Sarah Posner writes The Fundamentalist for The American Prospect’s Web site. In her most recent dispatch, she tackled a hot recent topic: are the political goals of the evangelical movement in flux?
Last week, Beliefnet released the results of its new online poll which showed that although evangelical voters remain largely conservative, issues at the top of their agenda are increasingly aligned with those at the top of the progressive agenda. Although the poll was not scientific, its results reflect what many see as the changing face of the evangelical movement.
While a majority of self-described evangelicals said they remain committed to the Christian right leadership, they’re recognizing the need to address issues like global warming, poverty, and torture. Most Christian right leaders have resisted this change, but they’ve yet to see a significant backlash from their constituents. The religious right leadership remains well-funded, well-organized, and committed to the same core issues from which they will not budge. And even evangelicals touted as “new” or “less conservative” remain committed to some of those core issues as well.
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