THE POINT IS, THE FUNDIES WON'T COMPROMISE

The Fundies believe they are obeying the Word of God and that means they can't compromise on their big issues, no matter what Douthat thinks. As an example, yesterday,Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), had to resign because he said that civil unions for homosexuals are OK:

Evangelical Leader Quits Over Gay Union Remark

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 12, 2008; Page A07

A prominent evangelical lobbyist resigned yesterday over his remarks in a National Public Radio interview, in which he said he supports permitting same-sex civil unions.

The Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), later apologized for the remark, said the Rev. Leith Anderson, president of the 30 million-member organization.

But, Anderson said, "he lost the leadership's confidence as spokesman, and that's hard to regain."

Asked by Terry Gross in a Dec. 2 interview on NPR's Fresh Air whether he had changed his position on same-sex marriage, Cizik responded: "I'm shifting, I have to admit. In other words, I would willingly say that I believe in civil unions. . . . We have become so absorbed in the question of gay rights and the rest that we fail to understand the challenges and threats to marriage itself -- heterosexual marriage. Maybe we need to reevaluate this and look at it a little differently."

The remark, anathema to most evangelical Christians, who believe that the Bible permits marriage only between a man and a woman, caused an uproar in the group and in other evangelical organizations.