Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s unexpected resilience has influenced this election in myriad ways. But one of the most intriguing side effects of the Baptist minister’s tour in the spotlight has been the attention it has brought to an evolution occurring inside the white Christian evangelical movement.<\/p>\n
Huckabee has pulled back the curtain on a long-churning generational struggle over the movement’s priorities and tone. For many, he is the first national political iteration of a new crop of leaders challenging the old guard’s script, which focuses almost exclusively on banning abortion and same-sex marriage and confronting those issues in the courts.<\/p>\n
The former Arkansas governor, only belatedly supported by long-time leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Moral Majority cofounder Paul Weyrich who were alarmed by John McCain’s momentum, has shown that the movement is not a monolith. New-generation leaders, including author and pastor Rick Warren and environmentalist Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals, are now competing mightily for influence among a younger generation of born-again Christians.<\/p>\n
“The evangelical community is in flux,” says John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. “And it’s about priorities.” Most in the new wave remain strongly opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage but are advocating a broader moral agenda and a way to tackle life and gay issues outside the Supreme Court. That agenda includes a focus beyond the traditional issues to those ranging from global poverty and the environment to battling HIV-AIDS in Africa.<\/p>\n