CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
April 11, 2009 – 9:43 a.m.
Is Political Rebound Ahead for Christian Right?
By Tracie Powell, CQ Guest Columnist
President Obama raised a few eyebrows back home with his choice of words in Turkey, a Muslim nation, about religion.
“We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values,” the president said.
A few days before, a new report revealed that fewer Americans identify themselves as Christians. The American Religious Identification Survey said the proportion of Americans who claim to have no religion has increased to 15 percent today, from 8.2 percent in 1990.
Newsweek put a story based on the survey on its cover. Reaction from the Christian right was overwhelming. Thousands took issue with the story and some called for Editor Jon Meacham to be fired.
Meacham later wrote a second piece clarifying the original story, and emphasizing that the original piece is really about the weakening of Christian forces in partisan politics. He offers an indepth analysis about the decline of the religious right, which is further supported in a column by Kathleen Parker.
Still, I’m not ready to write an obituary for Christian conservatism just yet.
One only has to look at the response, such as in this video from groups like the National Organization for Marriage after Iowa and Vermont legalized same sex marriage and the Washington, DC council voted to recognize the unions to see how they are now shaping their message.
No, Christianity isn’t dead nor dying, neither is the Christian Right for that matter. It’s just slowing, perhaps temporarily, being replaced by a softer brand of religious expression, says David Roozin, Director of the Hartford Seminary’s Institute for Religion Research.
More progressive Christian leaders are making service, not condemnation, more in vogue.
One example of that soft side in action: a group of Christian leaders plan to converge on Washington later this month to discuss ways to end poverty around the world in 10 years. Sounds pretty lofty, but it shows a shift in values and a shift in understanding about what makes a person moral and righteous.
Some are reconsidering separation between church and state, after seeing the movement get contaminated by secular elements such as lust of affluence and power, Roozin says: “They’ve been turned off and returned to a greater sense about the word of the Gospel and the church.”
The public has also grown weary of a harsh brand of Christianity, and view it as out of the mainstream and closer fit with conservative Republican politics, which is also out of favor at the moment.
“People are just tired of it. I think we saw that with the election of Barack Obama ,” Roozin says. “And I think very definitely the harsh side of conservatism is on the wane. For better or for worse, that harsher side is connected with religion, whether it’s extreme Islam or extreme Christianity.”
But Roozin also points to the growth of Latino Catholicism in this country, and the rise of liberal or more progressive Christian leaders like Rick Warren and Joel Olsteen, who are increasing in prominence.
Warren pastors Saddleback Valley Community Church and prayed at Obama’s inauguration. Olsteen, pastor of the largest church in the U.S., Lakewood Church in Houston, incurred the wrath of Christian conservatives because he won’t outright condemn gay marriage.
Yes, with Obama’s election, religious conservatism suffered a setback. And when he, a constitutional scholar no less and a Christian to boot, said that America is not a Christian nation, that too might be seen as a step backward among conservatives.
It’s too soon to know whether Christian conservatism is fading.
With the flurry of activity regarding gay rights, it will be interesting to see if Obama and the Democratic Congress decide to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage.
Ask me then if the Christian Right is dead.
Comments
We can only hope that the Christian Right is dead. The entire Christian religion is being taken over by extremist. They just make God look dumb. We need to get back to the basics, like Jesus.
Of course the Christian right isn't down and out. But what has happened (and very few people are pointing out) is that the relationship of the two major factions of the far right has been fractured. The genius of the modern conservative movement was that if was able to create a powerful coalition between two conservative groups that can't stand each other: fiscal and cultural conservatives. Most fiscal conservatives LIKE to call themselves "libertarians," and have little love for what they mostly consider a lunatic fringe -- the Christian right (of course, the same accusation can be safely applied to loonytarians, but that's another post). the last election combined with the utter failure of conservative-driven fiscal policies (i.e., deregulation, supply-side economics, idolization of the market, etc.) has driven a huge wedge between these two groups and there is no conservative figure with the kind of charisma needed to bring these two groups back together again. Both groups ALONE can't carry an election and until someone can come up with a way to deflect current anger from the Corporate Welfare Queens back to shifty lazy, on-the-dole, black people and ppl of color, I don't think they'll be able to vote en mass as they did in the 80s and 90s. Eddie
Great article!
