Evangelicals and the Reframing of Political Projects

Abstract

In Northern Ireland, evangelicals have been active in forming special interest organizations devoted to specific goals. However, recent social and political changes have created dissonances between the goals and discourses that were once important to evangelicals and the acceptance of those goals and discourses in the public sphere. Evangelical organizations have responded by changing their goals and reframing their sociopolitical projects. Focusing on the way evangelicals have reframed their sociopolitical projects is more useful than evaluating the extent to which they have achieved particular short-term goals. This is because the new discourses used to reframe sociopolitical projects may have the longer-term effect of changing discourses and perceptions in the wider public sphere. This chapter draws on the typology for reframing sociopolitical projects, outlined in chapter 2, to evaluate how evangelicals are engaging in the public sphere.