Don’t call me an Evangelical. No, I used to be one…but not anymore. Yeah, I was home schooled, ten years of it. I went to a non-denominational church every week of my life. I knew the party line cold. The Evangelical Manifesto goes something like this in a loose order of importance:

1) There is one God ruler of all who created heaven and earth around 10,000 years ago. This God has many names, but usually just goes by “God.” Anyone who talks about “God” can generally be labeled a friend, until shown otherwise.

2) America is the most evangelical/Christian nation in the world owing to the fact that God loved this nation more than all the others and gave it a “Godly Constitution and leaders in its beginning.”

3) God has a great love for all humans on earth and desires the peace, prosperity, and happiness of all. His atoning death in the person of Jesus Christ makes this a possibility for all.

4) It is the responsibility of all good evangelicals everywhere to talk to everyone about this loving God who wants the best for them.

5) If enough evangelical Christians gain prominence in politics, science, and the media then the country can be returned to its godly roots, and then the whole world can be influenced toward godliness as well.

This is an accurate, though general statement. Some evangelicals would see some wrong in these 5 points. However some would think they are too specific, thus leading me to believe that it is a fairly precise belief statement for the average evangelical in America today. The tragedy to me is that each point has a measure of biblical truth in it. Each truth has a terrific degree of untruth in it. I can therefore never say that I completely disagree with the evangelicals, though their manifesto is filled with things that are wrong (often unknown to them). But a truth covered in a lie is much easier to believe in, and this is a big part of why they continue to grow as rapidly as they do. Yeah, I'm not in that camp anymore; and that's sad to me. Most of my friends are. They are people who see some problems; to me though, the problems are beyond repair.