Answering an evangelical call to arms, Christians will gather in communities across the nation tonight to watch President Bush's State of the Union address. They will invite local media to listen in as they measure Bush's policies against the moral values laid out in the Bible.
But don't expect a lot of applause for the president.
These "watch parties" are being organized by a small but growing movement of evangelical Christians who no longer want to be defined by gay marriage and abortion. Plumbing the Bible for God's priorities, they are talking instead about global warming and affordable housing, about fewer tax cuts for the rich and more food stamps for the poor.
"The typical image of evangelicals is that they're concerned with the sanctity of life, the traditional family and that's it -- they buy the whole Republican agenda when they vote," said Ron Sider, president of Evangelicals for Social Action, a think tank based in Wynnewood, Pa.
Without giving up their opposition to abortion and gay marriage, "they're asking, what [else] does God care about?" Sider said.
Citing Jesus' concern for the most vulnerable, evangelicals last month led a protest against a proposed federal budget that would cut deeply into food stamps, subsidized health insurance and student aid.
The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, has spoken out for clean-air and clean-water policies, arguing that God ordered man to be a good steward of creation. He hears pastors everywhere picking up the theme.
"It's happening more and more: A Republican hunter from a Southern Baptist church in Oklahoma knows he has a responsibility to the environment," Haggard said. "The community that drives pickup trucks is also learning to drive scooters."
It was an evangelical minister, the Rev. Jim Ball, who launched the "What Would Jesus Drive" campaign that made a brief splash promoting hybrid cars in 2003. More recently, Ball and others have been working on a policy statement on global warming.
The most liberal voice in the evangelical movement belongs to the Rev. Jim Wallis, author of the book "God's Politics." Wallis heads the advocacy group Sojourners, which is sponsoring the State of the Union parties in 160 communities nationwide. He is not in favor of abortion but opposes criminalizing it; he cannot accept gay marriage but would welcome civil unions.
