| | Evangelical lobbyist quits after backing gay unions
 The spokesman for the largest evangelical group in the country resigned after telling National Public Radio that he backed same-sex civil unions.
Although Rev. Richard Cizik apologized for the remark, the damage had been done to his standing within the evangelical community.
Cizik "lost the leadership's confidence as spokesman, and that's hard to regain," said Rev. Leith Anderson, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which has 30 million members.
The following is an excerpt from Cizik's Dec. 2 interview with Terry Gross of NPR:
"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."
His backing of gay unions isn't the first time Cizik has angered the evangelical community.
More than two dozen fellow leaders of the NAE sought to oust Cizik for his outspoken support to fight global warming, which his detractors called a "relentless campaign."
A letter signed by the leaders said Cizik ws "using the global warming controversy to shift the emphasis away from the great moral issues of our time," which they defined as abortion, homosexuality and sexual morality.
Signatories included James C. Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council
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