NPR: Progressives, Evangelicals Launch Plan to Cooperate

Progressives, Evangelicals Launch Plan to Cooperate

At first glance, they seem unlikely bedfellows. But a group of progressives and evangelicals say they want to work together to find common ground on divisive issues like gay rights, abortion and religion's role in public life.

Members of both groups gathered Wednesday to announce a new working paper released by the left-leaning think tank Third Way that they hope will start to bridge their differences. The paper, entitled Come Let Us Reason Together: A Fresh Look at Shared Cultural Values Between Progressives and Evangelicals, states that one-fifth of evangelicals can be described as progressive, a third as moderate and half as social conservatives.

The Christian Post reports that Robert P. Jones, an author of the paper and a religion scholar, said this means half of the evangelicals in the United States may be more open to progressive ideas than many had imagined.

However, a leader of the National Right to Life Committee has dismissed the new initiative, calling the Third Way approach "a political ploy to silence the debate."

3:01 PM ET | 10-11-2007 | permalink

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