Since the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate, I’ve heard people I know and people on blogs immediately pigeonhole the governor.

The governor has been pinned with the view that she is a card-carrying member of the religious right and that she is mean-spirited and nothing more than a Christian version of the Taliban wanting to teach creationism and banning books.

Of course, Newsweek has done some fact-checking that shows that the picture is a lot more complicated than that.

I’m not here to go after the media or liberals, per se, but I am interested as in why people were so quick to think they had Ms. Palin figured out.

I grew up as an evangelical. These days, I would probably be considered a liberal Protestant, but if you think I am running around making fun of my evangelical sisters and brothers, well, you are wrong. The fact is, conservative Christians are not so simple to classify. Yes, there are some like the late Jerry Falwell that make it an issue to go after those who are deemed different and try to use the government to impose their agenda. But there are also those who frankly aren’t into that. Yes, they might not support abortion, but they are trying to accept their gay sibling and her partner. They might believe in Creationism, but they aren’t trying to have it pushed through the Statehouse. They are involved in taking care of the poor, both locally and globally. They are interested in racial reconciliation or care for the earth.

The fact is, there are many evangelicals who share some of the views of the religious right but are not taking to the streets. They are our neighbors and our family. Most of all, they are people.

Palin seems to fall into that part of American evangelicalism. Of course, I could be all wet about this. The fact of the matter is, we don’t know. None of us. It would make more sense for everyone to allow time to reveal if Ms. Palin truly is a threat ala the James Dobson crowd than to assume the worst.

People on the Left have correctly told conservatives to not get hung up on labels: black/white, straight/gay, native/immigrant. It’s time that my friends on the Left not get so hung up on the label of “evangelical” and get to know what’s behind this name more instead of assuming. Because when you assume…