*Redefining Evangelicalism* http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1209357380873&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout
[image: Image] *Wedded with Republicans to a set of beliefs, evangelicals have played a pivotal role in tilting the scales in US President George W. Bush's favor in his 2004 reelection bid. (Photo through Google)* CAIRO — Several American conservative Christian leaders are revolting against the exploitation of Evangelicalism for political gains. "Today… enormous confusion surrounds Evangelicals in public life," reads the Evangelical Manifesto issued on Wednesday, May 8. It seeks "clarify the confusions and corruptions surrounding the term 'evangelical' that have grown so deep that the character of what it means has been obscured and its importance lost." Signed by more than 80 evangelical leaders, theologians and pastors, the 19-page document warns that the term "evangelical" has lost its religious meaning. "We reaffirm our identity. Evangelicals are Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth," it reads. "We Evangelicals are defined theologically, and not politically, socially, or culturally." The document was signed by mostly centrist evangelicals, like popular author Os Guinness, Leith Anderson, president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals and evangelical academic. Evangelism is the fastest-growing faith-based group in the US. One in four American adults count themselves as evangelical or born-again Christians, including President George Bush. *"Useful Idiots"* The manifesto laments that faith and politics have been too closely mixed in the US. It condemns Christians on the right and left for "using faith to express essentially political points that have lost touch with biblical truth." It warns that this way "faith loses its *independence.*" "Christians become the 'useful idiots' for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology," it contends. "Christian beliefs become the weapons of political factions." Evangelical Christians have a growing impact on America's political landscape. They have played a pivotal role in tilting the scales in Bush's favor in his 2004 reelection bid. Some 37 percent of all Republican and Republican-leaning voters are evangelical Protestants. The declaration, however, encourages evangelicals to be politically engaged and uphold teachings when it comes to social issues such as marriage and environment. "We Evangelicals see it our duty to engage with politics, but our equal duty never to be completely equated with any party, partisan ideology, or nationality. "The politicization of faith is never a sign of strength but of weakness." *Related Links* Evangelicals Bring Religion in US Politics <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1160658445961&pagename=Zone-English-News%2FNWELayout> Israel Support Biblical Duty: Evangelicals<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1164543372201&pagename=Zone-English-News%2FNWELayout> US Evangelical Navy Academy<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1203757823646&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout> Evangelists Teach US Cadets Islam<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1201957685016&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout> US Evangelicals Turn New Page<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1179664491770&pagename=Zone-English-News%2FNWELayout> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *Religion and America* *Polygamy and the Latter Day Saints* By Karema Akifah Saleh - Writer, Editor in Chief - US ** ** *1) **Double Standards and Racism*<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1203758522881&pagename=Zone-English-Family%2FFYELayout> * 2) **A House Divided Will Fall*<http://www.islamonline.net/English/Multimedia/Library/Family/2008/04/sound/01.ram> * ** 3) **Dying Unknown*<http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1209357103378&pagename=Zone-English-Family%2FFYELayout> * * [image: Image] The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints is one of the largest Mormon groups and a practitioner of polygamy in the US. At one of their ranches in El Dorado, Texas, referred to as a "compound" by the media, the ranch was raided on the basis of a hoax call, about 430 children were removed. The parents were forced to take a DNA test to prove parentage. The 430 children being in the custody of the Texas Child Protection Services, their whereabouts remains unknown. These children being wards of the state, their parents have no rights whatsoever including access to their own children. Media response has been one of bigotry; what is the truth? And where does justice begin and end? Join Karema Akifah Saleh in Polygamy and the Latter Day Saints <javascript:void(window.open('/English/Multimedia/Library/Family/2008/05/04.shtml','Family','Top=0,Left=0,width=390,height=225,toolbar=no,scrollbars=no'))> *Identity, Race, and Society* *The People's Choice!?* *Double Standards and Racism* [image: Image] Sister Karema presents her first mini-program on the double standards that Americans are faced with and the dynamics of a democratic election campaign that may or may or not represent the people's choice. Sister Karema takes us through the fiery speech of a Christian preacher who can be widely heard with his anti-Muslim rhetoric on cable T.V but only becomes "un-American" when he speaks of chickens coming home to roost. How Americans responded to a black candidate before, and after media manipulation of the truth, to the insecurities of politicians to find that the people's choice is lost somewhere in between. Join Karema Akifah Saleh on The People's Choice<http://www.islamonline.net/English/Multimedia/Library/Family/2008/03/sound/01.ram>>>> *Karema Akifah Saleh* *is the chief editor and founder of** **Iqra! Newspaper* <http://iqranewspaper.com/>*. She is a Katrina survivor and because of faith, she re emerged in Houston, Texas and re-launched the Muslim perspective paper. She majored in Communications and has worked on various media projects. She is also a member Islamic Writers Alliance and National Association of Black Journalist.*
