Evangelical leaders are taking a step back from their decades-long fight against gay marriage, softening their tone and recalibrating their goals. In recent interviews with about a half-dozen prominent evangelicals, no one listed opposition to gay marriage as their top priority. The leaders said they 're more focused on protecting religious liberties as same-sex marriage becomes legal in a growing number of states. Is it time to differentiate between religious ceremony and civil ceremony ? Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family, said in an interview with CNN. Civil ceremony to the Christian community is no different than getting your car registered. The shifting attitude comes as the Supreme Court could take up gay marriage as early as next year. Meanwhile, Republicans, who will take full control of Congress in January, are largely ignoring the issue -- just like most of the leading potential GOP contenders for the 2016 presidential nomination. There is a recognition that while the fight should not be given up on upholding the several thousand-year-old definition of marriage, the courts are probably very quickly going to undo that, said Erick Erickson, a conservative pundit and editor of RedState.com. Behind the scenes, a lot of evangelical leaders inside and outside of politics are laying the groundwork for religious liberty and conscience protections.