First up from the God Machine this week is a political battle for the future of the evangelical movement. For some, Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson have had their say, but Christianity is (or should be) about more than abortion and gays.
A struggle for control of the evangelical agenda intensified this week, with some leaders declaring that the focus has strayed too far from their signature battles against abortion and gay rights.
Those issues defined the evangelical movement for more than two decades — and cemented ties with the Republican Party. But in a caustic letter, leaders of the religious right warned that these “great moral issues of our time” were being displaced by a “divisive and dangerous” alignment with the left on global warming.
A new generation of pastors has expanded the definition of moral issues to include not only global warming, but an array of causes. Quoting Scripture and invoking Jesus, they’re calling for citizenship for illegal immigrants, universal healthcare and caps on carbon emissions.
The best-known champion of such causes, the Rev. Jim Wallis, this week challenged conservative crusader James C. Dobson, the chairman of Focus on the Family, to a debate on evangelical priorities.
“Are the only really ‘great moral issues’ those concerning abortion, gay marriage and the teaching of sexual abstinence?” Wallis asked in his challenge. “How about the reality of 3 billion of God’s children living on less than $2 per day? … What about pandemics like HIV/AIDS … [and] disastrous wars like Iraq?”
For what it’s worth, Dobson has said he would not engage in such a debate because he’s too “busy” writing yet another book on child rearing. (He has time for a daily radio show, but not for a discussion with Rev. Wallis about the future of the evangelical movement?) Focus on the Family vice president, Tom Minnery, however, said he would be to take up that debate.
We’ll see what happens, but Wallis seems intent on shaking things up. During a recent lecture at a conservative evangelical college, Wallis said, he was besieged by students furious at Falwell. “James Dobson and the religious right are outside the evangelical mainstream. That’s just a fact,” Wallis said. “That doesn’t mean they have no power…. But their monologue is over. Their control of the agenda is over.”
Time will tell.
Next up from the God Machine is a “compromise” in the College of William and Mary cross controversy. (thanks to reader S.C. for the heads-up)
If you’re just joining us, William and Mary, one of the nation’s oldest public universities, recently decided to remove an 18-inch brass cross that had been displayed on the altar of an on-campus chapel since 1940. As we’ve talked about before, the public university wanted to make the chapel less faith-specific, so that all religious students in a diverse student population would feel equally welcome. Some Christian students and alumni threw a fit, insisting that their symbol deserved special treatment. This week, William and Mary backpedaled a bit and announced it will permanently return the brass cross to display in the chapel.
The 18-inch cross will be displayed prominently in a glass case, based on a recommendation made by a committee of alumni, students and others that President Gene R. Nichol created to study the issue.
“The Wren controversy has been a decidedly difficult and sometimes painful one for this community,” Nichol said at a news conference announcing the decision. “It has touched depths of disagreement … that I didn’t fully anticipate.”
It’s really a shame Nichol felt the need to back down. He was right about this from the start.
And finally, I thought I’d note the unusual end of Lonnie Latham’s legal fight in Oklahoma City. Latham, you might recall, was the virulently anti-gay Baptist preacher who was arrested for soliciting gay sex. This week, oddly enough, Latham won in court.
A judge found former Baptist church leader Lonnie Latham not guilty today of the misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness.
The reverend was an outspoken opponent of homosexuality before he was arrested on Jan. 3, 2006, outside the Habana Inn in Oklahoma City on an allegation that he had propositioned an undercover policeman. […]Latham’s attorney had argued that solicitation of sexual acts between two consenting adults is legal, and, therefore, Latham committed no crime.
After his arrest, Latham resigned as pastor of the South Tulsa Baptist Church and stepped down from the board of directors of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and from the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Because Latham never actually offered to pay the man he thought was a male prostitute, he wasn’t guilty of a crime.
Of course, being guilty of shameless hypocrisy is another matter altogether….