A delicious, page-one story in today's NYT:
Christian conservatives, for more than two decades a pivotal force in American politics, are grappling with Election Day results that repudiated their influence and suggested that the cultural tideâespecially on gay issuesâhas shifted against them.... It is not as though they did not put up a fight; they went all out as never before: The Rev. Billy Graham dropped any pretense of nonpartisanship and all but endorsed Mitt Romney for president. Roman Catholic bishops denounced President Obamaâs policies as a threat to life, religious liberty and the traditional nuclear family. Ralph Reedâs Faith and Freedom Coalition distributed more voter guides in churches and contacted more homes by mail and phone than ever before.
âMillions of American evangelicals are absolutely shocked by not just the presidential election, but by the entire avalanche of results that came in,â R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Louisville, Ky., said in an interview. âItâs not that our messageâwe think abortion is wrong, we think same-sex marriage is wrongâdidnât get out. It did get out. Itâs that the entire moral landscape has changed,â he said. âAn increasingly secularized America understands our positions, and has rejected them.â
Cue the sad trombone!
Play the tiny violin!
Get Nelson in here!