Many historians say the modern religious right was birthed in June of 1979. That was the month when the Rev. Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, an organization tasked with saving the American public from the threat of moral decline. Not coincidentally, Concerned Women for America was formed the same month.
Previously, Evangelical Christians had been reticent to engage in partisan politics. But the cultural revolution of the 1960s brought on a blitzkrieg of social changes that left many religious conservatives feeling as if their way of life was being threatened. In response, the faithful flooded the public square -- millions of them under the Moral Majority's banner -- to influence national elections and legislation. Standing tall at the helm of the movement was the silver-haired Falwell, a man whose presence could silence a room and whose rhetoric would often rouse it to raucousness.
I first met Jerry Falwell in 1999 when I was a senior in high school. My father, a pastor who was about to be elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention, drove me to Lynchburg, Va., at Dr. Falwell's request. The preacher planned to convince me to attend Liberty University, a task which he executed masterfully. I would arrive at the Evangelical super-school as a freshman in a matter of months.
The most memorable portion of the conversation, however, had nothing to do with Liberty. It was when my dad asked Dr. Falwell how his ministry was going. The reverend's jovial smile went somber and he leaned in closely:
"James, we've got the numbers. We've got the resources. We've got the leadership," he said. "I've spoken to conservative Christians in churches all across this country, and they know what is at stake. We've got to get serious about Jesus, and we need to call this nation back to its roots. It's time to stand for what is right."
But then he added, "We've got to get our folks to the polls next year, and we need to do a better job telling people what will happen if liberal Democrats remain in control of the White House. We must save this nation!"
My brow furrowed. Even a 17-year-old realizes when someone's answer doesn't match the question. Dad asked Dr. Falwell about his ministry, and Falwell answered with a strategy for acquiring political power.
Before leaving Lynchburg, I shook the preacher's hand, but I was unable to shake his comments. Our car rumbled back from the James River Valley to metropolitan Atlanta while I meditated on the reverend's words. Impressed by his presence and passion, I shared many of the same sentiments.
Dr. Falwell said we needed to get serious about Jesus. I wanted to get serious about Jesus. He said we needed to call our nation back to its roots. I wanted our nation to return to its roots. Dr. Falwell said it was time to stand for what is right. I wanted to stand for what is right. But even then, my teenage mind wasn't sure that he had effectively navigated how faith should mingle with politics. I'm even less sure today.
As we look back on more than a quarter century of political engagement by the religious right, two things now appear obvious.
First, partisan religion is killing American Christianity. The American church is declining by nearly every data point. Christians are exerting less influence over the culture than even a few years ago, organized religion no longer garners the respect of the masses, and two in three young non-Christians claim they perceive the Christian church as "too political." Church attendance is declining, and the percentage of Americans claiming no religious affiliation is rising.
As sociologists Robert Putnam and David Campbell argue, the church's partisan political alignment is at least partly to blame. In a recent article in Foreign Affairs they write, "In effect, Americans (especially young Americans) who might otherwise attend religious services are saying, 'Well, if religion is just about conservative politics, then I'm outta here.'"
The question Christians must now answer is not, "Can we save this nation?" but "Can we save our faith?" And the only way it seems we will be able to do the latter is through abandoning the partisan, divisive strategies adopted by the Christian right and begin engaging the public again in more prudent ways.
Second, we learned that partisan Christianity cannot effectively change our culture. When the religious right formed, conservative Christians were energized around restricting abortion and same-sex marriage, reducing the size of government, and protecting religious freedom. More than a quarter-century later, these same debates innervate the movement. Little progress has been made despite their best efforts, and an increasing number of individuals now recognize the religious right strategy has largely been a failure. The irony of this turn of events is that Christians above all others know that true change must occur in hearts -- not just the halls of power.
More than a decade after my first meeting with Jerry Falwell, I realize that the preacher was and is not alone in his approach to faith, politics, and culture. Many Christians believe our country is at a critical point in its history, and the responsibility to act rests on the religious community. So strong are these feelings that Christians have devoted a considerable amount of time and ministry resources to fighting the culture wars. This effort has failed to achieve the goals it set out to accomplish and has repelled an entire generation in the process.
If American Christians continue to see that the culture wars as the primary way of shaping culture, they should expect to see their numbers decline and their influence wane. But if they wake up to our current reality and return to the foundations of their faith -- love, compassion, and a rigorous commitment to the "Gospel" story that drives them to faith in the first place -- the faith's best days may yet lie ahead.