"Still, I'm not ready to write an obituary for Christian conservatism just yet. One only has to look at what happened after Iowa and Vermont legalized same sex marriage and the Washington, DC council voted to recognize the unions." What happened? They made a shockingly bad commercial, one where they couldn't even find decent actors to read the lines. I'm sure the anti-gay activists have better campaigns than that.
Christianists have lost all sense of common sense. I attended the gathering in Civic Center Plaza, in San Francisco, to watch the prop8 court challenge, outside on a megatron. A diverse group of religious zealots, wearing red t-shirts, supposedly representing the blood of Jesus, were holding their jaw-dropping, flamboyant, rude signs, standing in the way of everyone watching the court challenge. They were pushing, yelling, and harassing anyone that they perceived to be against their beliefs. Their entire religion is obsessed with the lives of gay people. The courts must rule against them, because their behavior is reckless, and flamboyantly ignorant, and they love their rage!
Chad, I'm curious...what do you mean "taken over by extremist"? Did you mean an extremist or by extremists? In either case, please elaborate a little. Have you ever read the New Testament? Some people would say that Jesus was an extremist; in fact, if my memory serves me, Jesus was killed for being an extremist. It seems that your comment about getting back to basics, like Jesus, is a call to follow an extremist. Also, what are your thoughts on Jesus's disciples and many of God prophets in the Old Testament, many killed for obeying God's commands. Were they extremists? Were they wrong?
Now ,Obama is a 'constitutional scholar' ? what next, a NBA calibre basketball player, who just decided he would rather be president of the U.S, rather than waste his time playing college and then NBA basketball. You guys have to stop drooling and licking O's backside. He is lucky if he is going to be any more than a below average president. It is amazing that the so called journalistic intelligensia forget that this country was founded on judeo-christian principles by some very moral upstanding christians, If we fail to recognize that, we are doomed. I am a Hindu U.S. citizen !!!
re: sripa "It is amazing that the so called journalistic intelligensia forget that this country was founded on judeo-christian principles by some very moral upstanding christians" ... yes - that took slaves and cheated on their wives. This nation was founded on the principles that were the antithesis of European Christianinty i.e. the rejection of divinity of monarchy and the freedom and liberties of the people.
sripa--are you even aware that Obama has taught and written about Constitutional Law in one on of the top law schools in the country, the Univeristy of Chicago? He was also, btw, in case this minor point slipped your attention, selected as the head of the very prestigious Harvard Law Review when at Harvard Law School, studying among other things, constitutional law. Conclusion: your incredulity at Obama being a Constitutional scholar indicates you are in hiding from the truth.
Forget, please, "conservatism." It has been, operationally, de facto, Godless and therefore irrelevant. Secular conservatism will not defeat secular liberalism because to God both are two atheistic peas-in-a-pod and thus predestined to failure. As Stonewall Jackson's Chief of Staff R.L. Dabney said of such a humanistic belief more than 100 years ago: "[Secular conservatism] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today .one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth." Our country is collapsing because we have turned our back on God (Psalm 9:17) and refused to kiss His Son (Psalm 2). John Lofton, Editor, TheAmericanView.com Recovering Republican JLof@aol.com PS – And "Mr. Worldly Wiseman" Rush Limbaugh never made a bigger ass of himself than at CPAC where he told that blasphemous "joke" about himself and God.
If any oneone,and i mean anyone thinks Christians are fading...you are in for a BIG!..SAD! AWAKENING!..
If God wanted it to do well would it not be doing well? I know some of these peeps will say its Satan testing them but God is all powerful why would he tolerate this? Perhaps it has to do with these people endorsing political figures and passing judgement. There are going to be a lot of the Christian Right in hell, God and Guns do not mix. My Bible says render unto Caesar, meaning to stay out of politics and he without sin should cast the first stone, meaning to not pass judgement. I hope that this fanatical extremists never get in power again. They are intolerant, judgemental and the very type of hypocrit whom Jesus cast out of the temple.
Of course the Religious Right is not dead. But one has to remember that for the most part, we're talking about a religious tradition that is part and parcel of Old Dixie. And these are the people who gave Southern white men a lock on the Presidency. What's changed is that the Yankees up North realized they were being defined by those who live in the Old Confederacy as a distinct enemy and decided to exercise their power when they saw where Southern authoritarianism had plunged the country into a new Depression. And that required rejecting government rule by a bunch of ignorant hillbillies with one tooth and one brain cell between them. The Religious Right won't go away, but the awful results of letting them call the shots will be mitigated by an electorate that rejects laziness and remains engaged in it's democracy.
