culture war

College Democrats at Pat Robertson’s Regent U., Notre Dame’s refusal to rescind an invitation to the pro-choice president—younger evangelicals and Catholics are in rebellion and it doesn’t bode well for the once-commanding presence of the religious right.

All nations contribute to the management and definition of religion so it’s neither necessary, nor possible, to identify any state as definitively “religious” or “secular.” To choose is largely political.

Now is not the time to hedge bets. The Obama administration ought to be pressing its advantages and racking up some victories.

“Come Let Us Reason Together,” which focused on building bridges between white evangelicals and progressives, unleashed strong criticism from the religious left, much of which challenged the initiative’s definition of “progressive.” Robert P. Jones, an adviser to CLURT, responds.

The differences among religious folk in this country—once these issues make their way into politics—manifest in real divisions of money and power and security. To think that these conflicts can be resolved with mild-mannered compromises between Third Way and centrist evangelicals underestimates their importance.

The original culture warrior has softened his rhetoric, but the message, aired all day long on various networks (it seems) is no less divisive than in the heady days of the early ’90s.

RD News Round-Up—December 8, 2008: Proposition 8—The Rematch; California Supreme Court Justice in Religious Right’s Crosshairs; American Family Association’s 40th Birthday; and “The Last Languages Campaign,” Breakaway Episcopalians, and “Counterfeit Pro-Lifer[s].”

Instead of looking to earthly things and earthly power to bless us, we are to be a blessing in the world. Instead of caring so much that we become overwhelmed by the wicked ways of the world, we are to live our lives as a blessing to others. It is up to us to create a secure world.

If we allow the progressive movement to be reactive without first building the shared values and beliefs that make such actions sustainable, then our house will turn out to have been built upon sand. And when the electoral rains come, we will be washed away…

A generation after the infamous Scopes Trial, a biology teacher, Susan Epperson, went to court and won the right to teach evolution theory. Even the election of a new, more science-friendly administration, however, does not ensure that the Bible will no longer be used as a science textbook.