call the “Obama Nation” an abomination because of Obama’s support for abortion, civil unions between gay couples, and other policy positions that many Christians find repugnant.
How Obama will actually govern on these issues, and whether it will be materially different from a Republican president that allowed $300-million government money to go to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, remains to be seen.
California passes Prop. 8
While Republicans may have taken a beating on Nov. 4, conservative values did not. Indeed, one of the most defining of “defining moments” in 2008 was the decision of voters to once again define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
On election day, Florida, Arizona, and California became the 28th, 29th, and 30th states to amend their constitutions to state explicitly that very definition.
These battles were not without significant financial costs. More than $70 million was spent in California alone by both sides in the fight. But as election returns were tallied it became clear that money spent by the conservative side was having the desired effect.
“It’s going to be important as we talk about this election, and make it very clear, it’s not a rejection of conservative values,” said Tony Perkins, president of FRC Action in Washington, D.C. “Politicians must make a more sincere effort to protect marriage if they want the support of values voters.” Perkins’ message is backed up by the numbers, with passage in Arizona garnering 56 percent, Florida with 62 percent and California with 52 percent.
Conservative Episcopalians unite
A defining moment took place in the worldwide Anglican church this year when on Dec. 3 conservative American groups, some of which had broken away from the Episcopal Church 100 years ago, came together to form a new church body with more than 100,000 members.
It was a moment many people both inside and outside the church thought would never come to pass, and it could be the “beginning of the end” of the Episcopal Church as the expression of Anglicanism in the United States.
The Episcopal Church now has less than 1 million regular church-goers. And even though the church has been the spiritual home of more presidents than any other, its decline into irrelevance has caused many evangelicals to wonder what the fuss is all about. But Bishop Martyn Minns, one of the leaders of the new group, to be called the Anglican Church of North America, says evangelicals in all denominations should be paying close attention.
“What is happening in the Episcopal Church is happening in all denominations,” he said. “All churches are, at all times, either in renewal or in decline. And just as the Episcopal Church led the mainline churches on the way down, so this new expression of Anglicanism could lead a robust, orthodox, evangelical Christianity to new prominence in American life.”
Grassley ratchets up the pressure
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley fired a shot across the bow of parachurch and non-profit movement—which is now almost 1-million organizations strong and now has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal. That shot was a call for financial records from six television ministries who have a combined total of almost $1-billion in income.
On July 7, Grassley, the ranking member of the Committee on Finance, announced that only two of the six televangelists from whom he had sought information have made good faith and substantive responses to that information. The two are Joyce Meyer Ministries and Benny Hinn’s World Healing Center Church). The other four ministries—led by Paula and Randy White, Eddie Long, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and Creflo and Taffi Dollar—have so far failed to engage in what Grassley called “open and honest dialogue” with his staff.
In an unusual “Memorandum to Reporters and Editors,” Grassley also made a forceful case for what he believes is the Finance Committee’s right to conduct this investigation, which he began last November.
“The ministries that continue not to cooperate appear to be heeding the advice of attorneys who are not familiar with congressional oversight in general and specifically the Finance Committee’s oversight and legislative work in the area of tax-exempt organizations over the last seven years,” he concluded.
If that were not enough, the Grassley statement also took a shot at the lawyers representing the noncompliant ministries.
“These attorneys who aren’t part of the ministries themselves have a natural incentive to prolong the process as long as possible,” he wrote.
And they have so far prolonged the investigation at least till year-end. That may be good news for the ministries, but sources close to Sen. Grassley tell EP News that the delaying tactics have given Grassley time to build a stronger case against these organizations, and to formulate new regulations that could change the entire non-profit landscape. The regulations will require greater levels of financial disclosure, and tougher penalties for non-compliance.
These developments, if they come to pass, will have a huge impact on the evangelical movement, much of which is in fact a network of parachurch ministries operating as 501 (c)(3) or similar organizations.
The short, strange trip of evangelist Todd Bentley
One of the more bizarre religion stories of 2008 was that of evangelist Todd Bentley, who led a Pentecostal revival in Lakeland, Fla., from a modest beginning to near-historic proportions.
But on Aug. 11, under close scrutiny from media organizations and with allegations of both moral and financial failures swirling around him, he announced that he has filed for separation from his wife, and will not return to the ongoing revival.
Lynne Breidenbach, a Lakeland, Fla., woman who had been a media liaison for Bentley during the months-long Florida Outpouring Revival, told The (Lakeland) Ledger that Bentley announced to his staff on Aug. 11 afternoon that he and his wife, Shonnah, had separated. The Bentleys have two daughters and a son and are Canadian citizens. Under Canadian law, separation is a preliminary step in divorce proceedings, lasting nine months. Breidenbach, who resigned as revival spokeswoman on the same day, called the news of the separation “very sad.”
