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For Black Christians, sexual harassment and assault are as much of a gospel issue as abortion.

by John C. Richards Jr.

The Alabama Senate election was many things to many people, but one of them impacts evangelicals directly. You see, yesterday’s election was a monumental moment for evangelicalism.

Yesterday, evangelicalism found itself at a cultural crossroads. A Roy Moore victory would support the narrative that, when it comes to politics, many evangelicals have all but thrown morality out the door for the sake of values voting (the irony).

Exit poll numbers, on the surface, seem troubling. When asked if they considered themselves a born-again or evangelical Christian, 80% of Moore’s supporters answered affirmatively. Evangelicalism—at least those who self-identify as evangelicals—was in line for another reckoning.

Saving the Day

Instead, Black voters, many of whom don’t self-identify as evangelicals (though are deeply committed to Christ), stepped in to save the day. Overall, exit polls showed that 96% of Alabama’s Black voters voted for Doug Jones.

And Black women led the charge.

In fact, it might be safe to say that #BlackWomen saved evangelicalism, with 98% of Black women voters in the state voting for Jones (93% of Black men voted for Jones).

Today, at the very least we can admit: Black Votes Matter.

The complacency of Black voters in off-year elections since Barack Obama’s time on Pennsylvania Avenue has been well documented. Over the past eight years, Black voter turnout for off-year elections has been paltry. This election was different. This election meant something. It was an opportunity for Blacks to do what they did best—recalibrating our nation in the voting booth. But that wasn’t always the case.

A little over 50 years ago, I wouldn’t be writing this article. Blacks would still be fighting for suffrage rights. Before the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Blacks were turned away from Alabama polls. State officials made Blacks take literacy tests. They administered moral character tests (again, the irony). From Bloody Sunday in Selma to Jim Crow laws, Black disenfranchisement is a not-so-distant reality. But, as history has proven, Blacks in the South pushed through and were federally guaranteed the right to vote in 1965.

Fifty years ago, Blacks fought for voting rights; yesterday, they fought for human decency.

That’s how the Black community has always been wired—especially Black Christians. For Black Christians, sexual harassment and assault (yes, even accusations) are as much of a gospel issue as abortion. For them, there is no separation of voting values and a social ethic because they have lived that reality for over 50 years.

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SOURCE: Christianity Today: The Exchange

John C. Richards Jr. is managing director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

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