Christian Coalition leader-to-be resigns over climate change, poverty stance
We remember when evangelical leaders served time before stepping down in disgrace — hello, fabulous Bakker boy — but the latest kerfuffle involves a figurehead who hadn’t even assumed his position. And this time the scandal isn’t sexual, it’s environmental. The Rev. Joel C. Hunter, a Florida pastor whose term as Christian Coalition president was to begin in January, has resigned over a difference in philosophy. The difference: he wanted the Pat Robertson-founded group to take a stand on poverty and climate change, and the coalition’s board? Not so much. So Hunter won’t show the way to the 2.5-million member organization, whose followers have expressed concern that its agenda is becoming too liberal. “These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about,” Hunter says. “To tell you the truth, I feel like there are literally millions of evangelical Christians that don’t have a home right now.” Remember, good people: you always have a home at Grist.
