Tony Perkins, the President of the conservative pro-family action group FRC Action wasn't particularly impressed with this weekend's Compassion Forum. Read his email to supporters below:
"It was meant to be a dialogue about faith in the public square, but last night's "Compassion Forum," broadcast by CNN and hosted by Messiah College, may have revealed more about the agenda of those within the ranks of religious liberals than it did about this year's presidential candidates. While the event was endorsed by pro-family champions like former Senator Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, organizations like FRC, which have historically addressed faith issues, were not invited to participate or even submit questions to the candidates. Instead, the event's radical board, which included pro-abortion and homosexual advocates, used the forum as an opportunity to chip away at the traditional agenda of the faith-based community. The bulk of last night's program was taken directly from the playbook of the Religious Left, focusing not on the issues closest to Christians' hearts but on climate change, AIDS, and global poverty. Although I have argued that those are important issues that demand the church's attention , our priority as Christians should be as those of the Founding Fathers; protect the sanctity of human life, preserve marriage, and defend religious liberty. Unfortunately, with the help of some of our friends, the Religious Left is trying to realign, and thereby dilute, the values voter message. Have the concerns of our day changed? Yes, of course. But the prioritization of those issues must not. As our own Declaration of Independence states, it is for "life" and "liberty" not "global warming" that government was instituted among men. As Democrats vie for the Christian vote, we must remember that it is not the church that should be affected by their message. Rather, their message should be affected by a faithful church."
Let's be clear here. Religious leaders on the right are concerned about the broadening agenda. They are very skeptical of the religious left. There's no question about that. The question for Evangelical Democrats and moderates is this: do people like Tony Perkins and James Dobson have a seat at your table when discussing "faith issues"? Would Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have agreed to do an event like The Compassion Forum if James Dobson was allowed to ask a question? Or if a question came from another figure of the religious right? I know the folks who set up the Compassion Forum have joined with conservative Evangelicals but the agreement and focus is more on the social justice issues.