For several years now the public discourse on religious life in America has been framed as "the country is divided between evangelical Christians and secularists."
At an otherwise excellent recent Take Back America conference, I attended a panel of self-proclaimed progressive evangelicals who shed some light on the diversity of values amongst Evangelical Christians, but who, nonetheless spoke within the evangelical/secular split frame.
This new spin on religious life in America story that many evangelicals' values include progreessive concerns such as for the environment and the poor has been getting a lot of play lately. Jim Wallis, who's been pushing for years that progressive values are Christian values, seems to be popping up everywhere lately. The Washington Post recently ran an opinion piece by David Kuo, the former head of President Bush's Offiice of Faith-Based Initiatives. In the piece, Kuo criticized Bush for using the program and his talk of "compassionite conservatism" soley to turn-out evangelical voters, while never really addressing the needs of the poor or other social problems.
I welcome social and political activism for the environment and the poor from Evangelicals. This is a refreshing change from what appeared to be an exclusive focus on abortion and same-sex marriage while turning a blind eye to tax-cuts for the wealthy and the torturing of children of God that seemed to define the movement as recently as 2006. Unfortunately, this new story of progressive activism by Evangelicals is still set in the frame "the country is divided between evangelical Christians and secularists."
America is a diverse religious society. Evangelicals are not even the largest group of Christians. One of the panelists mentioned that there are 35 millioin evangelicals in America. I don't know where that number came from. I checked the website of the National Association of Evangelicals and don't find any claim as to the number of people in the evangelical movement. The National Council of Churches claims that the numbers of members of the churches in their association is 45 million. I have seen estimates for the number of Catholics in America at around 50 million members in the US. That makes fewer evangelicals than either mainline protestants or Catholics. Of course, America's religious landscape is even more diverse than that with Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others.
I recently read Stephen Prothero's very good book Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't, which makes the point that even if you aren't religious you need to know some basic things about the diversity of religions in America and their beliefs and practices to understand American society politics.
The frame of our public discourse on religion in America is wrong and inadequate for understanding, even discussing religion in our society.
1 comment:
I think religious worldview makes a huge difference in political discourse. If I'm a politician who believes you came from a monkey and are no more valuable than a dog or red-crested robin, then my policies are going to be greatly reflective of that worldview.
On the other hand, if I believe "you are fearfully and wonderfully made" by God, and that "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, and that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," than you have great value to me. Therefore my policies are going to reflect that as well.
Likewise, if I believe you are an infidel and that I will be rewarded for your slaughter and my martyrdom, you better watch your back.
Religious beliefs run the world because they guide our actions as individuals, groups and nations.
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