Black & Latino Churches Across America Launch ‘Souls to the Polls’ to Rally Congregants to Vote

President Barack Obama (Photo Credit: FILE)
MIAMI (AP) — It’s not just the collection plate that’s getting passed around this fall at hundreds of mainly African-American and Latino churches in presidential battleground states and across the nation.
Exhorting congregations to register to vote, church leaders are distributing registration cards in the middle of services, and many are pledging caravans of “souls to the polls” to deliver the vote.
The stepped-up effort in many states is a response by activists worried that new election rules, from tougher photo identification requirements to fewer days of early voting, are unfairly targeting minority voters — specifically, African-Americans who tend to vote heavily for Democrats. Some leaders compare their registration and get-out-the-vote efforts to the racial struggle that led to the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
“In light of all this, we are saying just let our people vote,” said the Rev. Dawn Riley Duval, social justice minister at the Shorter Community A.M.E. Church in Denver. “The people are being oppressed by these measures. It has ignited a sense of urgency and collective power that we can take by engaging in the process.”
In key swing states such as Florida and Ohio, proponents of the new election rules deny they are aimed at suppressing the minority vote in hopes of helping Republicans win more races. Reasons for their enactment vary between rooting out fraud and purging ineligible voters to streamlining the voting process.
But to some African-American leaders like the Rev. F.E. Perry, a Cleveland-based bishop in Ohio’s Church of God in Christ, it’s as if the 1960s barriers to black civil rights have returned all over again.
“We’ve come too far to sit idly by and watch that happen,” Perry said. “We want to get souls to the polls. Whatever it takes to get them there, that’s what we’re going to do.”
With national public opinion surveys showing a close race between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, even a few votes either way in a state such as Florida — a mere 537 votes decided the 2000 contest between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore — could prove decisive. In 2008, Obama won 95 percent of black voters and is likely to get an overwhelming majority again. He also won among Latinos, a rapidly growing constituency that also tilts heavily toward the Democrat in polls this year.
But any loss of votes would sting.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
To be sure, not all clergy are encouraging their flocks to turn out on Election Day: Some black pastors are telling their congregations to stay home, seeing no good presidential choice between a Mormon candidate and one who supports gay marriage. The pastors say their congregants are asking how a true Christian could back same-sex marriage, as Obama did in May. As for Romney, the first Mormon nominee from a major party, some congregants are questioning the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its former ban on men of African descent in the priesthood.
Those pastors, however, are in the minority.
Many Democrats see a pattern of partisanship in many of the new election laws, which they contend are intended to hinder minority turnout and boost the prospects of GOP candidates.
“I pray it’s not politics, but I don’t know. It doesn’t look like anything other than politics,” said the Rev. Richard Dunn, pastor at Faith Community Baptist Church in Miami.
One organization, the faith-based PICO National Network, staged a “Let My People Vote Sunday” in September in which about 300 churches around the country held voter registration drives during services and recruited churchgoers to go out and register even more people. The goal was to sign up around 75,000 people, PICO policy director Gordon Whitman said.
“People are stopping in the middle of worship to have people pull out the registration forms and fill them out. It’s about the church saying, `We are going to participate in this process,’” Whitman said.
In many states with early voting, the Sunday before Election Day in 2008 was a church-based political event in which minority congregations went en masse to polling places and cast their ballots. That year in Florida, 33.2 percent of all African-American voters and 23.6 percent of Latino voters cast ballots on that final Sunday, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
In Ohio in 2008, Whitman said about 100,000 people voted during the last weekend before the election. A new Ohio law would have cut off early voting on the Friday before the election, but a federal judge declared it unconstitutional because some groups such as military personnel were exempted. The state is appealing that ruling.
This year in Florida, a new election law eliminated early voting on that last Sunday, although there is a Sunday for early voting about a week and a half earlier. Dunn, the Miami pastor, said he expects most churches will shift to that earlier day, which falls on Oct. 28 this year.
“Sunday in the African-American tradition is one of the biggest days historically in our community,” he said. “You have large numbers of people who go to church. Pastors aren’t saying who to vote for, but they are saying, `This is souls to the polls day.’”
Florida’s law was also challenged in federal court, but a judge ruled in September there wasn’t enough proof that the change would harm African-Americans’ right to vote. The judge also noted that, unlike the previous law, the new rules required at least one Sunday for early voting.
