For millions of Evangelical Christians, the recent US election was about values. They came out in droves to vote for a president and party that would stand against abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage.

With all this talk about values, little explanation is given as to why these values are so important. Where do they come from? Most people would probably say the Bible. But if this is the case, why was helping the poor not an issue in the election? Jesus spoke repeatedly and emphatically about the poor, yet this issue was addressed only by the Democratic party.

I think that most people agree that when it comes to political parties, the Republican party stands more for big business than it does for the marginalized of society. Why then, don’t more Christians vote Democrat? Why do most Evangelicals care so passionately about issues like same-sex marriage, issues that are extremely unlikely to ever affect their lives?

The Bible is far more clear about poverty issues than it is about same-sex marriage. If Evangelicals are truly concerned about Biblical values, then perhaps the concern for issues ought to be proportional to the emphasis the Bible places on them.