Rob Bell courtesy Beliefnet

Pastor/author Rob Bell launched a boisterous discussion last week when he attempted to define the word “evangelical” during an interview with the Boston Globe.   Here’s the exchange between reporter Michael Paulson and Rob Bell that’s been getting most of the attention:

Q. What does it mean to you to be an evangelical?

A. I take issue with the word to a certain degree, so I make a distinction between a capital E and a small e. I was in the Caribbean in 2004, watching the election returns with a group of friends, and when Fox News, in a state of delirious joy, announced that evangelicals had helped sway the election, I realized this word has really been hijacked. I find the word troubling, because it has come in America to mean politically to the right, almost, at times, anti-intellectual. For many, the word has nothing to do with a spiritual…