Bentley and the Florida Outpouring have been controversial, even among other Pentecostals. Bentley has been criticized for making extravagant claims of miraculous healing and even claimed dozens of people in various locations have been raised from the dead as a result of prayers offered at the Lakeland revival.
Bentley’s flamboyant style seemed borrowed at times from professional wrestling, which Bentley has said he watches. He often exclaims “Bam” as he touches or shoves people to “impart” healing, and in a video circulating on the Internet, he was seen driving his knee into the abdomen of a man who said he had colon cancer, causing the man to fall to his knees.
America around the world
One of the themes of Barack Obama’s campaign was that America was not loved and respected around the world, and that he would restore America’s prestige.
But don’t tell that to the nations of Africa who have been the beneficiary of more than $15 billion in aid during the Bush years, mostly to fight AIDS. In a six-day, five-nation trip to Africa this year, President Bush highlighted the fact that more than half of the health care delivery system in Africa is faith-based.
“There’s one institution in every village in Africa, and that’s the church,” explained Jay Hein, director of White House Faith Based and Community Initiatives. “There isn’t always a school, there isn’t always a health clinic, there isn’t always a police department, but they virtually always have a faith institution.”
Ray Martin of Christian Connections for International Health said Christians cannot afford to become complacent.
“We are making progress, but that doesn’t suggest that we’ve licked the challenge of AIDS,” Martin said.
No need to worry, Americans are not becoming complacent. Among the stories the mainstream media under-reported this year: Americans are the most generous people on earth. According to Arthur Brooks, a philanthropy expert, no other nation on earth comes even close to matching the generosity of Americans when it comes to both foreign aid, or personal philanthropy. The reason Americans are so generous?
“Conservative Christians,” Brooks said. “Across all ethnic, racial, and class segments, the only characteristic that correlates to giving is religious faith, and conservative Christians are more than three times as generous as liberal Christians.”
Evangelical disarray and re-alignment
This was an interesting year for that loose and informal affiliation of Christians sometimes called the “evangelical church.” For one thing, no one quite knows that that means. The “evangelical church” has a proxy in many mainstream news stories: the National Association of Evangelicals. This year was a defining moment for the NAE, as well, as it attempted to clarify what it stood for.
Others are just beginning to hear of it. Just a month before the calendar ushered in 2008, NEA President Leith Anderson and NEA Vice President Richard Cizik signed onto a Christian response to an invitation to dialogue from 138 Muslim leaders around the world. The document apologized for the sins of Christians during the Crusades and for “excesses” of the global war on terror, without mentioning Muslim atrocities.
It appeared, thought, to leave the fundamentals of Christianity—especially the deity of Christ—open for discussion. Anderson and Cizik were roundly criticized by leaders from throughout the evangelical world. Dr. Al Mohler, a Southern Baptist leader, said the agreement “sends the wrong signal” and contains basic theological problems, especially in “marginalizing” Jesus Christ. He also condemned the apology for the Crusades.
“I just have to wonder how intellectually honest this is,” he said. “Are these people suggesting that they wish the military conflict with Islam had ended differently—that Islam had conquered Europe?”
This was just one gaffe for Cizik. He had been an outspoken critic of Republican policies related to environmentalism, which had not been approved as a “core issue” for the NAE. And finally, in an interview with National Public Radio’s program “Fresh Air,” he suggested that same-sex marriage, or at least civil unions, might be appropriate. It was too much for the people who signed his paycheck, and Cizik resigned from the NAE in December.
Upheaval at the NAE was, however, just a symptom of a lack of unity among evangelicals. While most evangelicals supported Mike Huckabee in the primaries, most evangelical leaders would not endorse him, causing his candidacy to get a slow start. Some evangelical leaders—including Salem radio’s Stuart Epperson, Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, and evangelical scholar Wayne Grudem – supported Mitt Romney, despite Romney’s Mormonism.
But even as Huckabee’s star seemed to be setting, another evangelical leader seemed to be on the rise. On Aug. 16, he Rev. Rick Warren, author of bestseller “The Purpose-Driven Life,” hosted Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. John McCain as they spoke at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.
The joint appearance of the candidates was part of The Saddleback Civil Forum series focusing on compassion and leadership. It was broadcast live on CNN, Fox and C-Span, elevating Warren’s stature in the eyes of the mainstream media as the “go-to guy” among evangelicals.
Making history
But when all is said and done, the year that began with Obama winning the Iowa caucuses ends with him preparing to take over the presidency. Even those with no interest in politics are having a hard time saying that this story is not one of historic significance.
But even Obama himself, however, seemed to understand that the job he has won, often called the most powerful in the world, may also be the most difficult.
“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep,” Obama said in his acceptance speech in front of 125,000 people in Grant Park in Chicago. “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”
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