Frank Pastore criticizes something called the “Evangelical Manifesto” (which I have not yet read), offering his own idea of evangelical priorities.
Pastore notes that “hunger, poverty, disease and the environment” are important — how they should relate to politics he does not specify — but adds, “As evangelicals, what could possibly trump the right to life and the preservation of marriage and the family?” In other words, Pastore’s top two concerns are outlawing at least most abortions and interfering in contract law for homosexuals.
Pastore does call for “free markets,” without specifying what that means. He points to today’s mixed economy.
He makes clear that evangelicals should work to conform governmental policy to the will of God: “Politics is theology applied. One of the ways we collectively ‘love our neighbor as our self’ is through public policy.”
When it comes to the use of political force, Pastore should keep his “love” to himself.