Comments on: Are evangelicals abandoning their political agenda?

By: 4merly

4merly — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:25:37 +0000

Perhaps if evangelicals did not cherry-pick their Bible verses to inordinately target minority groups like gays and women, but instead articulated some rational thought, the rest of the country might take them seriously. But when we have the likes of the late Falwell and Dobson and Robertson, and Oral and Richard Roberts representing the Christian right, it's no wonder evangelicals are deemed radically irrational and absurdly fanatical.

Jesus never uttered a single word about homosexuality. It's not even in the Ten Commandments. If evangelicals truly cared about the sanctity of marriage they would target adulterers and divorce courts just as vehemently as they do gays.

But gays are such an easy target, aren't they. Therein lies the hypocrisy. And it's that very hypocrisy that is increasingly making people stand up and eschew the Christian right dogma in favor of common sense.

By: Justin Allison

Justin Allison — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:10:00 +0000

I’m not so sure that “young evangelicals” have the same agenda as the “religious right” did. I think issues such as the environment, energy (related to environment), and the economy are far more scary to “young evangelicals” than living next door to “Adam and Steve”. Unfortunately, “young evangelicals” have grown up in an era where media (TV, movies, etc) portray homosexuality as something normal. They have made their peace with how to deal with these people. But, they are scared that their children will not have the same “blessed” or “healthy” earth that they do.

In addition, why should evangelicals vote for a Republican or democrat? If enough evangelicals refused to do it, and instead voted for third party candidates, the two major parties would be forced to change their agendas.

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By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:45:43 +0000

Shane: Can you clarify? When you say that you hope “evangelicals will take the opportunity to be salt and light in the Democratic party” do you mean your hope is that they will lobby for pro-life legislation? Do you think that abortion issues can be “answered” via government but “justice issues” can not? I’m not trying to be snarky here, just want to get your view.

I agree that political sentiment ebbs and flows, but I believe that what we’re seeing happen among evangelicals — especially young evangelicals — is unprecedented.

Erik: Yes, I think a healthy balance of core beliefs with “other” issues would be reasonable.

By: Erik U.

Erik U. — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:06:10 +0000

Perhaps this generation of Evangelicals have discovered that believing in the Bible and engaging your brain are not mutually exclusive concepts. As Baptist theologian and self-proclaimed Evangelical, Tony Campolo, is fond of saying, “There are over 2,000 verses in Scripture that address the need to care for the poor, and only a dozen that address homosexuality.” Hopefully young Evangelicals will discover a way to not REDUCE the focus on their “core beliefs” (gay marriage, abortion, et al), but INCREASE their focus on other equally valid Christian issues (poverty, discipleship, et al).

Good post, Jake.

By: Shane Vander Hart

Shane Vander Hart — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:47:44 +0000

There have been evangelicals within the Democratic party for years. This is nothing new. The problem is when the Democratic party no longer represented them.

My hope is those evangelicals will take the opportunity to be salt and light in the Democratic party. In 2006, many of the freshman Democratic congress members voted in are pro-life.

For me abortion is a big deal because I see it as murder. The unborn do not have a voice. I’m against gay marriage and have a plethora of reasons for having that position that I won’t list here, but I will also say that if all homosexuals see of evangelicals is protest it is difficult to reach out to them.

We do need to be concerned about the poor. There are justice issues that need to be addressed, and conservatives are concerned about those too. I’m conservative, and I am heavily involved in justice issues. I just don’t think the answers will ultimately come from Government.

Regarding the War on Terror – Christians are divided on this issue. This is nothing new. What constitutes a just war? When Jesus teaches about being a peacemaker is He referring to individuals or nation-states? Does that mean we can’t defend ourselves?

I think we see ebb and flow with these things, but again not a new phenomenon. Jimmy Carter had much evangelical support as well.