The real problem that I think those of us who are evangelicals and Democrats have to face up to is that the political right controls the religious media.

I contend the state ought to do its thing and provide legal rights for all couples who want to be joined together for life. The church should bless unions that it sees fit to bless, and they should be called marriages.

But I think it’s up to a local congregation to determine whether or not a marriage should be blessed of God. And it shouldn’t be up to the government.

When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this – when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?

That’s what they do in Europe. You go down to the city hall and you become legally connected. You have a civil union there. Then, if you’re religious, you go down to the church, and the church blesses the union. That gets the problem solved.

I think the time has come for the United States to do even-handed justice.

I don’t know of many evangelicals who want to deny gay couples their legal rights. However, most of us don’t want to call it marriage, because we think that word has religious connotations, and we’re not ready to see it used in ways that offend us.

If America is too arrogant, too prideful to repent, it’s not the kind of country that God wants it to be.

When you talk about evangelicals, don’t forget that a significant proportion of the evangelical community is African American. And most African Americans – well over 90 percent, thoroughly evangelical, thoroughly biblical – will probably vote Democratic.

When you listen to Christian radio stations – and there are thousands of them now in the United States – and when you listen to Christian television networks – and there are thousands of Christian television shows across the country – they are all politically right.

I think the real place where most evangelicals have trouble with the Democratic Party is on the issue of abortion.

The two hot issues are the gay issue and the abortion issue. These are the two defining issues in the evangelical community these days. I’m sure that these hot buttons will be pushed, time and time again.

The reason why I buy into the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party is because there are over 2,000 verses of Scripture that deal with responding to the needs of the poor.

In short, I’m not sure that the abortion problem can be solved by legislation. I think it can only be solved through moral persuasion.

I teach at Eastern University, which is highly committed to doing work among the poor and the oppressed peoples of the world. We have a special commitment to the city.

And we’ve got to ask ourselves some very serious questions as to whether or not certain religious leaders, in terms of raising money – I hate to bring this up – are pushing hot buttons.

I think there are other issues that the Democrats could use to rally evangelicals. There are a lot of us, for instance, who believe that the Bible calls us to be environmentally responsible.

My theology is such that the God who loves Israel and will not forsake Israel – which is why I want to see Israel have a secure nation with secure borders – also loves the Palestinians.

I contend that it’s impossible to read the Sermon on the Mount and not come out against capital punishment.

Prior to ROE V. WADE, abortions were common even though they were illegal. I don’t think making them illegal again is going to solve the problem.

Those issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.

I contend that Bush would be a lot more moderate if there weren’t some fundamentalists breathing down his neck every time he wants to establish the state of Israel, every time he wants to do justice for the Palestinian people.

The real problem that I think those of us who are evangelicals and Democrats have to face up to is that the political right controls the religious media.

When leading evangelicals say terrible things about Islam, evil things about Islam, terrible things about Muhammad, they ought to be ashamed of themselves.

I contend that, in spite of all that might be said about Watergate, Richard Nixon was good for the poor people of America.

I think it goes back to the fact that the evangelical community often does not have a biblical vision of God.

But I contend that if we’re providing total medical coverage for every man, woman, and child in Iraq, shouldn’t we at least be doing the same thing for every man, woman, and child in the United States?

So I really would like to see both parties respond to the poor with greater commitment. But I’ve got to tell you, the Democrats, I feel, are doing a better job in that respect than Republicans are.

So after the Lewinsky scandal, everything changed, and we moved from using the Bible to address the moral issues of our time, which were social, to moral issues of our time that were very personal. I have continued that relationship up until the present.

I’m a minister, and I serve as a minister in addition to being a university professor.

Of the 22 industrialized nations of the world, we’re dead last in per capita giving to poor people.