Politics

The most interesting aspect of the campaign to date (putting aside the astonishing fact that the Democratic nominee will be either a black man or a woman) is the discovery that evangelical Christians are not this monolithic force that's concerned solely with abortion and gay rights. There's a front page article in today's Inquirer that mirrors what I'd heard from other sources, that younger evangelicals, though concerned with abortion and gay rights, are more focused on poverty, health care and the environment, saying that these are really more important parts of Jesus' teachings. I always wondered about this; why, when Christian doctrine is so rich and diverse and potentially such a force for good, that it's been hijacked by a few people with big microphones and political ambitions. It looks like the pendulum may start to swing the other way. We may have President Bush to thank for this, with his wearing his Christianity on his sleeve and while promoting policies that are contrary to the most important parts of Chritianity. We'll have to see.