Changing Hearts, Changing Minds: A New Evangelical Politics?

Abstract:     
The Bishops' Letter seeks to enable American Catholics in this Presidential Election year to become better able to evaluate policy positions, party platforms, and candidates' promises and actions in light of the Gospel. In their Letter, the Bishops observe that in today's political environment, . . . Catholics may feel politically disenfranchised, sensing that no party and too few candidates fully share the Church's comprehensive commitment to the life and dignity of every human being from conception to natural death. This essay, offered from an evangelical perspective, seeks to describe why many evangelical Christians regard the current political scene much as their Catholic brothers and sisters do, and how they also are engaged in the attempt to guide their political judgments by the light of the Gospel. This piece was written by invitation for the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies Symposium issue on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 25

Keywords: Religion and politics, religious conscience, evangelicals and politics, Catholic social teaching, religion and political responsibility

Accepted Paper Series