'As America goes to the polls once again, Christian music artists have been having a go at ‘redeeming’ it.'

George Luke looks at what Christian music groups have been doing during the race for President of the United States

For years, musicians have done all manner of unspeakable things to 'The Vote'.

It’s been ‘rocked’ by the likes of Radiohead and ‘rapped’ by P Diddy.

As America goes to the polls once again – in an election in which the candidates’ religious leanings have been under scrutiny more than ever – Christian music artists have been having a go at ‘redeeming’ it.

“Music and entertainment are powerful forces in our culture,” explains Randy Brinson, Chair of Redeem the Vote.

“This is not a new phenomenon, but it has influenced political movements since the beginning of time, particularly in the US. So connecting people with music that has a message of faith with a message to be politically active is very effective.”

Non-partisan

Redeem the Vote is officially non-partisan, but also describes itself as conservative – and by Brinson’s own admission, many of the artists affiliated to it are Republicans (the former presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was a member of their advisory board).

Christian music – like so much of American Evangelical culture – has always had a warm relationship with the Republican Party. This election, however, things have changed. According to author Frank Schaeffer, the cracks have showing for some time.

“A lot of Evangelicals now realise that they were sold a bill of goods by the Republican leadership,” he says.

“The one stick in the mud that won’t go away is abortion. But that said, most Evangelicals – with that as a caveat – are becoming more comfortable with voting for a Democrat, because they see the absolute failure of not only the Bush administration, but also this idea that you have to pass a sort of theological test in order to be President.

“Young Evangelicals – again with the caveat of abortion – are much more in tune with where the Democrats are going than with the Republicans on a whole range of issues. So I would be very surprised if a lot of contemporary Christian music artists would feel comfortable singing at Republican Party conventions anymore.”

Efforts

Meanwhile, the Democrats – stereotypically the party that doesn’t ‘do God’ – have stepped up their efforts to win those Evangelical voters, again using music as a touch point. Gospel artists such as Mary Mary and Donnie McClurkin have sung at rallies for Barack Obama.

The key player on the Democrats’ side is Rick Hendrix – a country songwriter, Christian music promoter, and the man whose marketing skills helped turn Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ into a major blockbuster.

Teaming up with Burns Strider (a Democrat activist who led faith outreaches for Hillary Clinton), Rick has launched a consulting group to connect Christian music fans with Democratic candidates.

With this much campaigning going on, you’d think most Americans would have made up their minds on who to vote for by now. But when I spoke to the band Jars of Clay earlier this year, some of them were still undecided, even though the election was only four months away.

“A lot of people are disillusioned – especially by the last four years,” said keyboardist Charlie Lowell. “People like Jim Wallis have taken a lead in getting people involved in a larger conversation than just abortion and homosexuality as the touchstones; looking at issues such as taking care of the poor and ultimately what we’re building as a future, rather than what we’re against.”

Greyer

“Things are a little greyer now, whereas in the past they used to be more black and white,” added Charlie’s bandmate, guitarist Stephen Mason.

“Because of that, there’s a little more freedom for Christians to vote either way now than there was four years ago. Some of that’s down to the candidates as well.”

There’s also a growing number of Evangelicals who classify themselves as independents. One of the loudest voices in this camp is the singer Derek Webb.

When he was in the band Caedmon’s Call, Derek was loved by many conservative Christians.

Then he went solo and ruined all that with songs such as “A King and a Kingdom” on which he declared: “There are two great lies that I’ve heard/The day you eat of the fruit of that tree you will not surely die/And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle class Republican/And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like him.”

With songs such as “Saviour on Capitol Hill” on his latest album, The Ringing Bell (reviewed in October’s Tunes), Derek clearly isn’t looking to win that audience back.

Business

“I would hope that over time, Christians would begin to realise that politicians are primarily in the election and re-election business,” says Derek.

“They’ll go to any group of people whose language they can decipher, and say to them whatever they need to say in order to get their votes.

So whoever Christians discern to be the ‘Christian’ candidate has more than likely deciphered the Christian language and is able to get in front of Christians and make himself seem appealing and electable.

That’s not to say that some of these men aren’t what they say they are, but Christians have to be a little savvier about the game that’s being played.”

Like Jars of Clay, Derek cites Jim Wallis as a catalyst in changing American Evangelicals’ political views.

“Jim Wallis and a handful of others are doing good work to make the conversation more complex, as it needs to be,’ he says, ‘calling out the candidates in terms of talking about all manner of issues – not just gay marriage and abortion.

Values

Healthcare is a values issue. War is a values issue. It puts a burden back on the candidates to show us who they really are, as opposed to speaking our particular language about our particular issues.

“There does seem to be a heightened interest now in having a more nuanced political conversation. I’ve been surprised by people I know, who four or eight years ago would simply have looked for the conservative candidate and blindly pledged their allegiance to him.

Now those people are more interested in a whole discussion. The whole ‘Christian’ or ‘family values’ conversation – whatever that’s been over the years – is becoming more nuanced, and McCain and Obama are the first candidates to come under its new scrutiny.”

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