Fervent Equals Conservative?

Today the New York Times reinforces the meme that devout Christians are necessarily conservative Christians.

The passage in question comes from the paper’s coverage today of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s entry into the 2008 presidential fray.  In describing what the Times calls Huckabee’s “arch-conservatism,” it says that the new candidate has…

“publicly stated his support for creationism, arguing that students should be exposed to both the study of evolution and theory of creationism, which is advocated by fervent Christians.”

Thus, fervent Christians are painted as the ones who want creationism to be taught in school.  No mention is made of fervent Christians who believe in eradicating poverty, caring for God’s creation, and putting diplomacy ahead of war.  Nor is there any mention of fervent Christians who believe the government doesn’t get to formally promote one religion over another.  Thus, the equation is made: fervent = very conservative.

This passage is just a minor example in the mainstream media’s persistent framing of the faith debate as religious folks vs. less religious folks.  Surely, after the 2006 election, reporters, no matter how secular they are, should know there is a battle going on among people who are all very serious about their own faith.  It’s time to start getting the story right.