Henry Imler January 19th, 2007

There
are lots of buzz words that people use. The use of these buzzwords
begin with a proper definition of the thing they are describing, but
later on accumulate a certain negativity. This is aided by polemic statements
by those opposing the group at hand. Through the continued use of the
polemics, the buzz word begins to stray far from the actual meaning of
the term and becomes something derogatory.

Some prime examples of this process are the terms “neo-conconservative”
and “liberal”. These are often shortened to neo-con and lib and used to
disparage the respective groups. Yet, the terms in themselves can
accurately and dispassionately be used to denote these groups.

Another example of this is the term “evangelical.” Now-a-days it is
used to describe groups of “ultra” conservative Christians who are
usually lacking common sense and are extremely ignorant of everything
and everybody. Evangelicals have not helped themselves in cases regarding science and religion, but these are merely accidental qualities that have been unjustly tacked onto the proper definition of the group.

The best definition of evangelicals is laid out by David Bebbington:

[Evangelicals have] four main characteristics: biblicism (or reliance on the Bible as ultimate religious authority), conversionism (or an emphasis on the new birth), activism (or energetic, individualistic engagement in personal and social duties), and crucicentricism (or focus on Christ’s redeeming work as the heart of true religion. (emphasis added) (Noll, Mark. America’s God p. 5)

That describes myself and I find nothing inherently negative in that depiction.

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