The FundamentaList .This week in the religious right:

[Joanne98]

This week in the religious right: Evangelicals may have excluded political leaders from the drafting of a new manifesto, Huckabee launches a PAC, and the fight for religious freedom at the Air Force Academy.

Sarah Posner | April 16, 2008 | web only

1. The Elitism Wars.

While the storm of righteous indignation over Barack Obama's supposed elitism continues to engulf the presidential campaign in silly recriminations about who's the snob and who's the real American, the religious right is experiencing its own internal civil war over authenticity, on a number of fronts.

First up, a forthcoming "Evangelical Manifesto," which is under wraps until May 7 but was discussed publicly by Warren Smith, the editor of the Christian site The Charlotte World and a frequent contributor to Marvin Olasky's World magazine. Smith likes divulging secrets -- he penned the piece for the World describing how John McCain's March appearance at the closed-door Council for National Policy fell flat with religious right activists. He is also the spokesperson for Ministry Watch, a nonprofit watchdog group critical of the televangelists under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee.

Smith maintains that some top-tier names in the evangelical world are drafting a new manifesto calling for reform of the evangelical movement, but that big names in the religious right political leadership are being excluded from the drafting and signature collection process. I couldn't get anyone to talk to me on the record about Smith's piece or the manifesto, but one knowledgeable participant insisted that his piece was "inaccurate", and that the manifesto represents "an inclusive movement, not a club." Given that the people Smith claims have been excluded are major conservative political players, if he is right that they are not invited, perhaps it's their politicizing of religion that is causing the rift with their fellow evangelicals.

Smith suggests that the process represents a struggle over who's going to emerge as the evangelical power elite:


This unfortunate and unseemly power struggle should not be ignored in evaluating this "Manifesto." The list of people who have not been asked to sign it, or who have chosen not to, is as revealing as the list of those who have, or will. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins both told me they had not seen the "Manifesto." Tom Minnery, executive vice president of Focus on the Family and the organization's "point person" on public policy issues said neither he nor James Dobson has been asked to sign or give input. Other conservative evangelical leaders who often speak out on political issues have been kept out of the process. That list includes Rick Scarborough of Vision America, former White House speechwriter and Beverly LaHaye Senior Fellow Janice Crouse. Also shunned, at least so far: the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land, Ohio-based Phil Burress of Citizens For Community Values, Faith2Action's Janet Folger, home school guru Michael Farris, and Concerned Women For America President Wendy Wright.

In other words, the list of names Smith claims were excluded represents the generals who issue the orders to the foot soldiers in the religious right's politicized culture war.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_fundamentalists