Christianity and the Red States
As funny as the "Jesus Land" vs. Canada map is, I question whether Christianity is the key to the red states or to the recent election. (Map via Sandhill Trek; comments suggest it came from the Toronto Star; I'm pretty sure I saw a link to it in an article on Slate).
Partly I have in mind a line from J.F. Powers' novel, Morte d'Urbain. An old priest who has worked in the U.S. for many years says something like: "I don't care what anyone says, the U.S. will always be missionary country." I take it this means: American Catholics may be enthusiastic, but there is always a question about the depth and breadth of the enthusiasm. It often seems to be one of many enthusiasms, or one of a series, so it is the enthusiasm that is consistent, not any particular religious belief or practice, or even piety in general.
Italians, to go to another extreme, may stop going to church, may tolerate many things the Church teaches are sins, and may come to regard Communism as a respectable alternative. But they are always somehow Catholic--not just cultural Catholics. Today many countries, even Catholic ones, are moving to accept gay marriage--but not, it seems, Italy.
Americans seem to search until they find or invent a religion that is exactly suited to themselves as individuals--so it seems it is the individual choice that is really sacred. It almost seems there are as many U.S. religions as there are individuals. I gather the President and his wife, as far as anyone knows, don't actually go to church; this was also pretty much true of the Reagans. Everyone seems able to give their own interpretation to almost everything.
If this is true, it's hard to believe American Christians, even evangelicals, can be counted on to come down on one side of a range of issues. Evangelicals care a great deal about the abortion issue, and now gay marriage, so they are inclined to support Republicans over those issues. But as I recall they had to be persuaded to start thinking that way, by Jerry Falwell and others, about 1980. C.S. Lewis said something like: he favoured socialism in economics, but also a great deal of liberty for individuals and families. It surely wouldn't be surprising if evangelicals moved to the left on at least some issues.
Another part of this is that evangelical Christians are not, or should not be, "conservative." They are radicals of some kind--and maybe, from a political perspective, deeply idiosyncratic or unpredictable.
So I agree with Kevin Drum: there are a lot of Christians in the U.S., particularly in the red states, and they tend to be ignored, if not systematically defamed, by the mainstream media. But I'm not sure what conclusions can be drawn from that fact for elections.
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