Meanwhile, from the pulpit, some churches are even using a litany that calls upon congregations to remember the fight to obtain the vote as well as other civil rights. One such script distributed by PICO (it stands for People Improving Communities by Organizing) mentions the Rev. Martin Luther King, the bloody march in Selma, Ala., and many other civil rights milestones.
“We remember thousands of little towns where countless, unnamed ancestors stood in their dignity to cast a ballot,” the script says. “In 2012 we will not be silent or denied the right to vote. For we have come too far by faith.”
In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isnβt really about controlling guns at all; itβs about controlling us. Find out more HERE.
















































































































Comments (65)
breakobamanow
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:40amDaniel 2:44
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Gods will be done, despite the efforts of men. If the Churches of today were of the true Church of Christ they would not concern themselves with the government of lying men and women who exhalt themselves over and oppress the rights of the ones they are supposed to represent.
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johnjamison
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:03amThe people in these churches need to also be told which candidate supports abortions in all stages of pregnancy and even supports the killing of children that survive abortions. THAT CANDIDATE WOULD BE OBAMA……Then ask them what would God want us to do support this man or remove him from a position of power.
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Prosecute_Constitutional_Treason_In_Washington
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 12:19pmYour thinking is about as smart as raising your children focused on loving them but not providing guidance and rules to train them with. How simple minded are you? Christians need rules and guidance from the pulpits and pastors are handcuffed by their own doing joining with the gov. in a 501C3 tax exempt nonprofit that can not speak up and call DC leaders wicked. No, the only thing your church can do is provide paper forms to fill out so people register to vote. That’s sick. Churches today and pastors are perverted corporations with CEO’s. God has been demoted. The headship of the church is the pastor and the authority is the gov. regulations. Many pastors are pimps and it’s all about offerings and numbers. Numbers saved, baptisted, memberships, and growth. Jesus tells us to focus on spreading the seed of the gospel and leave the results to Him.
How many churches are in debt up to their ears? These churches are slaves to bankers.
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Independent4233
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 1:12pm“People are stopping in the middle of worship to have people pull out the registration forms and fill them out.”
Just one more bit of evidence of the extent of non-white racism in this country today. They’re voting for Obama STRICTLY because he is black.
I remember how pundits were warning us against just this sort of situation several years ago, and brainwashed white fools shouted them down as racists, as they have been conditioned to do by the social propagandists.
If this black president had never gotten into office in the first place, this kind of non-white racism would still be ignored and denied.
Some people can be manipulated any way a propagandist wants to turn them. Just look at Elizabeth Warren. She’s been programmed to hate being white, so she tries to pass herself off as an indian in spite of her blue-eyes and blond hair.
“In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Further proof of that will be when Obama is re-elected.
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NatTurner
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:12amThe rethuglican plan to re-impose poll taxes and bar African americans from the voting booth is backfiring bigtime. President Obama will win an even higher percentage of the African american vote than in 2008. We will never vote for anyone who is a member of the racist mormon cult. Every African american member of my church is not only voting for President Obama, we are registering tens of thousands of African american who were not eligible in 2008 to vote in 2012! We will always support OUR President, no matter what you do. We have taken our country back & will never let you control things again. OBAMA 2012!
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iamsaved
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:28amYour church sounds like it’s misguided in who they should follow – God or the Democrats. Which tenet of the Democrat Party is your favorite? Removing any reference to God in their Party’s platform? The part where they support the practice of homosexuality which God calls an abomination? The part where all abortions are to be encouraged even though God says thou shalt not murder?
I guess if I walked into your church or the thousands of black churches that think like yours does, I’d wonder who it is you are worshipping. Maybe you should have scripture reading of Joshua 24:15 (BTW, that’s a book in the Holy Bible).
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Obama Snake Oil Co
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:40amGood luck with you little tiny theory there….koolaid is on sale at Sams club, stock up!
