We hear that frequently about Red staters. Many of us simply don't get why these people, who could stand to gain so much from Democratic policies, vote for Republicans against their economic interests.
For a brief moment, I thought this way during the campaign, but discarded that way of thinking pretty quickly.
When Blues or liberals ask such a question, we are allowing ourselves to be sucked in a black hole of Marxist thinking that has a fundamental flaw, lack of recognition of transcendence.
No expert on Marx here, but Marx reduced everything to economics, basically. I really like Marx because he was on to something, but I see Marx as someone who threw a perfect pitch, only in the wrong direction.
Yes, our worldly needs are critical and immediate, and it is reasonable that we should seek these things first and foremost. However, what this analysis misses is the value of transcendence expressed as religion or in other things like love and friendship.
While it is very true that my need for vehicle to transport me to work is a priority, I am willing to forego that money so that our Church can expand to accommodate more people. There's no apparent logic to that, or is there? There is. It's just based on a different value system.
This value system heeds the words of Christ that say, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (your daily needs) will be added unto you." For those whose faith for survival lies solely in God (this includes many poor and economically struggling, who just don't see a way out of their present predicament and have no choice but to trust in God), putting their economic needs first, means, perhaps paradoxically, placing God's needs first.
So to reach these people, it is less about touting economic or social programs, because their salvation, economic and otherwise is in God. Rather, they must see their political participation as an extension of their religious duty and conviction.
For many of these people, God is the solver of problems, not the government. For this reason, our message cannot be solely about solving problems, rather we must draw on their transcendent yearnings and play those strings.