Near the close of the 1976 U.S. Presidential campaign, Newsweek
magazine famously declared 1976 the “Year of the Evangelical.” In
subsequent years, Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority,” Pat Robertson’s
“Christian Coalition,” and James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” assumed
leading roles on the stage of American political life. Each strongly
identified with the Republican party and conservative public policy.
In the last decade, however, a new set of actors has appeared on this
stage. Leaders such as Rick Warren, Jim Wallis, and Ron Sider – all
bearing evangelical credentials – have bristled against evangelicalism’s
longstanding identification with the Republican party. Promoting
left-of-center public policies, these spokesmen do not appear to be
speaking only for themselves. Polls suggest that a growing number of
younger self-identified evangelicals have wearied of the policies and
party affiliation of their elders. Forty years ago, Wallis and Sider
were sideline figures in evangelicalism. Today, they are closer to the
mainstream of evangelical sentiment than they have ever been.
What happened? In From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of American Conservatism, Hart
offers an account of and an explanation for this recent turn of events.
He charts a deep and longstanding current within American
evangelicalism – one that has paradoxically embraced both right-leaning
and left-leaning public policies. He also argues that the tradition of
American political conservatism offers evangelicals a constructive model
for civil engagement – if they are willing to listen and learn.
No comments:
Post a Comment