Evangelical steamroller

The climate is changing for the worse in environmental debates | Joel Belz

As if the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) didn't already have enough PR problems coming into 2007, the 65-year-old organization finds itself this month wrestling with still another public embarrassment. The issue isn't nearly as unsavory as the sex scandal last fall that forced the resignation of NAE president Ted Haggard. But it does leave the NAE looking wobbly at a time when it desperately needs to show that it has a legitimate and steady place in American religious life.

The new NAE fuss has to do with disagreement over who has the right to speak for the organization on public issues. The debate is important because the NAE is big. It represents 45,000 congregations in 52 member denominations and several dozen other alliances. Major organizations like World Relief, National Religious Broadcasters, and the Evangelical Press Association all trace their origins to the NAE. When the NAE speaks, it claims to represent millions of people. Any group making such claims should know what it's talking about.