CONSIDER three young religious-minded people of the left. The first is Andi Sullivan, who set up a charity to distribute mosquito netting to Africa and Asia during her first year at university. The second is Gabriel Salguero, a pastor who advocates immigration reform and better funding for public schools in New York. And the third is Drew Hansen, a legislator who is trying to get gay marriage allowed in his home state of Washington. All three of them are devout evangelical Christians.
Viewed against the broad current of contemporary American evangelical politics, these three examples are outliers. The vast majority of evangelicals oppose gay marriage. They are more likely than non-evangelicals to oppose extra funding for public education, unemployment benefits and aid to the poor, both within and outside America. And a poll taken by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2010 showed that nearly half of all white evangelicals favour deporting illegal immigrants. Ever since they deserted Jimmy Carter—a Southern Baptist generally considered America’s first evangelical, or “born again”, president—for Ronald Reagan in the election of 1980, evangelical Christians have been among the most reliable Republican voters.
Read Full Article »