It apears that the Southern Baptist Church had an upset at their convention and elected someone who wasn't the annointed leader and blogging pastors are being credited with the win:
Southern Baptist-focused blogs began popping up about a year ago, when a group of younger (under 40) Baptists frustrated at the inaccessibility of the levers of power began meeting to discuss their concerns. Suddenly about a dozen blogs bloomed, perhaps the most influential being sbcoutpost.com, run by Rev. Marty Duren, a younger Georgia pastor. Last year they publicized a gathering that eventually put together a manifesto called the Memphis Declaration, which consisted of a list of Public Repentences, many of them for the SBC's arrogance within and outside its organization, and even included a repentance for "having condemned those without Christ before we have loved them."I like the new direction. I agree with them, Christians have spent far too much time talking about what we are against and not talking about Christ and the free offer of the gospel.
[...]
"Without the bloggers Page wouldn't have been elected. He was a relative unknown, and the bloggers really have created the whole conversation. It's very much a generation shift."Whether it indicates a true political or theological shift remains to be seen. Page, although he reportedly acknowledged the bloggers' help in winning, is not one of them or beholden to them. Page did tell reporters after the election that "I do not want anyone to think I am out to undo a conservative movement." But he added, "[But for] too long Baptists have been known for what we are against. Please let us tell you what we are for."
What I found interesting about this is the desire to turn this into a political thing, which E. J. Dionne Jr. attempts to do in his column on Friday:
But Page's upset victory could be very significant, both to the nation's religious life and to politics. He defeated candidates supported by the convention's staunchly conservative establishment, which has dominated the organization since the mid-1980s. His triumph is one of many signs that new breezes are blowing through the broader evangelical Christian world.Just because a Christian desires to focus on other issues, doesn't mean they have abandoned the unborn or stopped their support for the war on terror. And since Bush has been in office, AIDS and poverty and human trafficking are very much "Compassionate Conservative" agenda items. These are not Democratic agenda items, they didn't even make the top six. Bush has done more for AIDS than other president in the history of this country and that includes Clinton who didn't do anything.
No, this is not some liberal victory. Indeed, the Baptist Press reported that Page went out of his way to tell reporters that he was not elected "to somehow undo the conservative resurgence" in the convention. But he also signaled that the spirit he hopes to embody is quite different from that of the angry, right-wing, politicized preacher who has been a stock figure in American life for more than two decades.
"I believe in the word of God," Page said. "I'm just not mad about it."
The mellowing of evangelical Christianity may well be the big American religious story of this decade. The evolution of the evangelical movement should not be confused with the rise of a religious left. Although the margin of the Republican Party's advantage among white evangelicals is likely to decline from its exceptionally high level in the 2004 election, a substantial majority of white evangelicals will probably remain conservative and continue to vote Republican.
But the evangelical political agenda is broadening as new voices insist on the urgency of issues such as Third World poverty and the fights against AIDS and human trafficking. Among the most prominent advocates for a wider view of Christian obligation is Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., and author of "The Purpose Driven Life."
(Links via PoliBlog)
