Evangelicals Expand Their Political Priorities and Concerns

Traveling back from talks at UTexas, I spotted this front page feature in today's Austin American Statesman. As I have noted at this blog before, according to surveys and experts who track the Evangelical movement, a generational split has emerged among Evangelicals when it comes to the issues of most salient concern. Evangelicals 40 and older tend to vote for the most socially conservative candidate and rally around issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, but evangelicals under 40 are defining a new set of political priorities, with poverty and the environment at the top of the list.

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There are similar stories about the changing evangelical movement (or more importantly, the Democratic party's perception of it) in today's Washington Post editorials.

By Joe Shelby (not verified) on 24 Feb 2008 #permalink

I am an evangelical scientist and I have a teenage daughter. The trends noted here are very really. A little bit of nuance here. Young evangelicals are post-partisan. They saw their parents being used by the Republicans and they don't get into the partisan part of politics because of it. Jim Wallis in his latest book the Great Awakening made the analogy with the social reform efforts of previous generations of evangelicals, e.g. the abolitionist movement which was associated with the Second Great Awakening. The reason that Barak Obama is particularly popular with young evangelicals is not only his position on climate change and poverty but also and more importantly his -- up to this point -- non/post/bi-partisan rhetoric. Young evangelicals do not get into the warfare model between faith and science that their parents tended towards. As such, if the scientific community matches this as suggested by Ken Miller at the AAAS convention the possibility of rapprochement between the two communities on such issues as evolution and climate change are quite possible and even likely.

I mean to say that the trends noted above are very real.

I think both you and Rich (prior post) have spotted a singularly important trend. To perhaps slightly redirect your observation that "Evangelicals under 40 are defining a new set of political priorities...", I would suggest to you that the cutoff is not a magical "40", but more a new Christian trend bleeding "upstream." Tony Campolo's new book, Red Letter Christians, is a masterful "framing" recognition piece of which you may already be aware. Some versions of the Bible highlight the actual words attributed to Jesus in red ink (originally a German tradition that came here). The concept Tony Campolo is "framing" is that God cannot be hijacked by one party or the other any more, but rather the real issues of social justice, moral courage, poverty, and global fairness are ones which need to be addressed by all Christians. (Google the "Red Letter Christians" group and you'll see what they say about themselves from a organization standpoint.) Immediately, the "old guard Christian Right" has tried to "frame" this group as a front for the Democrats. The Democrats are a little suspicious of any Evangelical approaching them, remembering with fear and trembling what a pounding they have received from the Republican Fundamentalists over the past decade. (See "Jesus Camp" and movies / studies of that ilk).

But, I think what's happening quietly in mainstream politically active Christian circles and especially Christian rooted but curious youth is a reframing of the agenda into a "purple" blood of Christ where the Red state Christians and the Blue state Christians realize that the irrationality of "fundamentalist Islam" positions is about like the "fundamentalist Christian" positions in that the adoption of the extremes is fatal and offputting. To the new "Red Letter Christians," even the fights over keeping the 10 Commandments in the Court Houses are stupid fignts, since a true Christian will realize that the New Testament of Christ does not rely on the "old law" as much as on the new faith. Christ tells the lawyer this in answer to the question of "Which is the most important commandment, Rabbi?.." He says, in red letters, "Love God... and Love your neighbors..." the rest is details. The true Red Letter Bible scholar realizes that one who thinks there are only 10 commandments has never even read that chapter in context in the Bible... there is a whole string of laws, even when Moses is taking dictation from God. The Red Letter Christian realizes that the true calling is to be a living epistle, not to have a list of laws serve as a stone idol of old musky faith.

This Election is all about framing, and I think you will see the Christian community breaking out of the old abortion / gay marriage acid tests and looking at what is really going on. More to the point, I think the bulk of Evangelical to main line Christians have already done this, and they are waiting for their leaders to run around to the front of the pack to "lead."

I think Rich (prior post) is right... once we get it straight that Science is merely "Watching God Work" and not replacing God, that distracting fight matters less. If we look at what God really says (through his son) rather than what Paul (his loquacious lawyer) said in the black text when he was trying to package and market a new religion many years later, it will all make more sense.

And, here's the final "framing" irony from one of the "Framers" of our nation, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson went through the Bible winnowing out what Jesus had said and came up with what is still referred to as the "Jefferson Bible" which is what the "Red Letter Christians" are now reinventing (without realizing it). What did Jefferson find? As he described it in his letters, the most coherent and beautiful social contract and life philosophy ever articulated. Perhaps if we strip away the Devil's seedbag of "doctrine" and return to the "social contract" of humanity without the paradigms and religious framing put there by those intent on feeding a church or a hate, we'll see that Evangelicals aren't really Repbulican or Democrat after all. And, the politicians will panic because they will realize the steering wheel has broken off of the Church and they cannot control it any more. And, Jesus will smile. -Jeff