A busy week has disrupted even my best blogging intentions, so I’ll be catching up on thoughts that are at least a week-old for the next few days.
Last Sunday’s NYT article on Evangelical politics caught the attention of more than a few people. The title “The Evangelical Crackup” is an attention-getter but the article itself is bound to disappoint anyone who has their fingers crossed about internal factions leading to the implosion of what, actually, never has been a totally cohesive movement.
Slate writer David Sessions’s response to the NYT piece offers some very important insights, including the renewed relevance of Reformed Theology among young Evangelicals and a stern correction to Kirkpatrick’s interpretation of maturation as meltdown. Sessions summary of what young Evangelicals are really about makes them far less, well, scary: “Young Christians indeed have a more redemptive view of society, rejecting the notion that America is slouching toward Gomorrah and must be warned regularly and loudly. They are interested in making society a better place in the here and now, as opposed to simply converting the lost.”
Now who are the Bobos going to fear? And whose fault will it be if the Democrats fuck up yet another presidential election?
This brings me to a plug I’ve been wanting to make for at least two months now. Michael Lindsey’s Faith in the Halls of Power is among the best books I’ve read this year. I wish I could assign it to anyone who prone to making blanket statements about what “Evangelicals” say, or think, or do on any particular issue. Add it to your “to-read” list – preferably towards the top – it’s highly relevant and a great read.