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rcbCAL
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:13am“I wouldn’t call it fascism exactly. but a political system nominally controlled by an irresponsible, dumbed down electorate who are manipulated by dishonest, cynical, controlled mass media that dispense the propaganda of a corrupt political establishment can hardly be described as democracy either.” — Edward Zehr (1936-2001) Columnist
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Female
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 12:12pm“We have taken our country back & will never let you control things again.”
African-american and what country are you taking back? According to all the whiney about discrimination it can’t be the American part…..are you returning to Africa?
Really, what is the big ID deal? I use my credit card for over $20 at the grocery store…photo id please. Not only do you have to show id for govt services but to receive food stamps or cash aid in CA, they FINGERPRINT you! How is that for id? I am sure their are still plenty of falsifying pictures but fingerprints.
Hmmm, maybe that is the way to go? And it won’t cost the minorities any money to put their thumb on a computer screen!
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Angeltoo
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 2:01pmI’m sorry, take your ‘country back’ from what? Obama is the current president.
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crz2bhappy
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 5:44pmthat’s ok. the godly people of chicago (not ) are taking care of the offset
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Thetruthhasnoagenda
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:07amI’d like to be a fly on the wall when, on Judgement Day, Jesus asks each Obama supporter, “So, you voted for a guy who favors abortion AND gay marriage?” That’s gonna be a tough sell.
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Detroit paperboy
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:02amIt sounds more like ” keep the freebies Rollin day “…………………..
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Dismayed Veteran
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:02amMaybe the pastors should remind their congregation that MLK was a Republican and the Republican Party has supported civil rights since the Civil War.
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NatTurner
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:35amIf that were true, please tell me why republicans are trying to get the supreme court to overturn the voting rights act of 1964? Actions speak louder than your hollow words.
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Female
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 1:49pmI truly don’t understand how people who read The Bible can support politicians who side with those who kill babies and support relationships forbidden in Leviticus 18:22.
http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
Just an interesting alternative, to the democratic distortion and lies.
I was reading an interesting article about the lady who was the mother of death (abortion) speaking to the KKK and saying all she needed was some black pastors
http://mylordkatie.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/margaret-sanger-provider-of-death/
13 million black babies killed since 1973 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfFVKqHWJU0
Darwin, eugenics, sanger and “The Black Holocaust” by Ebony News Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Eist3wn0s&feature=related
Your Pastors continue to be ravenous WOLVES and really don’t want strong male leadership in your homes. It is the republicans (esp. Christian) who fought for your civil rights, now fight for your unborn babies and the restoration of men, therefore, your families.
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iamsaved
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:57amOne doesn’t have to be a Rhode’s scholar to figure out it’s the Democrat Party passing these voter registration cards out in the offering plates of black and hispanic churches. Blacks and Hispanics are so shackled to the Democrat Party, they know nothing else, and follow like lost sheep.
Those in a Christian church should know better. They don’t need a voter’s guide to tell them what they should do. They have the Word of God to guide them. Any candidate that goes contrary to that Word, either by word or by deed, should not get their vote.
A quick reading of Joshua 24:15 should be their guiding message for this election. To do otherwise is to follow the father of lies (and I’m not referring to Obama, but he’s close).
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Paul -Indiana
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:19pmAre Blacks really so easily manipulated? It seems so.
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woodyee
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:56amWherever evidence is shown of Churches violating the rules of their tax-exempt status, those churches should lose that status.
If it’s happening in your church, video-record the instances with date/time stamps; record the response of the pastor/priest/Bishop when confronted; record the people as you talk to them about it.
This CLEARLY evidence of Gaybama’s desperation. Hey, Lefties/Libs, are you condoning this? This is your “side”! Are you proud of the fact you’re ideas are so bereft of mainstream support that you have to stoop to this level? Why aren’t you screaming for your twisted version of separation of church and state?
“A new Ohio law would have cut off early voting on the Friday before the election, but a federal judge declared it unconstitutional because some groups such as military personnel were exempted. The state is appealing that ruling.” STILL?!? Four efen years later? That is a travesty of justice!!
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ENIGMA28724
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 10:10pmWon’t happen, even with videos with Eric Holder and Obozo in office. My Baptist preacher in a predominately white church is afraid to remind the congregation to register to vote, much less compare the candidates in a Biblically based manner. Might lose his tax exempt gravy train. We’ve come a long way from the “Black Robe Regiment” of revolutionary war days who were not afraid to speak the truth even though they risked summary hanging by the British.
