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"More and more, students are very interested in social justice and issues often associated with the middle and the left," Lockwood says, "and the war is a piece of that."

Before the war in Iraq, the Brownlows shared the concerns of the religious right.

Suzanne and Dave Brownlow met at a church singles group in Houston 26 years ago. As born-again Christians, they vowed their marriage, like their faith, would be politically active. He picketed Planned Parenthood clinics; she organized for the Concerned Women for America, eventually becoming the director of the organization's state chapter.

They had Jared, now 20; Desi, 19; Jace, 15; and Sierra, 12, and moved to Oregon in 1990 for Dave's job. They home-schooled their children, were foster parents for three medically fragile youths for Heal the Children and housed eight foreign-exchange students. They say those experiences "made the world smaller for them."

They campaigned on behalf of Republican candidates. In 2001, Suzanne Brownlow won the Concerned Women for America's National "Diligence" award.

But by 2002, troubled by the lack of progress on the anti-abortion front and the legality of the president's war powers, they joined the Constitution Party. Soon after the invasion, Dave Brownlow began writing articles opposing the war.

Meanwhile, Jared Brownlow — long fascinated by military histories, movies and photos of his grandfather, a World War II tail gunner — joined the Army.

The Brownlows say their eldest son has not objected to their anti-war efforts. He's serving in the Army near Baghdad.

Suzanne Brownlow says she had no choice. Increasingly overcome with worry, she has trouble eating and dreams of helicopters landing in her yard. Her husband starts every day clicking onto casualty Web sites. The couple keep two clocks in their living room, one for Oregon and one for Iraq.

Although many churchgoers are active against the war, the Brownlows say they still feel self-conscious sharing their views with their Christian friends, or even praying at their church for their son's platoon. People have told them that freedom isn't free or that they must support the troops.

"As if to say that by allowing our sons and daughters to languish in a vast Iraqi shooting gallery," Dave Brownlow says, "we are somehow supporting them."

"We really don't fit anywhere," Suzanne Brownlow says. "All our friends are pro-war and think we are heretics for talking against the president."

Julie Sullivan writes for The Oregonian in Portland, Ore., where this story first appeared.

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March (Web-only) 2007, Vol. 51