![](\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SKWR7BXT7lI\/AAAAAAAACxk\/TObYcu4NhC8\/s320\/HunterxJoel_preaching%5B1%5D.jpg\")
<\/a>I was therefore a bit surprised when he mentioned during our chat this week that he’s been asked by the Obama campaign to deliver the closing prayer at the Democratic convention. He said yes.<\/p>\nThe next surprise was his suggestion that Democrats “could arguably steal the title of the pro life party.”<\/p>\n
Huh? How is that possible? Obama is just as pro-choice as any other Democratic nominee; critics say he’s the most pro-choice candidate ever. Hunter makes a practical argument: providing women with economic help in carrying babies to term can actually reduce the number of abortions more, and more quickly, than focusing on overturning Roe v. Wade. “With eight years of Bush the abortion rates have not declined. Every indication is that with financial support and different forms of supporting pregnant mother and then some post birth help also we could come close to 50% reduction in abortions. That’s huge. That’s huge.” <\/p>\n
\/\/ snip \/\/ <\/p>\n
He’s pessimistic that the Democratic Party would go far enough to really take advantage of the opportunity, though he does think the new platform took a step in the right direction. He was consulted by the Obama campaign, and believes that on balance “philosophically this is a huge move” because it put the party on record supporting certain abortion reduction measures such as maternal health and adoption support. (For the case against the plank as being a substantial move, click here) But those advocating for a larger push to the center “had to go up against the status quo – very strong and well financed voices,” meaning pro-choice feminists.<\/p>\n
This is a shame for Obama, he says, because abortion is the number one issue keeping evangelicals from embracing him. They keep hearing he supports “infanticide” and partial birth abortion. If Obama came out forcefully for an abortion reduction agenda – even one that emphasizes support for women rather than legal restrictions — that “would go a very long way in establishing trust with evangelicals. That would huge.”<\/p>\n
Democrats have an opportunity with evangelicals in part because these Christians feel they were “used” by Republicans. Interestingly, it wasn’t Bush administration policies on abortion that first ruptured the trust between Christians and the Republican Party. It was Iraq. “People are saying wait a minute, what else did we think was going to go right that didn’t go right? There’s kind of a ripple effect of disillusionment.” Anger over Iraq created a political opening on abortion. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So there you have it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The answer might surprise you. This comes from Steve Waldman at Beliefnet: One of the most interesting evangelicals these days is Joel Hunter, senior pastor at Northland Church in Florida. He does not consider himself a part of the religious left. He’s a registered Republican, strongly anti-abortion, author of “A New Kind of Conservative,” and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-and-politicians"],"yoast_head":"\n
Who will be giving the closing prayer at the Democratic convention? - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/who-will-be-giving-the-closing-prayer-at-the-democratic-convention.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who will be giving the closing prayer at the Democratic convention? - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The answer might surprise you. This comes from Steve Waldman at Beliefnet: One of the most interesting evangelicals these days is Joel Hunter, senior pastor at Northland Church in Florida. He does not consider himself a part of the religious left. He’s a registered Republican, strongly anti-abortion, author of “A New Kind of Conservative,” and…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/who-will-be-giving-the-closing-prayer-at-the-democratic-convention.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-15T10:18:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SKWR7BXT7lI\/AAAAAAAACxk\/TObYcu4NhC8\/s320\/HunterxJoel_preaching%5B1%5D.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Who will be giving the closing prayer at the Democratic convention? - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/08\/who-will-be-giving-the-closing-prayer-at-the-democratic-convention.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Who will be giving the closing prayer at the Democratic convention? - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"The answer might surprise you. 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Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. 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