Who are they going to Hate Now?

Now that Falwell has passed the mantle... or rather it's being ripped from his cold, dead hands... the question remains: Where do they go from here? One "candidate" is Frank Page of the Southern Baptist Convention who is trying to "play nice" by putting on his best "sheep's clothing" and appear "moderate" but he's got a problem with the term "moderate". It's, well, "too moderate".

Frank S. Page, 54, is president of the 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest evangelical "organization". He has explained his election as "a mandate for change". Of course, for those not on the inside, we're wondering what sort of change to expect.

Says Page, "I would not use the word 'moderate,' because in our milieu that often means liberal. But it's a shift toward a more centrist, kinder, less harsh style of leadership. In the past, Baptists were very well known for what we're against. . . . Instead of the caricature of an angry, narrow-minded, Bible-beating preacher, we wanted someone who could speak to normal people."

So, of course, Mr. Page has appointed himself the one to "speak to normal people". That begs the question, who is considered "normal" when compared to the membership of the Southern Baptist Convention? Obviously, they are catching on that they are not the best standard for what is "normal". It only been in recent years that they have dropped their stands against black membership and racial integration (and you thought the Mormons were alone in this?) and their stand against dancing, movies, and other sins of "the Devil".

With members of an older generation of evangelical leaders, including the Rev. Billy Graham, the Rev. Pat Robertson, psychologist James C. Dobson and the Rev. D. James Kennedy, ailing or nearing retirement, Page is one of many pastors and political activists tugging conservative Christians in various directions.

Others include the Rev. Rick Warren and the Rev. William Hybels, megachurch pastors who are championing the fight against AIDS in Africa. David Barton, head of a Texas-based group called WallBuilders, stumps the nation decrying the "myth" that the Constitution requires separation of church and state. The Rev. Joel Hunter of Orlando urges evangelicals to see climate change as a serious religious issue, because "our first order in the Garden was to take care of the Earth."

"The evangelical movement as a political force is in a serious state of transition," Page said. "With the passing of Jerry Falwell, evangelicals are struggling to try to find the kind of cohesion he represented. That was going on even before he died."

When Falwell dissolved the Moral Majority in 1989, the leadership torch was picked up by Robertson at the Christian Coalition. After that group ran into financial and management problems in the late 1990s, leadership passed to Dobson's radio ministry, Focus on the Family.

The absence of a national evangelical political leader was masked in recent years by the presence of President Bush, who served as a rallying point. But the Rev. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptists' Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the only candidates in 2008 with wide appeal to evangelicals are ones, such as former governor Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), who do not appear able to win.

Polls suggest that evangelicals under 30 are just as staunchly opposed to abortion, and almost as concerned about "moral standards" in general, as their elders. But a February Pew survey found that younger evangelicals are more likely than their parents to worry about environmental issues; 59 percent of those under 30 said the United States was "losing ground" on pollution, compared with 37 percent of those over 30.

Acceptance of homosexuality is also greater among young evangelicals. One in three under 30 favors same-sex marriage, compared with one in 10 of their elders.

Redeem the Vote, a group formed in 2004 to register young evangelicals to vote, is campaigning with black churches in Alabama for capping the interest charges on short-term "payday" loans, which can hit 400 percent a year. The group's founder, physician Randy Brinson, said he finds that young evangelicals are intensely interested in practical ways to help their communities and are little swayed by issues such as same-sex marriage.

"These kids have gone to school with people who happen to be gay, and they don't see them as a direct threat. They may think that lifestyle is wrong, but they don't see it as something that really affects their daily lives," Brinson said. "The groups that focus only on a narrow agenda, especially gay marriage and abortion, are going to decline."

So, what's in the future? The political arm of the religious right will eventually evolve (I love the irony!) into more socially responsive lobby groups focusing more and more on the real problems in their congregations and less on issues that don't directly effect them. They'll turn from being ChristoNazi's who yelp and bark at pro-Choicers, Gun Control Advocates, and Gays hiding in the trees and focus on the more tangible issues such as jobs and economic security (for their congregants and not just for their own self-serving needs). And this will happen very quickly over the next five years. Why? Mostly because the great icons of the ChistoNazi Movement are falling by the wayside and a new generation is coming into power. Falwell is dead and Pat Robertson may as well be dead. Ralph Reed the others like him discredited themselves in scandals. The rest? Well, the religion of Hate turns people off and eventually devours those who venture too close for too long.

Just be patient...