This week's dispatch from the trenches:

Making a Summit out of a Molehill?
This week's Family Research Council-sponsored "Values Voters Summit" succored the proverbial troops with rations of red meat from several presidential candidates and other well-known culture warriors. The well-publicized debate between Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention included a culture war high point (or low point, depending on how you look at it) when Wallis was booed for talking about global warming.

Didn't the War on Christmas used to start the Day after Thanksgiving?
In a new take on "Christmas creep," World Net Daily began publicizing its Christmas Defense Kits in early October. Of course, it is never too early to prepare for the greatest battle Western Civilization has ever faced, and these kits offer resources for following the mandate outlined in Paul's Letter to the Shoppers, Book 1, Chapter 3*:

And in pursuit of the the door-buster sale thou shalt get thee to thine local mall, and if at the checkout thou receivest not the greeting "Merry Christmas" but instead receivest the abomination "Happy Holidays" thou shalt shake the dust off thy loafers as you leave the accursed place, never to return [except for a discounted Nintendo Wii], and thou shalt denounce the evildoers on Fox News.

What is this "terrorism" of which you speak? I have been too distracted by global warming to become aware of this phenomenon.
Thanks for the tip, "Islamofacsim Awareness Week!"

Powerful Republican decries partisanship, using religion for political ends, by calling political foes "sinful...false prophets."
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, chair of the Republican House Policy Committee, slammed Catholics United for supposedly using the Catholic faith for political ends. We're still waiting for a similar condemnation of The Catholic League.

What's compassion got to do with it?
In FPL's humble opinion, the "compassion issues," have the potential to reshape the faith and politics landscape due to their ability to bring people together across ideological and faith divides. But don't take my word for it.

Scorecard:
It pains me to say so, but the Common Do-Gooders are looking pretty beat up this week. With all the "values voters" coverage, there was plenty of space to re-hash those old issues. But, all is not lost for the Common Do-Gooders; they've clearly got the culture warriors worried. The new poll showing the shift in Evangelical priorities and Pat Robertson (perhaps inadvertently) acknowledging a broader Evangelical agenda, the Common Do-Gooders show that the Common Do-Gooders have gotten some serious reinforcements.