It's a good thing for humanity that both Christianity and the religious right are dying a hard death. This is because Christianity is a shame based religion of false doctrines that has brought harm and death to millions as have the ideologies that are based on it..ie..American conservatism. Christianity is a myth without a historical basis. It is an archetypal religion...another reiteration of the death and rebirth myths. Christianity is not the first religion to claim a dying and resurrecting savior as the center of its doctrine. The dying and resurrecting savior god myths pre-date Christianity. Christianity is an exclusive religion that marginalizes and excludes people not subscribing to its creed. Whereas true Spirituality is all inclusive, all loving, and all compassionate of all people's everywhere.
One can only hope (and, yes, pray!) that the Christian right, and neither its leading lowlifes like that unconvicted, money-grubbing felon, Ralph Reed, nor his pals, rise again. Those were black days. The wide band of Americans representing the middle 80+% of society practices excellent values and morals, and has wide bands of agreement on everyday goals, despite differences in the way they address their individual faith. The everyday quality of life that all people of faith seek is surprisingly similar. The middle 80+% of us quietly go about our business of doing things the right way every day. A lot of having a job, maintaining a good marriage, raising a family, raising/educating one's kids, and contributing to generational improvements in the way life is lived, is just getting up every day and putting one foot in front of the other. It is very powerful and drives society. It is fine for Warren and Osteen to have their beliefs, forums, and followers. These two reverends actually publicly espouse little that the 80+% of us in the great middle find wrong. What is wrong is to give them special media attention without giving equal coverage to the mainstream. The difference is the 80+% spend their time putting it all into practice, while Warren/Osteen and their ilk spend their time talking about it. The media should either allow them the dignity of talking about their beliefs in forums with their miniscule (compared to 80+%) followings, or systematically give equal coverage to the 80+%.
" nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values" Just so long as they are his.
The founding fathers, who dreamed up the whole idea of "America" were profoundly anti-Christian and fought hard to keep any mention of Jesus Christ out of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. They had ample opportunity to do so. In his, "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" [1787-1788], John Adams wrote: "The United States of America have exhibited, perhaps, the first example of governments erected on the simple principles of nature; and if men are now sufficiently enlightened to disabuse themselves of artifice, imposture, hypocrisy, and superstition, they will consider this event as an era in their history. Although the detail of the formation of the American governments is at present little known or regarded either in Europe or in America, it may hereafter become an object of curiosity. It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses. ". . . Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretense of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind." James Madison wrote: "During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity; in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution." from the website: earlyamerica.com/review/summer97/secular.html "What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; on many instances they have been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate it, needs them not." Today we have powerful Christian organizations who work to spread historical myths about early America and attempt to bring a Christian theocracy to the government. If this ever happens, then indeed, we will have ignored the lessons from history. Fortunately, most liberal Christians today agree with the principles of separation of church and State, just as they did in early America.
Jesus said,"i am the way th truth and the light.No one comes to God but through me" Turn back to Christ and be saved from the judgement of God that is coming on all evil.
The Christians that I know are narrow-minded, hateful, selfish, judgmental, ignorant followers who are convinced that they are the only ones who will be going to their heaven and all the rest of us will be consigned to their hell. If I sound bittter, I am. Their leaders have helped destroy our country and I'll be thrilled if they disappear without a trace. I don't know what a "true" Christian is, but I'm betting that this brand is not what Jesus had in mind.
Conservative Christian ministers and other leaders continue to rally their congregations to political action around Right to Life, Gun Rights, Gay Marriage, School Prayer, Deregulation, Low taxes and Massive Defense expenditures. The Christian Right has developed a symbiotic relationship with the political operatives who advocate these issues. It is inconceivable that the Christian Right will change its stances on these issues or that they will not continue to provide the political muscle keeping these issues in the public arena. The marriage between the Christian Right and Mammon has been consumated and they will remain faithfully wedded.
Ryan, have you read your bible? My Jesus was not a Pharisee, nor was the apostle Paul. Remember he was Saul of Tarsus before he was born again and became one outspoken for Jesus. The right wing zealots of our faith have judged so many particularities in human beings that they are disgusting. Jesus said, sin is sin. And He had the grace to forgive whatever sin a person had. He also showed that it was "his kindness that led us to repentence" rather than the vicious hate that has gone on by the judgers of our faith in America. If you believe in Jesus, he, and only he will hold all accountable for their individual sin. I believe the Republican party hijacked a lot of Christians, but not me!
