Why is Giuliani still popular with rank and file evangelicals? Whether by design or a happy byproduct, part of the reason is that Giuliani has compensated for his liberalism on abortion and gay rights through attacks on Islamofascism. They may seem unrelated but here’s my logic
For many Christians, the war on terror is not just a fight against terrorists. It’s part of a much larger global struggle between Christianity and Islam for the souls of the world’s population. Privately, many evangelicals were appalled that President Bush declared Islam to be a “religion of peace.” They preferred the construction of Franklin Graham, who said the Qur’an “doesn't teach peace, it teaches violence.”
With his strong rhetoric on Islamofascism, Giuliani is signalling that he’s on the right side of that divide.
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Diana Butler Bass is a religion scholar and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith. She blogs at 
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Islam is a respectable world religion. Some fanatics who are religious and terrorists distort the historical witness of Islamic civilization in the long run. Richard
"With his strong rhetoric on Islamofascism, Giuliani is signalling that he’s on the right side of that divide."
But does he really engage in "strong rhetoric" on the topic? This seems to be an illusion. Many people appear to have convinced themseves that he MUST be intensely anti-Islamist, without any justification.
I am recently returned from an interfaith experience that took me to Istanbul to do Ramadaan for six days with a Muslim family. What an challenge to my prejudices and evangelical faith. Firstly, I found an unacknowledged presence of Jesus in the lives of my hosts. I found it profoundly embarressing to visit the ancient Christian sites and face up to 1000 years of Christian history in the presence of my Muslim hosts. I found that the Jesus they knew was their experience of American invasions. How ashamed I felt at times that I was a Christian. How comforted by my host who shared how he felt the same about Muslim fanatic's. I would urge everyone to meet and engage with a Muslim, not to convert but to understand - in the same way as we need to look deep into the eyes of gays and women finding their ways to abortion clinic's.
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