Are Evangelicals Shifting Away from Politics to Focus on Community Service?

[Ivan Seeking]

It appears to me that we are seeing a significant schism in the religious right, with the strong political rhetoric being displaced by the traditional role of churches – community services such as helping the poor and disadvantaged, feeding the hungry, assisting the elderly with their daily struggles, etc. This would seem to be a highly significant trend wrt politics esp when combined with the Republican voter’s rejection of the right-wing radio heads. This may be the end of an era!

So we may end up having to thank Bush, Rove et al., and 8 years of Republican control for the political death of neoconservatism.

No recent Republican has won the presidency without the help of evangelical Christian voters. This campaign season they are credited with Mike Huckabee's recent meteoric rise in the polls. But some in the evangelical community, disillusioned by what they see as broken promises from the Bush administration, are rethinking their political strategies. NOW on PBS travels to Wichita, Kansas, to investigate how and why the movement is shifting away from hot-button issues like abortion and gay rights to broader and less divisive issues like Global Warming and AIDS. Is the religious right forging a new path, and if so, how will it affect their political clout?[see video]

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/404/index.html

 

[wildman]

The Christian Right for all their efforts got almost nothing in the last 8 years. Lots of hot air but nothing substantive. This is with the Republicans controlling the Congress, the President, and pretty much the courts. The leaders of this group are pretty dense and don't seem to realize this (or maybe don't want to admit being bamboozled). However, the rank and file aren't that stupid. Why should they put a lot of effort and money into something that doesn't give them what they want?

Better do like Jesus (and Paul) said and stay out of politics.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Young evangelicals aim to broaden agenda

...Evangelicals like Dunbar are eager to move on and tackle such hot topics as global warming and social justice.

As they move to the center of the political spectrum, they are deciding whether Republican presidential candidate John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama aligns best with their values and deserves their vote in the November presidential election.

A former Republican, Dunbar's political views began to change with the war in Iraq. "I couldn't keep my political affiliation with the Republican Party at that point," he said.

Research shows many young white evangelical Christians are moving away from the Republican Party.

Surveys by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life show a 15 percentage point drop in the alliance of white evangelicals aged 18 to 29 with the Republican Party over the past two years.

"This group is going to be definitely worth watching," said Dan Cox, a Pew research associate and author of the report. "If anything, they're becoming more independent in their outlook."

Most favor stricter laws to protect the environment, for example, an issue not typically associated with Republican platforms, yet remain conservative on issues like opposition to abortion and support for the death penalty.[continued]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080622/pl_nm/usa_politics_evangelicals_dc

 

[quadraphonics]

Well, we'll see. Also, we need to be careful of what we're talking about when we say "religious right." Part of that group are politicians, lobbyists and policy people that aren't going to get any less "political" under any circumstances. Another part of the group are the actual churches and churchgoers/voters, and it may well be that they're starting to see that they've been taken for a ride, and have no real prospects of strong political connections in the short term anyhow. I'd like to believe that they've also gotten tired of the backlash from trying to use the power of the state to impose their ideas onto everyone else, and that they won't come running to vote for the next sheister who accuses his opponent of being soft on abortion, but somehow I think their passions will continue to play out in the public arena... The religion-conservatism industry has elevated many of the Culture War touchstones into identity issues for these people.

 

[Cyrus]

Sadly, I think its a cycle. People are stupid, and in a few years they'll be right back.

 

[russ_watters]

This campaign season they are credited with Mike Huckabee's recent meteoric rise in the polls.

Article date: 1/25/08. Swing and a miss.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

re Cyrus: This seems to me to be rooted more in a changing worldview, than dogma. We do see cycles, but at the same time, our worldview will never be the same as it was twenty years ago. These kids have been raised with concerns that were entirely different than those of their parents. And even religions evolve.

 

[wildman]

The Christian Right for all their efforts got almost nothing in the last 8 years. Lots of hot air but nothing substantive. This is with the Republicans controlling the Congress, the President, and pretty much the courts. The leaders of this group are pretty dense and don't seem to realize this (or maybe don't want to admit being bamboozled). However, the rank and file aren't that stupid. Why should they put a lot of effort and money into something that doesn't give them what they want?

Better do like Jesus (and Paul) said and stay out of politics.

The reality is that the neocons have been using Christians all along. The average rich person (the heart of the Republican Party) is not against abortion or gay marriage. However, they are sophisticated enough to understand that that the Republicans need the Christian Right and that the Republicans don't intend to ever actually give them anything.

 

[robertm]

Sadly, I think its a cycle. People are stupid, and in a few years they'll be right back.

I try and be optimistic, but I fear you will probably be proved correct cyrus. Jeez, why are there so many idiots?! And why do they have to meddle with the affairs of everyone else?

 

[wildman]

Ha! Ha! Did you notice that? Look up a couple of posts. I quoted myself and didn't even know it. Isn't that a sign of being crazy?