Changes in the culture war

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Some believe the culture war is in the midst of escalating and expanding hostilities. Certainly the number of ballot measures in last month's elections on issues like stem cell research and the definition of marriage support this view. Yet the media's intense focus on the bitter conflicts swirling around these particular issues masks subtle shifts in strategies and attitudes among some of the central combatants in this conflict: evangelical and other conservative Christians.

It's unclear if these changes represent a retreat, a detente, or simply repositioning in the theater of conflict — or maybe a combination of all three. Nevertheless, growing evidence suggests the "culture war" is indeed changing, causing a wake that could jostle many vessels in the harbor of traditional American politics.

After mobilizing around issues like stopping abortion and opposing gay marriage, religious conservatives are expanding their focus. At a recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, evidence of this shift beyond traditional culture war themes was clear. Several participants highlighted the growing interest among evangelical Christians, such as minister Rick Warren, in issues such as AIDS and global poverty. Alan Wolfe, Professor of Political Science at Boston College, underscored this point when discussing Mr. Warren at the conference: "I think that if religion is really central to your life, at some point there is going to be a call that is going to tell you that you have been going down the wrong road. And I think some of the most prominent evangelicals in America have begun to hear that call. Fighting for domestic politics, against issues like gay marriage, is not what he thinks he should be doing as a Christian," Mr. Wolfe said.

In a recent Newsweek essay, former White House speechwriter Michael Gerson agreed. "Many evangelicals have begun elbowing against the narrowness of the religious right, becoming more globally focused," he wrote. Just last week the incoming head of the Christian Coalition stepped down due to frustrations about expanding that organizations mission beyond fighting abortion and gay marriage.

Certainly the "culture war" as we know it today will transform if religious conservatives enlarge their focus. Indeed, the media may not even consider conservative religious involvement on issues traditionally dominated by liberals — like environmental activism or caring for the poor — as part of the culture war, but there is a connection. Changing the focus of combatants in any battle will affect the overall campaign.

Religious Americans have a long tradition of transforming their political involvement. Slavery, prohibition and the civil-rights movement are just a few of the political debates that served as mobilizing issues for Christians. These debates drew citizens into the political process, but as the questions were resolved — either through cultural consensus or legal changes — new agendas eclipsed the old ones. More recently Christians have been drawn into politics due to a confluence of events surrounding the definition a life — both in the abortion debate and in questions created by scientific breakthroughs, including stem-cell research and cloning.

Are we now on the leading edge of another shift in focus in the religious community? As conservative Christianity — particularly as practiced among evangelicals — matures, many are beginning to ask other questions with broad political implications. What does it mean to live in a community? Who is my neighbor? These issues posed by Messrs. Warren, Gerson and others signal a new direction for conservative Christians — a shift loaded with implications.

First, it may not mean a diminution in concern about the traditional cultural battles, but it might suggest a growing lack of confidence in the political process as the only forum to resolve these debates. As Sociologist James Davison Hunter suggested at the Pew Forum, once some of these issues are "lost" in the broader cultural debate, it's hard to "win" them in the political process.

Second, the broadening agenda of religious conservatives also suggests a fraying Republican Party hegemony with these voters. While 70 percent of white, born-again evangelicals voted for Republican congressional candidates in 2006, that represented a four-point decline from 2004.

The broadening evangelical agenda, along with their hints of caution about unfettered allegiance to one political party — or even reliance on the public policy process as the only means to resolve cultural disputes — are developments that deserve watching. They may signal a cessation of hostilities in the culture war as we know it, a temporary truce, or just a shift in the theater of conflict.