Ein aufsehenerregender Bericht der New York Times zeigt, dass die evangelikale christliche Rechte sich zersetzt: Viele evangelikale Christen zeigen Reue daf\u00fcr, dass man sich so sehr an die Republikanische Partei geh\u00e4ngt hat und dass man den Irakkrieg so gedankenlos unterst\u00fctzt hat. Manche streben vom rechten Rand des politischen Lebens her wieder in die moderate Mitte. Abtreibung, Schwulenehe und andere Symbolthemen sind angesichts der Krise Amerikas – vor allem verursacht durch das Irakdesaster – nicht mehr so wichtig. Bush verliert seine treuesten W\u00e4hler.<\/p>\n
Zitat:<\/p>\n
Some claim the falloff in support for Bush reflects the unrealistic expectations pumped up by conservative Christian leaders. But no one denies the war is a factor. Christianity Today, the evangelical journal, has even posed the question of whether evangelicals should \u201crepent\u201d for their swift support of invading Iraq<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cEven in evangelical circles, we are tired of the war, tired of the body bags,\u201d the Rev. David Welsh, who took over late last year as senior pastor of Wichita\u2019s large Central Christian Church, told me. \u201cI think it is to the point where they are saying: \u2018O.K., we have done as much good as we can. Now let\u2019s just get out of there.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Welsh, who favors pressed khaki pants and buttoned-up polo shirts, is a staunch conservative, a committed Republican and, personally, a politics junkie. But he told me he was wary of talking too much about politics or public affairs around the church because his congregation was so divided over the war in Iraq.<\/p>\n Welsh said he considered himself among those who still support the president. \u201cI think he is a good man,\u201d Welsh said, slowly. \u201cHe has a heart, a spiritual heart.\u201d<\/p>\n But like most of the people I met at Wichita\u2019s evangelical churches, his support for Bush sounded more than a little agonized \u2014 closer to sympathy than admiration. \u201cBush may not have the best people around him,\u201d he added, delicately. \u201cHe may not have made the best decisions. He is in a quagmire right now and maybe doesn\u2019t know how to get out. Because to pull out now would say, \u2018I was wrong from the very beginning.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Some were less ambivalent. \u201cWe know we want to get rid of Bush,\u201d Linda J. Hogle, a product demonstrator at Sam\u2019s Club, told me when I asked her about the 2008 election at her evangelical church\u2019s Fourth of July picnic.<\/p>\n \u201cI am glad he can\u2019t run again,\u201d agreed her friend, Floyd Willson. Hogle and Willson both voted for President Bush in 2004. Both are furious at the war and are looking to vote for a Democrat next year. \u201cUpwards of a thousand boys that have been needlessly killed, it is all just politics,\u201d Willson said.<\/p>\n