The handwriting was scribble but its message was clear: lean too far to the left and you may be kicked out of the flock. But Pastor Norton isn´t leaving her faith. In fact, she´s sticking up for it. Still, her defensive voice is quiet—so far. People like Norton don´t generate much press. People like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson do. Their strong, religious-right messages have become the banner under which many Christian people have been placed. In fact, some, like Pastor Norton, now want to distance themselves from the controversial remarks and sweeping statements made by representatives of the severe religious right.

“Thinking that all Christians are right wing Republicans is way off target,” says Dave Gschwend, the executive pastor at Santa Cruz Bible Church, considered a conservative congregation. “My wife and I don´t agree on a lot of political issues. … Some of the most heated political discussions I have gotten into [are] with other conservative Christians. I know our church has many members from both [political] parties.”

There is a gap between the religious right and the religious left, and sometimes it´s deep. Each side often has radically different views on hot political and moral topics. However, there are many believers who fall somewhere in between. Regardless, they do share one thing: a heart for spiritual matters.

The faithful who lean far to the left—in the progressive arena—are those who more often vote Democrat, Independent, or Green. They might be found in civil disobedience rallies, participating in a peace march, or blessing a civil union or gay marriage. Some will chant “pro-choice” while others are hearty environmentalists.

Pastor Norton and her liberal-minded colleague, the Rev. David Grishaw-Jones, senior minister of First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz, fall into that category. Grishaw-Jones also received a letter similar to Pastor Norton´s. It was threatening in nature and scribbled on a piece of paper.

Days after its arrival, Rev. Grishaw-Jones pulled the folded note out of his front shirt pocket and read it to me.

“What God do you serve?” he read. “What Bible do you read? Hell is a horrid place.”

“I´ve seen them before,” the reverend later says. “This question of welcoming all people does fan the flames of intolerance. It´s not a big surprise to me. We´re determined to live that out anyway.”

But why target the peaceful Pastor Norton and Rev. Grishaw-Jones? Both were at a recent meeting where about 20 religious leaders met at Temple Beth El in Aptos to discuss the united stance they share toward endorsing gay marriage. They´re so adamant about this headline-grabbing topic that their efforts will culminate in a June 4-6 weekend of workshops and discussions called “Out, in Our Faith: Beyond Tolerance to Full Inclusion.” It concludes with a march of solidarity in the local gay pride parade on June 6.

This may not be what you´d expect from religious groups, many of whom are Christians. And that´s just the point—to derail stereotypes. Gay marriage is only one of many controversial “progressive” topics that these left-leaning clergy leaders support. They seem to be nonconformists, people who don´t see things in black and white, but many shades of gray.

“The church of Jesus is a place where there are no boundaries,” Rev. Grishaw-Jones says. “There are no walls, no division. We are one people standing around a circular table worshipping the same God together. At First Congregational Church over the last several years and months, we´ve found people coming to us who are refugees from more fundamentalist Christian traditions who have discovered that they´re not welcome in those traditions and that breaks my heart. I don´t think that´s what Jesus was all about and I don´t think really that´s what those folks [at conservative churches] want to say that Jesus was all about, but it certainly gets conveyed that way.”

An opposing view is that of Gschwend from Santa Cruz Bible Church, who says, “When it comes to establishing a position, our philosophy is that we want unity on the essentials, we allow diversity on the nonessentials and charity in all things. When it comes to gay marriage, we are now discussing essentials. My struggle with the liberal viewpoint is I believe they have divorced truth from love. I understand their desire to be loving, but their position clearly violates biblical teaching. The biblical case against homosexuality is very strong and the biblical arguments used to support the gay lifestyle are flawed. I see the liberal perspective here to be contrary to the Bible and the hope presented in the Bible that life-change is available to all.”

