A Liberal evangelical opposed to Donald Trump is asking Joe Biden to do more to appeal to conservative evangelicals concerned about abortion and religion freedom. The plea comes as Biden has moved to the extreme left on most issues.
Ron Sider, a theologian, professor and social activist, published an editorial in “USA Today” this week. In the piece, Sider, 80, explained how and why it’s important for Biden to do something that his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, did not do in 2016. With the Democratic Party sliding further left when it comes to stances on LGBT issues and abortion, Sider argues that white evangelicals — a major voting bloc for Trump — need Biden to show that he understands and respects “our concerns.”
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“There are millions of evangelicals (and Catholics) in swing states who want to vote for Biden,” Sider said. “We agree much more with Biden than with Trump on numerous issues: racial justice, economic justice, the environment and climate change, tax policy that demands more of the rich, health care for all — and much more. We want to vote for Joe Biden!” he claims.
“But on two issues — abortion and religious freedom — we need to hear that Biden’s campaign understands, respects and can talk to us about our concerns, even though they do not fully agree.”
Sider cited a Gallup poll showing that about 20 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in every instance, 20 percent believe abortion should never be legal and about 50 percent said abortion should be legal with some restrictions.
“I expect that Biden will keep saying he’ll guarantee that abortion continues to be legal and safe,” Sider said. “But Biden could also say that as a Catholic, he understands those who want it to be less frequent.”
The issue of religious freedom also is important, he said, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 to make same-sex marriage a national right.
“Millions of Christians in key swing states want to defeat Trump this year,” Sider said. “Some of us will vote for Biden regardless of what he says on these two issues But others will not. And that loss of votes might cost Biden the presidency.”
Sider did not site polls that show Americans disagree with Biden on the vast majority of issues including the Green New Deal, open borders, police funding, China, voter ID, trade negotiations and other issues.
Polls have also recently showed that the majority of Black Americans do not favor defunding or abolishing police departments, are pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
