Evangelical shift?

Religion | Some younger evangelicals may be taking non-orthodox views on same-sex unions | Mark Bergin

Mel Evans/AP

Richard Cizik, the longtime vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, made waves in the evangelical world last month when he expressed support for same-sex civil unions on a national radio program. NAE president Leith Anderson promptly asked for Cizik's resignation, charging that such comments "did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents."

But Cizik's comments did not emanate from a vacuum. His new position reflects that of an emerging evangelical bloc, one eager to disassociate from the old guard of the Christian right. So just how many evangelicals did Cizik actually represent?

Barrett Duke of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission believes the contingent of evangelicals supporting same-sex civil unions remains marginal—especially within his conservative denomination: "I have no doubt that there are Southern Baptists who do support civil unions for homosexuals and probably also support same-sex marriage. But I can tell you that they are at best in the single digits percentage-wise compared to all Southern Baptists and it might even be a fraction of a digit percentage-wise. Southern Baptists just are not there. And my guess is that the vast majority of the rest of the evangelical world isn't there either, considering how quickly this developed with Rich. They got flooded with contacts at NAE's headquarters."