How about the fact that being Christian is a progressive endeavor. That is of course if we are talking about true Christian values. Like feeding the poor and caring for others... Education, health care, helping the poor, these are not the interests of the republican party. That party has shown the exact opposite of Christian values. They claim to want to protect the unborn and yet they want to bomb children in far away places. This Christian is certainly not nor will I ever be a republican I am more in support of the green party. That, to me is the more Christian and less hypocritical way to go. PS Christ does not support war nor should his followers... IF you support war you are not following Christ.
Conservatives have lost their way. They are so lost that they condoned the largest growth in government spending even though they claimed to be for small government. They condoned spying on Americans without warrants while claiming to be "strict Constitutionalists." They looked the other way while torture was being done in their name while claiming to be "compassionate conservatives." They encouraged corporate welfare while espousing "responsibility." I could go on and on, but you get the idea. When a movement does completely the opposite of its stated values, its no wonder that it is lost. I predict it will be lost for a long time for it must purge itself of it's crazies, it's liars, and its rascals. Good riddance I say. Come back on the stage when you have your act together.
Jesus must be rolling over in his grave seeing how the right-wing has turned religion and so-called "Christians" into an America-hating bunch of bomb-throwing extremists who worship the Almighty Dollar. It's clearly obvious that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Fox News, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson are working for the Devil...and have succeeded in turning Jesus into a trademarked political weapon against genuinely patriotic Americans and the common sense he preached. And speaking of Conservatives...when was the last time they balanced a budget, reduced our debt, reduced the size of governement, ran a war intelligently, or did anything at all successfully? About FIFTY YEARS. The only thing they've accomplished in that half-century was spending eight years and $60 million getting Bill Clinton to admit he had an affair. Party of LUNATICS. Good riddance to this trash.
I agree with former Republican Senator (and ordained minister) Jack Danforth when he blames the Christian right for the increasingly polarized and divisive political climate in American politics. After all, when you know you're on God's side and others are not, you know God's will and others do not, and you intend to use the power of government to advance your understanding of God's kingdom, anyone who opposes is thus against God. Why be civil or consider compromise when dealing with agents of the anti-Christ?
The Christian right, including the really hard core catholics, has as it's base the very people whose forbears gave us slavery, segregation, the despisement of the Jews, the KKK etc. This country is still fighting the civil war re the southern branch of this so called religion. Bush and his gang were a wake up call to all good and thinking Americans who haven't checked their brain with their coat when they enter their church. Much of the Christian right mentality has been based on brainwashing, ignorance, the fear of hell and the (scam) insurance policy of life after death, propagated by some of the best capable by socially and religiously corrupt people in this country. But they overstepped the limits with their political support of those who stood by and let the super-rich steal who knows a trillion $$$ on wall street, while decimating our middle claas, eg 1 in 8 homes in or near foreclosure. etc. And Their hatred of our gay citizens desire to be accepted as equals under our law (remember - "with liberty and justice for all") is just a mix of trying to impose their religiouss beliefs on others by law. Why - because when the country comes to understand what almost all westernized countries, + Israel, Republic of South Africa, Nepal, Japan etc have learned - that gay people are good people deserving of our respect and equality before the law, the house of cards of the christian right, who have always had to have someone to denigrate to harden the heart, will collapse. So be it. And, like segregation, etc, etc, another ugly chapter of American history will come to an end
"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press – in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past years." –Adolph Hitler (From his first radio address after coming to power, 22 July 1933; The Speeches of Adolph Hitler 1922-1939 Vol. 1; Oxford University Press, 1942; pp.871-872.) "My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. As a Christian I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice. As a Christian I have also a duty to my own people." - Adolf Hitler - Munich, April 12, 1922 "Who says I am not under the special protection of God?" - Adolph Hitler "What we have to fight for is the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission assigned to it by the Creator." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. 125 "The greatness of Christianity did not lie in attempted negotiations for compromise with any other philosophical opinions, but in its inexorable fanaticism in preaching and fighting for its own doctrine." - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf "Whether Protestant pastor or Catholic priest, there really exists but a single Holy German Reich, for whose existence and future each man has turned to his own Heaven." - Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf "I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. I am fighting for the work of the Lord." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf, pp. 46 "The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and cooperation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." - Adolf Hitler ------------------------
In the end the fusion of faith and politics has cheapened both. Politics has turned Christ into a jumped up ward healer and Faith has turned every political issue however trivial in to a burning moral question.
