Waco, USA - Like most evangelical Christians, Alessandra Gonzalez tends to be conservative and Republican in her politics.
But for the 25-year-old and her peers, that means different things than it does for their elders.
For many conservative evangelical Christians younger than 30, family values mean more than the issues of gay marriage, abortion and prayer in school. Poverty, health care and the environment are also matters of faith.
"There's an awareness to be more savvy and to say, 'I can't be completely captured and represented by someone like Jerry Falwell.' I don't think that flies anymore," said Ms. Gonzalez, a graduate student at Baylor University. "Family really shapes your definition of values more than attending a political rally or being involved politically."
Evangelical Protestants have been one of the most faithful Republican voting blocs in recent presidential elections, but there are abundant signs the movement is fracturing as the 2008 contest approaches. The younger generation in particular is less wedded to the GOP and to the moral-values agenda espoused by an influential corps of Christian conservative leaders.
"The fact that these younger evangelicals have somewhat more diverse views than their elders means there's a possible change in their political behavior," said John Green of the Pew Research Center, who has long studied how religion affects voting habits.
"There might be an opening for more moderate Republicans in the Republican primaries among these voters," he said. "And there might be an opening among Democrats among some of these folks."
Two years ago, 55 percent of evangelicals younger than 30 called themselves Republicans. Now, just 40 percent do, according to a recent Pew survey.
The study found that they are more likely than their parents to champion environmental causes, less concerned about gay marriage and more interested in improving health care and combating poverty.
According to the Pew study, more than 60 percent of evangelicals younger than 30 say it is worth the cost to do more about environmental pollution and climate change. Only 52 percent of older evangelicals think so.
"That's a pretty big difference," Mr. Green said. "Older citizens are the most skeptical about protecting the environment and as you move down toward the under-30 crowd, it goes up."
Abortion options
By contrast, there's not much generational difference on a key social issue, opposition to abortion.
"If anything, some of our surveys show younger evangelicals are little more pro-life than their elders," he said.
At the same time, young evangelicals would deal with the problem differently. They are more bullish about providing options such as adoption and help with day care and prenatal care.
"People in my generation have said, 'Well, why don't we have more concern for the mother if she has a crisis pregnancy?' " Ms. Gonzalez said.
In many ways, Ms. Gonzalez reflects the broader political attitudes of many young evangelicals. She was an intern in the Bush White House and, as an undergraduate at Rice University, was a member of the campus Republican group.
"There's this false monopoly on terms, like Republicans are champions of family values and the left is good on social justice. And young people don't like that," she said. "We don't want to be pigeonholed."
Lizette Perez is a 19-year-old junior at Baylor, the daughter of a minister from Orlando, Fla.
As she sat one day last week at the student union, Ms. Perez explained what moral values means to her. She considers abortion a moral issue and, like other young evangelicals, wants it restricted.
But she doesn't see gay rights as a big problem and, although she would prefer school-sanctioned prayer had not been banned, she doesn't think it should be reinstated now.
Her religious faith, she said, informs a need to help the poor, improve education and provide better health care.
"I feel very strongly about the health care system and the poor not getting adequate treatment," she said. "The needy, that weighs a lot on my heart."
The presidential candidates and nonpartisan groups seem to recognize the young cohort is up for grabs and are trying to take advantage of it.
A nonpartisan group called Redeem the Vote is using Christian radio and music festivals to register evangelicals and get them involved in politics. And the Family Research Council, a leading conservative Christian advocacy group, sponsors summer internships and conferences aimed at engaging college students in politics.
In this year's presidential race, both Republicans and Democrats are targeting evangelicals, including those younger than 30.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's MySpace page includes a section on faith and politics that includes the subjects of education and health care as well as abortion and gay marriage.
Democrat Barack Obama's campaign is holding "Faith and Family" programs in early primary states, in some cases appealing directly to young people at churches and Bible studies.
Raache Hawthorn, a senior at Baylor, likes what she hears about Mr. Obama, an Illinois senator, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
She is 25, married with two children, works 40 hours a week and is a full-time student.
Helping families
To her, family values are about families – adequate health care, a tax system that helps working people, rules for government assistance programs that encourage marriage, and a cleaner environment for her children.
"The Earth, the environment," she said. "We're told we are destroying the environment. There might not even be an Earth when my children are grown."
In a sense, the attitudes of young evangelicals reflect a shift in the conservative Christian movement as a whole.
While evangelicals remain steadfastly concerned with social issues, their focus is broadening and the leadership is passing from Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell to people like megachurch pastor Rick Warren, who connects social justice and saving souls.
As for young evangelicals, one question is whether they will vote at all – young people vote less than older Americans. And if they do vote, for whom?
"Is this going to affect their voting behavior, and is this meaningful in a larger political sense?" said Paul Froese, a sociology professor at Baylor who studies politics and religion. "And in that, I'm not so convinced."
In the end, he said, their general allegiance to traditional values and the politics of their parents might prevail.
"The irony is that the evangelical right is voting mainly on these sexual-social issues, while their kids are liberalizing on these issues," Dr. Froese said. "But they might not change their voting behavior."