Oct 15 - Religion and Culture War in America

A group with Evangelical and progressive members released proposals Wednesday. Extreme partisanship and polarization have stymied the country's political process. Now, calls for a truce are coming from a group of leaders from the Evangelical and progressive communities, long at odds with each other. They're pointing the way toward common ground on the most polarizing issues, with aims of a new civility and concrete progress.

"There's new movement within both communities to call for the beginning of the end of the culture war," says Rachel Laser, director of the culture project at Third Way, the progressive "strategy center" in Washington that initiated the effort. "We actually want to be in the same room and find ways to move forward together."

As group members have worked together, stereotypes have crumbled. Evangelicals have found that progressives are not all hostile to religion, and progressives have found Evangelicals to be diverse and nuanced in their views. Several Pew polls have found similar results.