President Obama\u2019s affirmation of same sex marriage has raised evangelical ire. While polls indicate that Americans are evenly split over the issue, a multi-racial chorus of evangelicals has sang a sad song of dismay with the refrain \u201cpro-gay marriage is anti-Christian\u201d.<\/p>\n
What is really at stake in this recent dust up is the age old tension between religion and democracy in the United States. One way to read the history of the United States is to comprehend the way in which religion has been used to either expand or restict democracy.<\/p>\n
There were conservative religious leaders that used the story of Ham and the Apostle Paul\u2019s admonishment for slaves to be obedient to their masters to justify chattel slavery. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and a host of other Christians used the Bible to justify the inclusion of African Americans in the promise of American democracy.<\/p>\n