EVANGELICAL SPLIT - 'Evangelical leaders say their faith is too politicized,' By AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll: 'Prominent evangelicals urged Christian conservatives Wednesday to support 'an expansion of our concerns beyond single-issue politics,' angering some leaders on the religious right who have been closely allied with the Republican Party. In a 19-page document called 'An Evangelical Manifesto,' more than 70 theologians, pastors and others said faith and politics have been too closely mixed. They warned against Christians adopting any one political view. ...
'Many veteran Christian activists on the right side of the political spectrum do not support the declaration. James Dobson, founder of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, reviewed the document and was invited to sign it, but did not, said Gary Schneeberger, a spokesman for Dobson. ... Richard Land, head of the public policy arm of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the country, said he was not asked to sign the document.'
Ed Stoddard of Reuters calls it the movement's 'latest sign of emerging fractures as some activists seek to broaden its agenda beyond hot-button social issues': 'Michael CROMARTIE, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said of the statement: 'It's a sign of maturation of the evangelical movement.' '