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Gonzo
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:46amWe have a voter I.D. law in my state. So, according to the D.O.J., blacks and latinos won’t be able to vote here anyway.
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:42amVote ROMNEY RYAN vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote vote ROMNEY RYAN VOTE ROMNEY RYAN tell all the LAZY WHITE A$$ holes you know to get off there a$$ es and VOTE FOR ROMNEY if they enjoy their FREEDOM ( if you consider word censorship amongst other things freedom?- but its better than whats coming). Thats what I do EVERY DAY.
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davetrav
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:34amAll this does is to show you how stupid they are. These people are mind less to let others take you by the hand and say sign here—GET they get at least a piece of candy.
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:34amAnd I cant say the N word? lmfao
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:33amMake no mistake they will go to hell. As soon as the Russian troops with al Quida embedded with them start taking out churches full of em.The movie Red Dawn comes to life………INCREDIBLE. Remember all the jokes about how a black guy couldnt keep a job more than 3 years and all that when he got elected? Well I guess it was WAY WORSE than all these WHITE GUILT C***K SU***ERS and stupid RACIST black F**KS that voted him in could ever imagine. I almost want to see them get wiped out.
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willingtoupe
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:21amThanks for the soul searching reminder of good reasoning why I never joined the Military to fight for or taking orders from the likes of someone like you and use my fighting energy for my children and my money. You and many other Average people here in this comment room have no clue that Whites benefit mostly from handouts, be it corporate, hedgefunds, welfare, loans, stock fraud, ponzi scemes, housing frauds, collaps, retirements that bankrupts small cities, unions, and most importantly regular jobs. 1st hired last fired. SO on an average scale, if you are unhappy is because you didn’t take advantage on the full potential. You’re just a beer belly colestrol having, gun toating hate filled biggot It’s called White Trash and thats below average and you are getting screw by your average counter parts that were mentioned above.
Because they figured out that they have 99 regular problems, but their skin color isn’t 1.
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:17amAnd if you wee intelligent enough you would have figured out I am saying HE”S NOT AMERICAN, hence he’s NOT Afro American——-dick
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:19amYeah and dey all da white mans waaw anyway huh? Typical
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:26amYeah F*** it let the White boys DIE for MY freedom my great great great granpappy was a slave……..yeah, and I was here ownin a plantation too. Dont think so skip, my ancestors were in EUROPE fighting their own freedom fights.
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Jackal7130
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:49amOne more thing clown, I was a UNION BA and I put up with ALL of you lazy “union boys” that thought the company should just pay you for showing up. Black and whites, and THATS 90% of the reason companies are going belly up left and right now, paying pensions and getting NOTHING in return for 30 years…………..btw I dont drink beer. FAIL try again
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SLAPTHELEFT
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:31amIt is very hard for blacks to admit when a black man is inneffective and not qualified for the job.
Need proof? Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons was booed and the fans said they wanted their black QB back. Look at the Falcons now.
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termyt
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:22amForcing people to actually register to vote and then a simple step to verify their identity is akin to not letting people vote because of skin color?
Ridiculous and outrageous. That spits in the face of all those who fought for true equality and rights for all. Shameful.
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RightUnite
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:13amTime to start taxing these churches I guess.
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JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:13amThe only effect Voter ID laws could possibly have on the election process is to slow Voter fraud. You have to have ID to cash a check, open a bank account and get a job. Hmm…let’s take a quick look at this. The extreme poor black people obviously have ID in order to cash welfare checks and the black people that have a job have an ID to cash their paychecks. Hmm…the people peole even close to being discriminated against is fraudulent Voters(which by the way rightfully should be kept from Voting in our elections anyway). In sumerization, the attempt to link Voter ID with discrimination is hogwash and anybody trying to make this connection is simply in support of Voter fraud and is anti-America.
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steve-in-pa
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:05amSounds some churches should be taxed when they spend their tax free resources to promote voting for a politician. I have never been to church on a Sunday where they promoted politics in a sermon.