Wow. Lot's of left-wing kooks have flocked here already. There's so much slander here that it can hardly be countered in one post. I hope that many of you don't fool yourselves into thinking that you are the "mainstream". I see lots of people posting here who probably define themsleves as "moderates". Obama will make Bush look like the prince of fiscal responsibility. What kind of yearly deficits does Obama want to run over the next decade? How much does Obama want to expand government at the tax-payers expense? Sheesh...I thought I had logged onto the Huffington Post here.
Christianity equals anti-gay political activity? Do we really need another piece of commentary promoting that canard? The fact that the author can get away with peddling such tired drivel is an illustration of just how far Christianity has sunk.
while i dont agree with the christian right, i still believe it should exist to an extent in america, only because this country was founded on the idea of religious freedom. however, when those who identify themselves with the christian right start to infringe on the rights of others who dont share that particular creed, a line needs to be drawn. a popular arguement i hear from conservatives on gay marriage is that "if we legalize gay marriage....then we have to legalize pedophila, bestiality, and voyuerism." i dont see how being gay and in love with your partner who loves you back has anything to do with adults abusing kids, sickos getting their kicks from abusing animals, or perverts exposing themselves to folks who didnt express permission to be flashed. conservatives who want to see abortions made illegal will not put an single cent into factual education about contraceptives....yet they will misinform THOUSANDS of teens about sex with abstenence only and virginity education. 88% of those virgins break their chastity vows and a large number of those virgins become pregnant because they werent taught the facts. it just seems to me that the conservative christian right is in need of some evolution and their doctrines need to be infused with knowledge, not blind faith.
All hail the Great Spaghetti Monster!
Rick Warren is an overfed, overpaid liar. He's come out several times against gay marriage, gays, and in favor of Prop 8 in California. How he keeps a tax-exempt status for his megachurch corporation is quite beyond me. Obama? He told the truth - at least, by the Constitution - when he said we were not a Christian nation. The nation was founded as a Constitutional republic with a strict separation of religion and government (the Establishment Clause). That the religious right has attempted for over twenty years to abrogate that clause is reason enough to clamp down on them legally - but, of course, that will never happen. The religious right in America is far from dead. In fact, it's more dangerous than ever. With the actions of the Christian Reconstruction movement (google it, people!) and other Christian-right organizations working to make 'god's law' the law of the land, we're in greater danger of rolling back the clock to the '50's - when back-alley abortions were the only way to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, and where people of color 'knew their place'. Don't know about you folks - but I'm for the Constitution....
I think the Christian right is far from being down and out, but they are now on their own to a greater degree than before. As Eddie Blue-Eyes suggests, the weird alliance between fiscal conservatives and the far right culture warriors seems to be coming to an end. Alone, the religious right can't win elections, but it can certainly be both active and virulent. If they want to grow much, though, they'll have to change their focus in some important ways, which your column indicates that they are doing. A group that wants to help the poor AND opposes gay marriage is going to seem more credible than a group that just opposes gay marriage. Good for the poor, bad for human rights. We need to hear more from the religious progressives and their secular allies, who want to do both.
Christ was humble, kind, loving and forgiving. He was real into Peace. He said it would be easier for a camel to go through they eye of a needle, than for a rich man to get into the Gates of Heaven. The entire mission of Christianity is the spread the gospel in order to save souls. We are to witness for Christ in every thought, word and deed. When we fall short we are to focus again on the pure love that is Christ and try again, in His name, to help others find salvation. Nothing less. How does any of this square with the hate speech of the religious right? The worst offenders are those in the so called Bible Belt. They are not Christlike, they are using the Bible as a weapon to spread hate. I believe in the Triune God, but I have nothing left but contempt for these hypocrits.
The Christian Right gave Christianity a bad name and as a Christian Minister I am glad of its demised. I feel the the Christian Right as defined by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson was a political movement which espoused a political view filled with hate, arrogance ,and hypocrisy. It was brought to power by the Reagan revolution and reached its nadir during the Bush administration. It is the unpopularity and incompetency of the Bush administration which caused the collapse of this political movement. I thank God for its demise.
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