Cal Thomas’ essay “The Beginning of the End of the Religious Right?” uses the occasion of the closing of one of the Coral Ridge Ministries of D. James Kennedy to argue that:

Christians must first understand that the issues they most care about – abortion, same-sex marriage and cultural rot – are not caused by bad politics, but are matters of the heart and soul.

Thomas goes on to write:

Some evangelicals wish to broaden the political agenda beyond these issues to poverty, social justice, and the environment. Politics can never completely cure the ills of any of these, but the message Christians bring about salvation and redemption can.

He concludes with a warning to those too wrapped up in partisan political activity:

To paraphrase a verse familiar to most Christians, what shall it profit a [person] if he gains the White House, but loses his own soul?

Jim Rice is Editor of Sojourners magazine.