The evangelical crackup

The backlash against the incestuous relationship between many evangelical theologians and the Republican Party, and the U.S. wars in the Middle East, has begun to expose the faultlines amongst evangelicals, The New York Times magazine reports.

Their article notes that some previously circumspect evangelical leaders have begun to openly criticize the leadership of the Christian conservative political movement, practically impossible even a year ago.

“The quickness to arms, the quickness to invade [Iraq], I think that caused a kind of desertion of what has been known as the Christian right,” says Bill Hybels , whose Willow Creek Association now includes 12,000 churches. "People who might be called progressive evangelicals or centrist evangelicals are one stirring away from a real awakening.”

Many evangelicals see themselves moving closer to traditionally mainline positions on social issues. They often find themselves becoming more comfortable with the idea of transformative social engagement and justice, as a Biblical imperative, and as a vehicle for spiritual formation.

The New York Times Magazine has the full story.