Contributed by Tanya (Toni) DeMello MPA '08

On March 4, Dr. D. Michael Lindsay *06 returned to his alma mater to share findings that he first discovered during his research at Princeton for his doctoral degree. Lindsay spoke openly and candidly about the role that evangelicals play in influencing the government in the U.S. However, it became clear that at the very heart of his talk was an earnest desire to deconstruct the “evangelical” monolith and demonstrate that there is great diversity among evangelical leaders and citizens in the U.S., and that while many things unite this group, they are becoming increasingly diverse on a number of issues.

Lindsay is the author of several books, and recently completed the nation’s largest and most comprehensive study of public leaders who are people of faith. In his most recent book Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite (Oxford University Press, 2007), he discussed how evangelicals, “…once at the periphery of American life, now wield power in the White House and on Wall Street, at Harvard, and in Hollywood.” He shared countless stories about the hundreds of personal interviews he had with an array of prominent Americans—including two former presidents, dozens of political and government leaders, more than 100 top business executives, plus Hollywood moguls, intellectuals, athletes, and other powerful figures who have found a strong and influential voice in the American government.

His research centered on answering the following question: “Why have evangelicals had so much success in politics?” Estimates of evangelicals in the U.S. range between one-tenth to as much as one-third of the population—but regardless of their size, no one doubts the power of this voice as a lobby in government. But as they gain prominence and power in American society, evangelists are voicing views as individuals that most people would not assign to the group under which they fall. There are real differences in the political, social, and economic views and values of evangelists that are only increasing as the younger generation finds its voice, sometimes separating them from the group.

This may be worrying for the evangelical lobby because, as Lindsay stated, evangelists can credit their success in politics to the ability to unite as a group and choose a few key issues to mobilize them. These issues have centered on clear religious values and attitudes about gay rights, abortion, and “family values.” And perhaps the greatest key to uniting evangelicals is the view that they are not lobbying for something necessarily, but rather against something—the destruction of family values at the base of their faith by government policies. Lindsay illustrated this aptly saying, “A movement doesn’t have to have a God, but it has to have a devil. And, he added, “Evangelicals are united not so much in specific views, but in a belief that they can help to solve critical problems in both the U.S. and the world.”

Lindsay contended that evangelicals have built momentum in the political arena because of the momentum that they are building in all arenas. More evangelicals are going to Ivy Leagues and to college in general. Enrollment in Christian colleges is exploding, and the diversity of the students enrolling in Christian groups on campus is widely increasing. Lindsay highlighted this by noting that, “The Campus Crusade at Yale 20 years ago was 100 percent white and now it’s 90 percent Asian American.”

But it’s more than just a rise in education and accompanying rise in wealth. Evangelicals now are entering the realm of arts, entertainment, and culture. Take films, for example. When the film “The Last Temptation of Christ” came out a decade ago, it was the most protested film by Christians in the U.S. However, just a few years ago, the release of “The Passion,” a clearly Catholic film, saw evangelicals buying out entire theatres. And most recently, evangelical patronage of movies such as “Chronicles of Narnia,” which is based on Christian theology, has alerted media moguls to the profits of capturing this audience. Lindsay shared, “It was like ‘the Passion meets Harry Potter’ and they came out in droves. Now, every studio has launched an initiative called ‘Faith-Friendly Entertainment.’ In business in general, we see this effect in everything from banks that are praying with customers upon granting them loans, to decisions by companies to include their values in advertising their product. The CEO of Jockey underwear made a decision that if ever there were a man and a woman in their ad, they wear wedding bands. She resisted the industry backlash to this decision and said simply, ‘It’s my way of putting my values out there.’”

Perhaps the rise in socioeconomic status will result in an even greater rise of evangelicals’ voices in politics. Does this mean that evangelicals will increasingly play a role in shaping and, as accused by many, ‘manipulating U.S. politics with their personal agendas’? Lindsay contested this view, saying, “Many evangelicals believe that politics is the ratification of culture, it doesn’t change culture, it validates it.”

But what does this mean when the culture of evangelicals itself is changing? There is a growing divide among evangelicals, many of whom do not see the political leaders of their faiths as representing them. These leaders have big personalities and there is a great divide between the leaders themselves. Lindsay outlined two categories of evangelist leaders: Populist evangelicals that use tradition and rhetoric to mobilize the community, and “Cosmopolitan evangelicals” that are more worldly and diverse as a group and in their thinking. The latter speak of coalitions with other religious groups and a widening of the debates on many religious issues. And as young evangelicals grow into positions of leadership, there is a real sense that the agenda is broadening. Lindsay affirmed this, saying, “There is a greater openness about the environment and a greater focus on care for the poor, and there is a softening on protesting gay rights.” This shift can be seen in one strong example of the push by evangelicals that effectively pressured the Bush administration to intervene in the crisis in Darfur. Evangelicals, and the youth in particular, have a wider number of concerns and are no longer single-issue voters that unite them politically.

It remains to be seen how this will play out in politics. As the federal election quickly approaches this fall, Lindsay himself cannot predict whether any of the remaining candidates will be able to rally “the evangelical vote.” With so many issues on the table, their vote, like the rest of Americans’, will be decided based on personal views that no longer necessarily fall into one neat category. And while their faith remains central to these views, their interpretation of that faith into values and politics is deeply personal and diverse.