I have noticed the increase in frequency of news stories that prop up liberals in the evangelical movement who try to de-emphasize the ‘divisive’ issues surrounding morality and focus on issues that everyone agrees with: like poverty and AIDS in Africa.

Taking action in Africa is imperative and I believe the US government under Pres. Bush has made a huge commitment to Africa and we are making progress. I don’t think there is one sensible human being who doesn’t agree with helping Africa. As a conservative, I believe its more effective if private institutions led the effort rather than a government bureaucracy.

The talking point that many of the liberal evangelicals use is that if we work with our opponents on things that we agree, then it’s easier to get the things that we want: such as repealing Roe vs. Wade and passing a marriage amendment to the constitution, etc. Maybe they are forgetting the fact that the other side is just as passionate, if not more when it comes to ‘pro-choice’ and same-sex ‘marriage’. There will be a confrontation of ideas regardless of what we do together.

Should we broaden our focus? Sure. However, I believe evangelicals have always had a broad focus which included serving their community. Unfortunately, we never received much media coverage about it. The media is now showing interest in the supposed ‘maturation’ of evangelicalism and to show as proof they put up liberal evangelicals like Jim Wallis and Rick Warren.

The question is why are some evangelicals shying away from being bold about their faith and morals? I would argue that they are giving into to the pressure from the media and the postmodern culture as a whole. When issues of faith and morality is discussed, there will be a diversity of ideas. Why can’t we be divisive but also civil on issues that we see as black and white? Isn’t civility the problem at hand and not the diversity of ideas?

As human beings, all of us feel the pressure to please others and to make a good name for ourselves. The question is at what cost?

If we take a look back at history, wasn’t the fight against slavery a divisive issue? After all, it was one of the many causes for the very bloody civil war. But no one would argue that being divisive over the evil practice of slavery wasn’t worth it. Maybe Americans could’ve been more ‘civil’ at the time but it was perfectly okay to be divisive.

Men like William Wilburforce and Martin Luther King stood resolute in moral clarity over the issue of slavery and civil rights and did it in a very civil and peaceful way. We need such men and women to do the same over the issues of Abortion and Sanctity of Marriage. Rather than calling our opponents names like ‘baby killers’ lets find ways to communicate in a way that truly reflects our pure intentions and goals.