How can the opinions of these two men differ so radically from each other? It´s simple, really: different clergy and their denominations interpret scripture differently, and because of that there are splits on some doctrinal and theological items. Grishaw-Jones takes the Bible “seriously,” but not literally, whereas more conservative congregations like Gschwend´s Santa Cruz Bible Church take the Bible literally. Also, more conservative churches typically believe that Jesus is “the way,” while liberal denominations sometimes believe Jesus is “a way.” These variations may seem slight, but they´re actually enormous in explaining the root for why and how religious people can hold such vastly diverse views on things like gay marriage, abortion, war, women in ministry, and care for the environment.

“How one arrives at the question of truth makes all the difference,” says Gschwend. “Clearly, there are differences on substantial issues. For me, the essentials are: the deity of Christ, his death on the cross for our sins, Jesus´ resurrection from the dead, our need to surrender to God´s leadership and live a holy life, the authority of the Bible and the triune God. I would say a break along those issues would constitute a major split.”

And, indeed, there are hefty splits, especially on the issue of homosexuality and gay marriage. Both in the Bible and the Torah are written scriptures that discuss homosexuality. Some interpret those references to mean that homosexuality is not acceptable, while others believe it´s a non-issue.

“It´s a matter of which syllable you put the emphasis on,” says the Rev. Pam Langston Daley, a Taoist lesbian who is pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Santa Cruz County in Aptos, a congregation of multiple faiths.

“If one were to look at the Christian text, nothing in the text from Jesus´ perspective says anything about [homosexuality],” Langston Daley says. “The left interprets [those scriptures] as an issue of hospitality. In other words, if you invite someone into your home, you don´t sleep with them. Jesus´ message said that God was about love. That, to me, says you accept people where they are and how they are and as they are. And, to judge people from that perspective is incorrect.”

Her view is in line with that of many liberal clergy leaders in Santa Cruz County. Grishaw-Jones concurs. He says that sexuality comes in all shapes and sizes and is a gift from God. In fact, one of his staff members at his church is an “out” lesbian. Additionally, his denomination, the United Church of Christ, was the first denomination to ordain an openly gay man into the ministry, in 1973.

But even with the efforts of Norton, Grishaw-Jones, Langston Daley and others who welcome gays into the church and are unconditionally accepting, some homosexuals are still wary of “religion.”

Recently, a pamphlet was placed on a car in a downtown Santa Cruz parking lot. The two-inch by three-inch booklet had an indecipherable picture on it, which read: “Homosexuals The Wicked Social Cancer” and had biblical verses inside of it. A GT employee pulled it off the windshield of her car and brought it into the office.

“My first reaction was anger, being targeted for something so hateful,” says the recipient, a lesbian. “ This is why religion has such a bad rap with me. I know good Christians, but they´re not the ones you see and hear. This vocal thing is what´s prevalent. You hear all the time this propaganda of hatred. Why do I deserve to be the target of something so cruel when they don´t know who I am or my involvement in the world, and yet they randomly target everybody that doesn´t fit into their little knowledge of what´s right and what´s wrong?”

Some of the left-leaning clergy in this town say they would like gays to know that not all Christians or religious people are on a fiery rampage. The existing letters, booklets and hate mail, as well as the divided issue of gay marriage, were what prompted Temple Beth El, a reform Jewish synagogue, to launch the conference in June, “Out, in Our Faith,” which grew from the temple´s current gay and lesbian outreach group, Twice Blessed. The temple´s Kathy Goldenkranz, vice president of worship and justice, wants the GLBT population to know that churches and synagogues accept them for who they are. “We want to also counter that voice of the religious right,” Goldenkranz says. “We want to promote people´s rights. It´s our job to promote that as Jews.” And, that includes women´s rights.

The pro-choice/pro-life argument gets a little sticky, even within the religious left. While those interviewed by GT admit to ultimately being in favor of a woman´s right to choose, they believe that that choice must not be made lightly. They corporately seem to acknowledge that it´s a difficult decision—to abort or to go full-term with the pregnancy—and that there are consequences involved. Still, they abstain from telling a woman what to do with her body.

What they will speak out about, in regard to women´s issues, is the role of women in the ministry. None of these progressive spiritual leaders are uncomfortable with women preaching or teaching. Quite the contrary. Rev. Grishaw-Jones´ denomination ordained the first woman in the country into the ministry in the 19th century, he says.

