The Elite Disonnect


■ THE DISCONNECT between elites who live and work inside the Washington, D.C., Beltway and the folks who work on Main Street, U.S.A., has been a topic of heated discussion for many years. I am often asked how people who get elected from Middle America come to Washing- ton and change their values. Some call it “Potomac Fever.” Whatever you call it, it appears to be very real.


The popular insider media outlet


Politico recently conducted two polls to measure the attitudes of most Ameri- cans compared to those of Washington’s Beltway elites. It found that 49 percent of Washington elites felt the country was on the right track, and 44 percent of Washington elites felt the economy was on the right track. But folks outside of Washington felt very differently: 61 percent of the general population felt America was on the wrong track, and 65 percent felt the economy was on the


wrong track. Here are some other inter- esting findings:


• 68 percent of Washington elites said the Tea Party was a fad that would fade over time, while only 26 percent of the general population agreed with that statement.


• 64 percent of Americans outside of Washington felt that government ethics


is a very important issue, while 49 percent of D.C. elites felt the same—a difference of 15 points.


• There was a 16-point gap on taxes, with 53 percent of Main Street Americans believing that the issue of taxes is very important, compared to just 37 percent of D.C. elites.


•There was a 17-point gap on immi- gration—53 percent of Main Street Americans felt immigration was a very important issue, while only 36 percent of Washington elites shared that view. • The biggest gap came on the impor- tance of family values. While 62 percent of Main Street Americans considered family values to be a very important issue, only 23 percent of D.C. elites felt the same way.


The problem with Washington is that politicians and policy makers live and work in such a cloistered environment that groupthink quickly sets in. Most watch the same TV shows, read the same newspapers, and attend the same cocktail parties. When they hear the same opin- ions over and over again, they make the mistake of assuming that everyone shares that view.—Gary Bauer (EP News)


RESPONSIBLY HONORING GIFTS OF SEX AND LIFE


■ POLLING INFORMATION released by the National Asso- ciation of Evangelicals (NAE) reinforces the need for practical and productive dialogue at the national and local levels about reduc- ing abortion. The full results of this poll are available at www. naegeneration.com. The poll, conducted by Gallup, Inc., shows: • 76 percent of Evangelicals believe sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally wrong.


• 77 percent of Evangelicals believe abortion is morally wrong. • 79 percent of Evangelicals believe having a baby outside of marriage is morally wrong.


These figures suggest that an unmarried Evangelical who unex- pectedly becomes pregnant may face a challenging situation in rela- tion to her church community.


“We need to encourage couples to courageously and responsibly honor the gifts of sex and life,” said Aaron Mercer, NAE Generation Forum project director. “The Bible’s standard for sex is very clear: abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within it. But when unmarried individuals do have sex and end up conceiving, might they fear rejection from their church family whether or not they carry the


baby to term? Whether or not this fear is warranted, we need to con- sider its possible consequences.”


The poll results underscore the confidence Evangelicals place in their local church leaders: 89 perce17nt said they would go to their pastors or other leaders in their church for advice or counseling if they were having problems in a relationship or marriage. Significant majori- ties of survey respondents showed support for a wide range of possible methods for decreasing the abortion


rate—from parental consent and waiting periods before abortions to efforts at making adoption, pre- and post-natal care, and contraceptive services more accessible. Regarding birth control for adults, 90 percent of Evangelicals hold hormonal/barrier methods of contraception to be morally acceptable, 74 percent approve fertility awareness methods, and 66 percent approve sterilization.


EVANGEL | November 2010 9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32