Jonathan Merritt is author of A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars. He has published more than 350 columns in outlets such as USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Follow him: @jonathanmerritt
Note: This article was originally published by The Atlantic.
Follow Jonathan Merritt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonathanmerritt
I disagree with you with all my heart that your asking someone to do that is OK, but you will do it anyway, so you might as well face up to the consequences and honestly acknowledge that, what you really want is for the whole issue -- and us -- to disappear. That is not going to happen -- if you pretend it does not exist, this will only serve to have it bite you from unexpected directions.
I do not know what decision Mr. Merritt will make, and that is his call. I will irritate some of my LGBT friends when I say that I would treat any decision by him to stick with his religious views no differently than I viewed it when a straight friend of mine decided to enter the priesthood. Not a choice I would make, but then it is not my choice.
But Mr. Merritt should realize that he cannot make dealing with this issue easy by lecturing other people with the Big Lie that it is.
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/search/label/Azariah%20Southworth
I am not posting this as an attack -- and I would not have even passed along the story, except that Mr. Merritt has announced he will address this tomorrow. As angry as some will be with him -- and may still be, as I doubt he will change his theology -- no feeling person could view this with any happiness.
As a gay man who was raised as a fundamentalist Christian -- I hope that the friends and family around Mr. Merritt will not simply run away from him. (That is what usually happens.) I also hope that Mr. Merritt knows that there are a lot of us out here who are in the same place he is right now.
To the fundamentalists out there who object to homosexuality, I hope you will take this opportunity, not to change your minds, but to realize that changing sexual orientations is not a simple matter of just saying a prayer or two -- or 10,000. In fact, it actually cannot be changed and, until you realize that, you will never understand the scope of what you are asking people to do. (more)
As long as the Great Commission resides at the heart of the movement - it's increased political power will become headier and headier and lead, as it has already demonstrably led, to conflating capitalism and American hegemony with itself and do all it can to make the US a "Christian" nation - with all that entails. The social agenda has already been clearly laid out by the Palins, Huckabees, Perrys and others. It's a take no prisoners approach ... not much room there for grace or compassion.
Do you think I'm wrong? If so, why is Jim Wallis really the only one out there who is obviously speaking out consistently? And even he hasn't ever been willing to speak to what it means in a multi-cultural society to have the Great Commission at the heart of everything you do....
No wonder he closed his column with a plea for love and compassion. I really feel sorry the guy.
Do me a favor, would you? His fundamentalist "friends" are going to be turning away from him in droves.
I know what he's going through -- I was raised in one of those pretty horrific churches myself, and the fear of the hate you see them show towards anyone they know is gay can lead you to some pretty desperate measures to make people never think that you are. (Granted, I never beat anybody up or felt the need to say that people like me were going to Hell -- but I'm still asking for some compassion for the guy. It's the Christian thing to do.
What I don't understand is how they can back government that wants to stop aid to the poor. It's the one excellent idea behind religion and what it can do for others rather than themselves. I think that message is being lost....unfortunately.
If you don't like abortions, don't have one.
If you don't like gays, don't associate with them.
If you don't like birth control, don't take it.
Its simple. When a church organization dictates terms to a government that should be by nature secular, then you have religious tyranny not unlike the Taliban.
The rights of the individual trump the rights of a group. Because the rights of the group can force you to do things you don't want. The bottom line is the government is not forcing you to do anything thing you personally don't want to do.
It is up to individual catholics to not do these things that the catholic church want's you to do. The church shouldn't force its views on anyone.
Perhaps Jonathan Merritt should worry more about the infiltration of mammon into the religious and political sphere.
This is a major problem.
It is, in my opinion, what makes some of the modern strains of evangelicalism veer concerningly close in their public engagement to the attitudes and approaches fostered by radical fundamentalist Islamic groups like the Taliban or Al Qaeda.
As a post-evangelical (not sure I ever was convinced of the project regardless) I find it difficult to see how these positions can shift - as shifting them means abandoning the proselytization process. Yet their presence in US evangelicalism, mormonism and similar efforts represent real threats to our republic and people.
There we are. A bit of freelance editing for accuracy.
The "Christian Right" has two big problems.
One................they aren't Christian. Not in what they preach, not in what the advocate, and not in what they do.
Two.............. They are not "RIGHT", not in what they preach, not in what they advocate, not in what they do.
They also aren't "Right" for America.
America is better than this, at least it should be.
F & F