Back to the analysis of the Religion in the Media study. Here's perhaps the most straightforward of their conclusions:

A high degree of interest in Islam continues, and the percentage of stories on Christianity has increased due to the ever-growing presence of evangelicals in the country’s political landscape.  The interest in Islam can be attributed to the growing Muslim immigrant population in countries in Western Europe and the Sunni-Shiite power struggle in Iraq. The powerful evangelical lobby in this country continues to be of interest to reporters, especially as a voting bloc for the Republican presidential candidates.

...

Issues related to Islam, Islamic militancy, and democracy building comprised a significant number of international news articles. With the ongoing Iraq War, the increasing visibility of Muslim immigrant communities in America and Western Europe, and Islamic extremism rearing its head in Africa and South East Asia, it is not surprising that foreign coverage of these issues was substantial.

Well, the stuff about Islam seems straightforward. It's not surprising that people should be interested in learning more about it, considering the position our fearless, brainless leaders have put us in around the world. I'll leave it to people who know more about Islam and journalism to say whether the information we're getting is satisfactory. Doesn't seem to have soaked into John McCain's skull, but maybe he's a special case.

I'm assuming that being lumped in with the Muslims drives the "evangelical lobby" nuts. I also assume it's based on the perception that they share a common form of politicization, if not a faith.

That perception isn't fair to either faith, we can say that much for sure. As we discussed the other day, the conflict frame for religion may be technically correct - religious radicals of all stripes are causing problems around the world - but it tends to distort the daily aspects of faith in community. Most Evangelicals and most Muslims spend their days thinking mostly about making a living, caring for their family, and trying to do a little good in their world. That one group calls God "God" and the other "Allah" makes little difference. Yet to read the press sometimes, you'd think you were talking about two separate species.

Truthfully, though I have little use for either extreme, there's a smidgen more sympathy for the politically engaged Muslims, not all of whom are terrorists by any stretch of the imagination. They at least are in many ways victims of circumstance and colonial history. If you know anything - and I mean anything - about the modern history of the Middle East, you'll know there's plenty of reasons for its citizens to feel dispossessed and outraged.

American Evangelicals, whatever else you want to say about them, are Americans, citizens of the wealthiest and most powerful empire in human history. They may have had at one point legitimate beefs about being marginalized in our national political discourse, but let's face it, nobody's ever invaded and occupied their nation.

And no, dammit, the War of Northern Aggression doesn't count. American Evangelicals are in the news because they've planned it that way. And largely, they've planned it around political stances. They've made their bed, now they get to lay in it, I'm afraid.