The Changing Politics of Evangelicals

It is increasingly obvious that the unified front that the Religious Right once presented to the world is fractured and has fallen into a variety of pieces. Chuck Colson, one of the most intelligent and effective spokespersons for that powerful bloc of Evangelical voters that so faithfully delivered elections into the hands of the Republican Party, has been claiming otherwise. But with Pat Robertson endorsing Rudy Giuliani; most Southern Baptist leaders find their flag bearer in Mike Huckabee; Bob Jones, Jr. endorsing Matt Romey; and the late Jerry Falwell having blessed John McCain at the last graduation at his Liberty University; it is clear that the Religious Right has become fragmented in its political allegiances. Furthermore, all of Karl Rove's horses and Jim Dobson's men are not likely to be able to put that once unified bloc together again.

Perhaps, if Hillary Clinton gets the nod from the Democratic Party, this dynamic woman, often defined by "Christian radio" as a common enemy of the Religious Right, will bring the increasingly diverse segments of this conservative movement together for the general election. That is, of course, if someone other than Rudy Giuliani gets the nomination for the Republican Party. If Rudy gets the nomination, it is significant that Paul Wyrich, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, has declared that he is likely to support Hillary, should she be the Democrat's nominee. He has said that Hillary, while not wanting to make abortions illegal, really wants to make them rare; while Rudy has lent support to pro-abortion advocates. Furthermore, while Hillary wants gays and lesbians to have legal rights that go with civil unions, she does not want to legitimate these unions as marriages. Rudy, on the other hand, when mayor of New York, supported legitimating gay marriage. Thus, Wyrich finds Hillary to be the most pro-family of the two.

While the Religious Right is politically fracturing on the one hand, politically progressive Evangelicals, on the other hand, are showing signs of becoming increasingly unified. If we consider Brian McLaren, a primary spokesperson for the Emerging Church movement; Jim Wallis of the Call to Renewal movement; Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action; Richard Rohr of the Center for Action and Contemplation; and Shane Clairborne of the Simple Way movement; we will find among these politically progressive leaders an increasing oneness. They are formally coming together under the designation of being Red Letter Christians. This is a label that they adopted from a secular Jewish country and western disc jockey in Nashville, Tennessee, who said, "You guys are into those red letters in the Bible."

Moving beyond the "hot button" issues of abortion and gay marriage (neither of which are referred to in the red letters of the New Testament), these politically progressive Evangelicals also advocate concerns for the environment, peace in Iraq, an end to religious persecution, and, especially, a commitment to end world poverty.

These Red Letter Christians are likely to play a significant role in the upcoming 2008 elections. For the most part, they show preferences for Clinton, Obama and Edwards over any of the candidates that the Republicans have to offer. While most Evangelicals will still go for Republican candidates, it is possible that Red Letter Christians will be able to peel away enough Evangelical votes to swing the next election.

Stay on the lookout for this new movement. It has a great appeal to a great many of the younger Evangelicals who, while still pro-life and questioning gay marriage, want to embrace the broader agenda espoused by Red Letter Christians.

These younger evangelicals may not necessarily vote Democratic, but they certainly are no longer safely in the pocket of the Republican Party. Instead, they are prone to declare with Red Letter Christians that Jesus is neither a Democrat nor a Republican. When asked about party affiliation, they are likely to say, "Cite the issue." On some issues they will go with one party and on some issues they will go with the other.

With that kind of flexibility, those Evangelicals who call themselves Red Letter Christians will be increasingly politically unpredictable. It is hard to say what the future holds, but this is probable--it won't be just like the past.