The BIG Questions

Whatever one’s attitudes toward abortion and same-sex marriage, it is hard to understand what kind of moral system would regard these two issues as the primary ethical foundation of society, as many conservative Christians appear to think. Unfortunately, many such Christians see issues of sexuality and reproduction as the main focus of Jesus’ message and the area where the battle with secular humanists and liberals must be fought. So it was incredibly refreshing to learn last week that Rev Joel Hunter, the president-elect of the Christian Coalition, had resigned because he felt the organization had become too narrow in its focus on a few single issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. According to Hunter, Jesus would want us to care about issues like easing poverty and saving the environment. Of course, some evangelicals are nervous about appearing to embrace issues that have usually been identified as liberal positions. Rev. Jerry Falwell publicly said as much. The thought that Jesus might have agreed more with present-day liberals than conservatives must be very disturbing to them. One interesting evangelical strategy around this problem has been to repackage certain liberal positions in more religious-sounding terms. Rather than refer to “environmentalism” which is a traditional liberal cause, some evangelicals have proposed that more attention be given to what they call “creation care,” a religious term that involves the human responsibility to be a good steward for the world of nature. When some Christians have asked “Would Jesus drive an SUV?,” they do so to keep social responsibility for the world as a central element of religious faith.    Wouldn’t it be wonderful if future political candidates were evaluated by evangelical voters by their positions on these kinds of issues rather than the narrow agendas that have prevailed until now?