The National Association of Evangelicals has forced out its long-time vice-president for governmental affairs, Richard Cizik, for comments he made last week on the NPR program "Fresh Air" endorsing civil unions. The NAE yesterday issued a statement that Cizik's 28-year tenure had come to an end because, according to a letter NAE president Leith Anderson wrote to the organization's board of directors, Cizik's comments "did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents. Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized and affirmed our values there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesperson among leaders and constituents.”
In the "Fresh Air" interview, Cizik had also endorsed government-supplied contraception as a way of reducing abortion, also a controversial view within the NAE. The NAE statement strongly suggested that it was both his comments on civil unions and on contraception that caused the break. In another letter Anderson wrote to the board, he maintained "our NAE stand on marriage, abortion and other biblical values is long, clear and unchanged.”
Although the NAE does not have an official position on contraception, it is opposed to abortion, and has consistently issued policy statements that homosexuality is "clearly condemned" in the Scriptures, that LGBT people should "pray for deliverance," and that pastoral and medical professionals should encourage them to engage in "reparative therapies," considered psychologically devastating by mainstream mental health professionals.
This is not the first time Cizik has been under attack by his conservative base, but this was undoubtedly the last straw. Anderson had previously defended Cizik after two dozen conservatives, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson, the American Family Association's Don Wildmon, and the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, demanded his resignation in 2007 for his advocacy for addressing global warming, claiming that he used the "global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time."
For several years, Cizik has been championing what he calls a "slow-moving earthquake," changes he says are shifting evangelicals away from the dogma of the religious right and toward addressing social justice issues. As a result, he's been promoted by organizations like Faith in Public LIfe and Third Way for his representation of the "broader agenda" evangelicals. Seems like Anderson was willing to shield Cizik from attacks for his promotion of that broader agenda; it was his deviation from the same old agenda that was his undoing.
--Sarah Posner
