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THE MEDIA POSTMORTEMS
Fundamentalists--so self-named because they cleave to the "fundamentals" of the faith rather than following its seductive tangents--form but one part of evangelical America. They are known for interpreting the Bible--every chapter, verse, and passage--literally (except, as one wag noted, the part where Jesus drank "wine," which they deem a mistranslation of "grape-ade"). Dioramas at the new Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., show human beings mingling with dinosaurs because the museum's fundamentalist founders believe that the Genesis account limits the planet's age to about 6,000 years.
Fundamentalists also bridle at allying with other kinds of believers, much less non-Christians, even in a good cause, and they often look askance at non-fundamentalists' lifestyle laxities, from drinking alcohol to going to the movies. Fundamentalists' politics are normally very conservative. Many would merge faith (theirs) with state policy, mandating, for example, the recitation of Christian prayers and the teaching of Creationism in public schools. Many are ardent anti-internationalists who believe that the anti-Christ (for which post the pope is the traditional leading candidate) will one day hold the reins of power in a world government.
Evangelicals share much theology with fundamentalists, including such beliefs as the virgin birth of Christ and the Resurrection, Jesus' exclusive role as the rescuer of mankind, salvation by grace (rather than by good works), and the inerrancy of the Bible. However, as John Green, an expert on American religion at the University of Akron, told PBS' "Frontline" series, "Many evangelicals don't actually read it literally [but] understand that there's metaphor and poetry in the Bible, and it's just that the truth expressed in that metaphor and poetry is without error."
Evangelicals--the name comes from the Greek for "good news"--are also more willing to reach out to those of other denominations (e.g., Roman Catholics to enact abortion restrictions) or even faiths (e.g., Buddhists to fight overseas AIDS). They have been at the fore of such social movements, notes Wikipedia, as "the abolition of slavery, prison reform, [and] orphanage establishment." A typical face of "old" evangelicalism is Robert Raikes, who set up the first Sunday school to keep slum kids from the clutches of gangs. His modern heirs man soup kitchens in the ghetto and help unwed girls with crisis pregnancies.
Also, evangelicals are less apt to be super-patriots, or to beat the cross into a flag. Says Spotsylvania County's Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals: "We don't substitute the tribal God of America for the universal God" of the whole world. While most evangelicals are politically conservative, this is a fairly new phenomenon, provoked by the Supreme Court's nation-cleaving 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. Jimmy Carter actually carried the "born again" vote in 1976, but when Mr. Carter's policies affronted the group's beliefs, it switched in 1980 to Ronald Reagan.
What's more, some evangelicals are politically liberal (the Evangelical Lutheran Conference fits there), and others don't feel fully at home in either party. Writes Mr. Green:
"There are many evangelicals--and, by the way, Roman Catholics and other religious people in America--who would like to see a combination of liberal positions on social welfare and conservative positions on issues such as abortion and gay rights. Why is this? Because biblical morality, the Old and the New Testament put together, stresses both of those things. After all, Jesus talked extensively about aiding the poor and taking care of the widow, but he also talked about strict sexual morality and people adhering to the traditional Mosaic code."
Christian fundamentalism and Christian evangelicalism--whose adherents in America outnumber "Mainline" Protestants about 2-to-1--each has writ boldly on the pages of the nation's history, but their handwriting differs. They share a like theological gene code, but they are not identical twins. One is in decline and hobbled by pejorative perceptions; the other is vibrant and undertaking benevolent tasks all decent Americans should applaud--while asserting that its most important task is sharing the Gospel in hopes that individual human souls will find salvation.
All this is something to keep in mind even when hurried journalists don't.
