April 4, 2009
Radical Religious Right: The Movement is Imploding
In short, the consensus among more than a few very influential, high-profile Christian Right insiders is this:
“We screwed up. We’ve lost the culture wars, and it’s our own fault. Not because we were wrong — we are never wrong! — but because we thought we could jam our 14th-century morality down everybody else’s throat through the Republican Party, and we screwed up by compromising our ‘values’ in order to function as an extension of the Republican Party. With nowhere else to turn, maybe we ought to give up on political lobbying — without disengaging politically altogether, mind you — and go back to concentrating on ’service, prayer and education’ just like — gasp! — real Christians.”
Let us pray. So to speak.
Political Pullback for the Christian Right? Is the Christian right finished as a political entity? Or, more to the point, are principled Christians finished with politics? …
The older generation, represented by such icons as James Dobson, who recently retired as head of Focus on the Family, has compromised too much, according to a growing phalanx of disillusioned Christians. Pragmatically speaking, the Christian coalition of cultural crusaders didn’t work.
For proof, one need look no further than Dobson himself, who was captured on tape recently saying that the big cultural battles have all been lost.
Shortly thereafter, in late March, Christian radio host Steve Deace of WHO Radio in Iowa aggressively interviewed Tom Minnery, head of the political arm of Focus on the Family … whom Deace described as “the Karl Rove of the religious right”…
It wasn’t exactly a Limbaugh-Obama matchup, but it was confrontational, and corners of America’s heartland and Bible Belt have been buzzing ever since.
Deace’s point was that established Christian activist groups too often settle for lesser evils in exchange for electing Republicans. He cited as examples Dobson’s support of Mitt Romney and John McCain, neither of whom is pro-life or pro-family enough from Deace’s perspective.
Compromise may be the grease of politics, but it has no place in Christian orthodoxy, according to Deace. …
[E. Ray Moore, founder of the South Carolina-based Exodus Mandate, an initiative to encourage Christian education and home schooling, who considers himself a member of the Christian right] thinks the movement is imploding.
“It’s hard to admit defeat, but this one was self-inflicted … In the modern era of the Christian right, we have traded these proven methods for a mess of pottage … and often in a shrill and nagging manner, which makes our God look weak in the eyes of the world.”
Amen to that, says [columnist Cal Thomas, a former vice president for the Moral Majority]…
More at the link to brighten your day.
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Filed Under: Christianity, Focus on the Family/James Dobson, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Radical Religious Right, Republicans
