-I agree - which groups are you referring to?
Faithfulamerica.org is a Moveon style online faith-based activist group dedicated to social justice, sponsored by the National Council of Churches. See http://www.faithfulamerica.org. They also have a long list of progressive religious groups listed here: http://www.faithfulamerica.org/Links.htm#Leaders
One of the more interesting is Evangelicals for Social Action, which is linked to the serious fundamentalists we are all alarmed about, but they push the idea that to be pro-life, one must also be pro-peace and against poverty, essentially the equivalent of the "seamless garment" Catholics. See http://www.esa-online.org/
Recently, they've pushed the main Evangelical organization, the National Alliance of Evangelicals, to reconsider their failure to address social justice issues. While they've haven't made a revolution, the NAE did recently issue a broad manifesto on civic engagement which highlighted the need to address social justice issues. Along with the anti-abortion and "pro-family" goals, the document is strong on dealing with economic justice. See http://www.nae.net/images/civic_responsibility2.pdf
Some excerpts:
"Jesus summed up God's law by commanding us to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:35-40). By deed and parable, he taught us that anyone in need is our neighbor (Luke 10:29-37). Because all people are created in the image of God, we owe each other help in time of need.
God identifies with the poor (Ps. 146:5-9), and says that those who "are kind to the poor lend to the Lord" (Prov. 19:17), while those who oppress the poor "show contempt for their Maker" (Prov. 14:31). Jesus said that those who do not care for the needy and the imprisoned will depart eternally from the living God (Matt. 25:31-46). The vulnerable may include not only the poor, but women, children, the aged, persons with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, minorities, the persecuted, and prisoners. God measures societies by how they treat the people at the bottom. . . .
We further believe that care for the vulnerable should extend beyond our national borders. American foreign policy and trade policies often have an impact on the poor. We should try to persuade our leaders to change patterns of trade that harm the poor and to make the reduction of global poverty a central concern of American foreign policy. We must support policies that encourage honesty in government, correct unfair socioeconomic structures, generously support effective programs that empower the poor, and foster economic development and prosperity. Christians should also encourage continued government support of international aid agencies, including those that are faith based."
So there is a basis for alliances on key issues, if not on all policies, but a vigorous engagement on the issues we share may make many individual members consider whether voting to stop a marriage between two loving men is more important than a vigorous policy of ending poverty at home and abroad.
Nathan Newman