BillHobbs.com is a frequently updated blog of original reporting and commentary by Bill Hobbs, a longtime Nashville journalist and media relations adviser. I am currently serving as communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party, a job I began on Oct. 29, 2007.
The evangelical Christian community's answer to MTV's Rock The Vote is Redeem The Vote, involving Christian musical artists and celebrities in an effort to encourage the 18-35 age group to register to vote and vote - and to vote for candidates who uphold moral positions on marriage, abortion and more. Check out the website and don't miss the video message from actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion of The Christ. Funny, but Redeem the Vote doesn't get near as much coverage from the elite national media as does Rock the Vote and the pro-Kerry concert tour sponsored by MoveOn.org. Ah, but here's a story in the Weekly Standard. And here's a report from the Oct. 15 Hartford Courant:
When youths such as 21-year-old Ramon Quintero find their voting conscience, they realize that religion has been there all along.
Quintero came to this tour stop at Kentwood Community Church this past Sunday just to see Building 429, an up-and-coming Christian rock band that takes its name from Ephesians 4:29: "Let nothing unwholesome come out of your mouths, but only that which is good for building each other up." Quintero loved "Glory Defined," the single off the group's full-length debut album, which shot up the Christian radio charts this summer.
He registered to vote a couple of months ago at the urging of someone at his Baptist church. But after hearing Building 429's lead singer encourage the audience to learn more about Redeem the Vote - a new campaign aimed at getting evangelical Christian youths to the polls - Quintero stopped by the campaign's booth to buy a T-shirt. He wants to help spread the word.
If MTV's Rock the Vote is the secular granddaddy of youth voting campaigns, then Redeem the Vote - which Building 429 and a long list of Christian bands are touring in support of this election season - might be thought of as its churchgoing, evangelical progeny.
Rock 'n' roll has long been linked with progressive politics and flaunting authority, but Redeem the Vote, started this year, hopes for a different kind of relationship. It seeks to transform a trinity of concertgoing youths, evangelical Christian beliefs and faith-based politics into election-year defeats of those who want to "remove the acknowledgement of our Godly heritage from our public square."
I like Building 429 - and I'm a bit north of the 18-25 demographic...
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