I read in the NY Times today that the group that is Bush and Cheney's biggest cheerleaders for their "War on Terrorism" may finally be realizing that the King has no clothes on.

Apparently, the board of the National Association of Evangelicals "all but unanimously endorsed the 'An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture: Protecting Human Rights in an Age of Terror.'" The body represents 45,000 evangelical Protestant churches with 30 million members and was "quickly reported as another sign of an important shift in evangelicalism's political stance."

The article said that the declaration "criticizes the Bush administration's successful effort, in the Military Commissions Act signed last October, to exempt the C.I.A. from such prohibitions and from much judicial and Congressional oversight, and to limit habeas corpus, loosen rules on the use of evidence and allow indefinite detention of those the administration designates unlawful enemy combatants."

I certainly have long held a great suspicion of the values pushed by the evangelicals, values that I think are a throwback to the 50's: homophobia and a belief homosexuals need only be "cured"---traditional roles of men and especially women---a promotion of a black and white/good and evil world---a belief that God is on the side of the Israelis in the Israel/Palestinian conflict---an absolute literal interpretation of the Bible---and a general lack of respect for other religious beliefs and values. But maybe there is hope for a more thoughtful and questioning evangelical??

I am encouraged.

Source:
"An Evangelical Call on Torture and the U.S" by Peter Steinfels
New York Times
July 21, 2007