Just a few days before the 2012 elections, Christianity Today reported yesterday that nearly a quarter of pastors are still deciding on a presidential candidate, according to LifeWay research. A recent Gallup poll shows that only four percent of all Americans likely to vote remain undecided at this point. Interestingly, research shows pastors felt the same way in 2008 in making a decision about Obama and McCain. Why are pastors still so ambivalent? For good reason, CT experts comment.
Pastors do not want to be “reduced to their political opinion” when congregations are full of differing opinions, said Rev. Roger Ferlo of Seabury Western Theological Seminary in Illinois. Many mainline Protestants are also reeling from fights over same-sex marriage and the role of homosexuals in their churches. “People are tired of the partisan fray,” said Ferlo.
Some pastors simply want to be definite in their opinion before expressing it. Kenneth Swetland of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary commented, “Pastors tend to be pretty definite in their beliefs and in the advice they give people from the Bible. They are not used to gray areas.”
And some are still stuck on Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s faith. One pastor in Baltimore explained that he won’t vote for Obama because of his position on abortion and gay marriage, but he doesn’t want to vote for Romney either because of his association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. “I read that survey as saying that 22 percent are having a hard time voting for a Mormon,” he told CT.
Are you still undecided? Why? Give your thoughts in the Comment area below.
