It was a simple commercial, with Mike Huckabee posed in front of a set of scandalously empty white bookshelves that, when framed just right beside a Christmas tree, formed a glowing cross behind the candidate.<\/p>\n\n
And, lo, the former Southern Baptist pastor told the voters: \u201cAre you about worn out by all the television commercials you\u2019ve been seeing, mostly about politics? I don\u2019t blame you. At this time of year, sometimes it\u2019s nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is a celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends. I hope that you and your family will have a magnificent Christmas season. And on behalf of all of us, God bless and merry Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This caused a firestorm among the political elites that symbolized the year\u2019s biggest trend in religion news \u2014 the revenge of the infamous \u201cvalues voters\u201d who, apparently, remain alive and well in church pews across the heartland.<\/p>\n\n
But will the Republican Party win this \u201cpew gap\u201d contest again? That was the question that dominated the Religion Newswriters Association poll to determine the top 10 religion news stories in 2007. There were plenty of new signs that the so-called religious right exists, but that it isn\u2019t a monolith after all. <\/p>\n\n
Here\u2019s how America\u2019s religion-beat specialists described the year\u2019s top story: \u201cEvangelical voters ponder whether they will be able to support the eventual Republican candidate, as they did in 2004, because of questions about the leaders\u2019 faith and-or platform. Many say they would be reluctant to vote for Mormon Mitt Romney.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Then, in the number-two slot, was the flip side of that political coin: \u201cLeading Democratic presidential candidates make conscious efforts to woo faith-based voters after admitting failure to do so in 2004.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The rise of Huckabee was the strongest sign that the \u201cvalues voters\u201d are still out there, but that they are not meshing well with the Republican Party establishment. The latest Southern Baptist from Hope, Ark., has been preaching a blend of conservative morality and populist economics that made him sound like an old-fashioned Bible Belt Democrat from the days before Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe Huckabee surge represents a break with what has been standard operating procedure within the GOP for more than a generation,\u201d argued columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr., of the Washington Post, an outspoken Catholic who remains a Democrat. \u201cThe former Arkansas governor has exposed a fault line within the Republican coalition. The old religious right is dying because it subordinated the views of its followers to short-term political calculations. The white evangelical electorate is tired of taking orders from politicians who care more about protecting the wealthy than ending abortion, more about deregulation than family values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Here is the rest of the RNA top 10 list:<\/p>\n\n
(3) The Anglican wars continued, as an Episcopal Church promise to exercise restraint on homosexual issues failed to bring peace in the global Anglican Communion. Doctrinal debates about marriage and sex continued to cause tensions in other flocks as well, both Christian and Jewish.<\/p>\n\n
(4) Debates about global warming increased in importance, with many oldline Protestant leaders giving the topic a high priority. Meanwhile, some evangelical leaders argued about its importance in comparison with other social and moral issues.<\/p>\n\n
(5) Religious leaders on both sides of the aisle questioned what to do about illegal immigration, with some clergy daring to shelter undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n\n