For denominations that won´t allow women a position of cleric authority, “They´re missing out on half the gifts of God,” Grishaw-Jones says. “I think they´re misinterpreting the scriptures. If you´re not allowing women to preach in your church, you´re missing more than half of the best sermons I´ve ever heard.”

This may seem obvious. Over the last three decades, women have virtually taken on any career path they desire. Regardless, there are many mainline denominations that do not allow women behind the lectern even though they do allow women to partake in some leadership positions. Those not opposed to women preachers might be lumped together with the Jerry Falwells of this world—the extreme right. While hardcore conservatives don´t have many secular fans, the distaste for their ideologies creates distance from their spiritual brothers and sisters.

“At times I´ve preached pretty critically about the religious right,” says Grishaw-Jones. “And frankly, I find it easy to do that. I think that fundamentalism, in all its manifestations, concerns me: Islamic, Jewish, Christian fundamentalism … whenever people are so simplifying religious faith that it [becomes] ‘them and us´—that creates in and out. I think it´s destructive and dangerous.”

However, even among the religious right there is dissension among their ranks. “I´m sure our church was split on its views concerning the war in Iraq,” says Gschwend of Santa Cruz Bible Church. This might come as a surprise to some who are quick to place the faithful in a box, especially when it comes to matters of war.

Believers are not all hawks. Meet Sharon Delgado, an ordained Methodist pastor who bucks such stereotypes. Delgado works part-time at the Resource Center for Non Violence, an outspoken Santa Cruz-based organization. Delgado´s work there allows her to focus on speaking and educating people about issues relating to globalization and justice. In fact, she says her bishop appointed her to the position she holds at RCNV, a role that´s called an “extension ministry,” which delivers peace and justice beyond the local church doors to the world. She´s reluctant to be called a leftie, simply because she avoids being labeled or categorized, but if she must be put in a box, this is the one for Delgado. She´s a member of the Green Party with a more radical than liberal streak, someone who is not a pacifist, but instead subscribes to the “just war” tradition; an anti-nuclear pacifist who does not believe that war can resolve problems.

“I don´t believe that [Christ] was a pacifist,” Delgado says. “I believe he was a resister. Jesus of Nazareth was put to death—people killed him—because he was a threat to the dominant institution of his day.”

Unwavering in her convictions, Delgado says that the religious right is more likely to support the status quo when it comes to controversial issues. The left, she feels, is more likely to stir up social critique about society and various controversial issues.

“The religious right, I have a little trouble with them,” admits the retired Rev. Stuart Fitch, a priest who assists at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Capitola. “Partly, they seem to be over-righteous and don´t seem to leave enough space for questioning, and I think that God … wants us to ask questions. … Partly, they feel they are right and it´s their duty to let everybody know what´s right and orthodox. Maybe we need a fire under us to get us going.”

Though the fire may be absent, the religious left is making efforts to coalesce. Besides the meeting at Temple Beth El, there are quite a few left-leaning clergy leaders who are involved in a local social action group called Communities Organized for Relational Power and Action. The group unites members of various faiths that desire to tackle social justice issues including topics like affordable housing and violence in neighborhoods.

“Jesus calls us to make a difference in our communities and work side by side with the poor … to be involved in people´s lives,” says Grishaw-Jones. And, to be involved in the care of this world by way of participating in environmental conservation.

Pastor Norton agrees and says that religious people are called to be good stewards of the environment. But, in her opinion, we have not done a very good job of it.

The existence of God and creation is perhaps the one thing that both the right and left agree on. Other religious clergy, like those found in the reform Jewish synagogue, Temple Beth El, or the spiritually inclined that belong to a Unitarian church, part ways on theology yet unite in political action. Other than that, the split on issues can be quite vast, with no guarantee where the moderates fall. But this much is for sure: there is an extreme right crowd and there´s an extreme left. Will they ever meet in the middle? There´s always prayer.