Well, It Took Long Enough, Didn't It?

Evangelicals are finally waking up:

"Lots of people feel that the evangelical label has been taken captive by a very narrow political program," said the Rev. Rich Nathan, senior pastor at The Vineyard Church of Columbus, which is hosting the revival. "Folks don't feel that that represents them. Many of the so-called evangelical leaders are saying, we didn't elect these people, they don't represent us. How did they become our spokespeople? How did this narrow agenda become our agenda?"

The "culture war" just took a new turn:

Wallis' detractors say he is trying to steer religious conservatives to the Democratic Party - launching the effort in Columbus, the capital of a state that swung the presidency to George Bush in 2004 by a just 2 percent margin. Bush's Ohio victory was attributed largely to turnout among religious conservatives mobilized by a proposed gay marriage ban that appeared on that year's ballot.

"I think this is part of a concerted effort to try to reach out to the values voters and take them away from the pro-life candidates," said Denise Mackura, executive director of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society public interest law firm, which opposes abortion. "It's an effort to say ... go ahead and vote for Barack or whoever because there are these other issues, to convince people not to base their vote on the right-to-life issue."

Because the Thomas More Society is a one-trick pony -- if people aren't voting for forced birth, there goes their funding.

You'll remember that the Dobson Gang called for the resignation of a member of the American Evangelical Association for recommending that evangelicals focus more effort on the environment and social justice. They didn't want to bleed resources away from the fight against "the hommoseksual agenda." After all, it's much easier to dehumanize gays than it is poor children.