Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Obama Victory Boosted by Minority Christians, Religiously Unaffiliated

Obama Victory Boosted by Minority Christians, Religiously Unaffiliated

According to a survey performed by the Public Religion Research Institute and reported in the CNN Belief Blog, one in four voters for president Barack Obama in the recent election were religiously unaffiliated, and more than 30 percent of them were minority Christians—black, Hispanic, Asian and mixed-race Americans. Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s voters, however, were largely white Christians—they accounted for nearly 80 percent of Romney’s vote.

“This presidential election is the last in which a white Christian strategy will be considered a plausible path to victory,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of the PRRI. “The American religious and ethnic landscape is becoming increasingly diverse, and any campaigns relying on outdated maps are destined to lose their way.”

Christian leaders are noticing and commenting on the change in focus. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, tweeted that the election results represented “a fundamental moral realignment of the country.” Franklin Graham, CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and son of Rev. Billy Graham, doesn’t take it that far, but rather commented to CNN that he thinks “there are a lot of conservative Christians who did not vote for whatever reason.”

A recent survey by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that the fastest-growing “religious” group in America is made up of people with no religion at all. Twenty percent of Americans have no religious affiliation, according to the survey.