“The New Internationals”: Human Rights and American Evangelicalism

In the fall of 2004, the Government Affairs Office of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) issued “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.” The NAE has produced statements on political issues for over fifty years, during which time it has voiced opinions on matters ranging from civil rights, Communism, and the death penalty to budget deficits and serving alcohol on airplanes. These policy statements are not authoritative for evangelicals in the way that those issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are for Roman Catholics. Evangelicals have no obligation to seriously entertain, much less embrace, views of the NAE. Evangelicalism, which locates authority in the local church and ultimately Scripture, possesses no central teaching authority. It is problematic to speak of an evangelical position on political questions, for such a position does not exist in any formal sense. Nevertheless, NAE statements have often served as an accurate barometer of the leading views and priorities within evangelicalism at a given moment. It is for this reason that “For the Health of the Nation“ is so significant for the document does nothing less than calls for a reordering of evangelical politics. If it reflects the deeper impulses now shaping American evangelicalism, it may augur the political transformation of this religious community....