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SLAPTHELEFT
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:21amIf the rules are the same for everybody how does that discriminate against minorities? Do we need a seperate set of rules for blacks and hispanics? Im hispanic. I get to the polls just fine. Im proid to show my ID. I vote once.
Is it the voting once that is discriminatory? Or having to have an ID, which is nevessary to function in society? These black preachers are not men of God. They disgrace MLK. They disgrace Frederick douglass. They disgrace Booker T. Washington. Yet they herald Al sharpton and jesse jax.
Blacks will get what they deserve after they vote based purely on race. Maybe theyll vote 95% for Allen West too.
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HOOT_OWL
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:00amI call BS to the…Do not vote for the Gay or Mormon argument .
Anyone with eyes can see not only is Obama pro-gay ..Heβs Anti -Christian TOO..!
Heβs also ANTI ISRAEL and PRO-MUSLIM ..!
These black religious leaders , just cant bring themselves to tell their congregation to
NOT VOTE FOR THE BLACK MAN..
Their a bunch of racist hypocrites..!
Hell will welcome them with open arms..!
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4truth2all
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:16amYo Hoot:
You forgot abortion, the murder of babies.
I don’t know about the hell thing, but they sure could use a “spiritual smacking”.
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florida123
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:59amSitting in the Pews on Sunday and Tuesday Voting for a Guy who embraces Gay Marriage and Partial Birth Abortion…………….God Have mercy on their souls………………
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Fla.Patriot
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:57amI wonder if these tools realize that if it had been left up to the Democrats they never would have been given the right to vote. As for the voter registration laws being political…you’re damn skippy it is. It’s political in the sense that we are painfully aware of the level of voter fraud that has gone on by leftist organizations like Move On, Acorn, etc. We Constitutional Conservatives want everyone with a “Legal” right to vote to have the opportunity to vote…once. we don’t want corpses, K9s, kids, felons, Illegals, or cartoon characters to vote…especially since all the aforementioned seem to be Democrats…go figure.
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loriann12
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:03amI just went to apply for more services for my handicapped adult son…I had so show a picture ID of him. And yet I don’t have to prove who I am to vote? You have to show a photo ID in order to get in to any Democrat rally, but you don’t have to show ID to vote? You have to show ID to buy alcohol, unless you’re like me and OBVIOUSLY over 21 C: but you don’t have to show an ID to vote?
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4truth2all
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:50amFirst off nobody is being denied their right to vote …
Second … I’m going with the story and pastors that were calling members of the church to come out of the demoncratic party because of it’s godless position of removing Him, it’s position on abortion, homosexuality, and not to forget Israel. I don’t see how a God fearing person could associate to that and not have their conscience pricked . I would say it is impossible!
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SurgeUSA
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:46amSell your souls at the polls? Go ahead, vote for the guy who imposes his policies on Christians against their wills, abandons Israel, and apologizes to Muslims for offending them when they kill us. Sure sounds like a principled proposition. Go see the movie 2016 and wake up. What has this administration done to actually make your life better, rather than more subservient? Is a life of servitude to government really the outcome you fought for in the civil rights movement, or is this just a new form of tyranny to overcome if you really believe in individual rghts and freedom?
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jackact
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:44amWhat is happening nationally in black liberation ideology churches, most of which ate located in our inner cities, that are virulently opposed to gay marriage?
We don’t hear from them.
Are they holding their ground and emboldening their committed faith or are they voting, in majority, for the candidate with the right color?
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DagneyT
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:47amWhat many of us in the evangelical circles are hearing is that black pastors are telling their congregants to not vote, so as not to vote for a Morman, or for someone who favors same sex marriage.
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Mil-Dot
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:54amJack,
There could be video of Obama drowning puppies and laughing and the blacks would still vote for him. The MOST important thing to a black man is his/her victim status and the color of the candidates skin. That’s it.
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jackact
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:57amDagneyt,
Very interesting.
Thanks.
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Stelex
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 8:09amAren’t they supposed to lose their tax free status if the get involved with politics????
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Want our country back
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:42amI wish they would allow our military the same rights. They are the invisible ones and who is looking out for their vote.
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italy2007
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:39amSo I guess it is okay and highly permissible when Black Democrats speak of Politics in the pulpit and hand out voter registration slips but if Conservtives dare speak against this Marxist of a President they are immediately investigated?
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