We’re taking a chapter by chapter stroll through James Davison Hunter’s To Change The World. It’s a book with a relevant message for today. It’s also far from an easy read. That’s why we’re taking it slow.
Here’s the abstract of the second essay chapter 3 “The Christian Right” from Hunter’s website:
Politically conservative Christians are animate by a mythic ideal concerned with the “right-ordering” of society. They want the world in which they live to reflect their own likeness. A legacy of a Christian origin is understood as providing a sense of ownership over America and “radical secularists” have taken this away. The effect is harming to America, and people of faith, marginalizing them in public life. Their response has been one of political engagement, often conflating Christian faith and national identity in the political imagination.
There are changes occurring among the Religious Right. However, though the tactics have expanded to include worldview and culture, the logic at work—that America has been taken over by secularists, that it is time to “take back the culture” for Christ—is identical to the longstanding approach of the Christian Right. This is because the underlying myth that defines their goals and strategy of action has not changed.
http://jamesdavisonhunter.com/to-change-the-world/chapter-abstracts/
This chapter is full of an amazing number of quotes (130 footnotes in this chapter alone!), quotes from Focus on the Family, American Values, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Family Research Council, Christian Coalition, etc. As Hunter says, “the tone is as important as the content” (p. 112), so the large number of quotes is important.
In the quotes we can clearly see the two elements mentioned in the last chapter, the quest for power and the sense of ressentiment. He outlines the Christian Right’s interpretation of history, their fear and anger at “what they’ve done to us,” and how these feelings motivate them to action. There is a two-pronged call: prayer and action, and action invariably refers to political activity.
The Conservative Right places a great amount of hope in politics, expressing a clear desire for dominance, a controlling influence over the government. The logic is simple: America has been taken over by secularists and the main duty of Christians is to acquire and use political power to revert the situation.
Tim,
This is, in my experience, the hardest mentality to confront or uproot. So many people i encounter take it completely for granted that our goal should be to establish a Christian Empire–sometimes without even realizing that’s what they’re after. About 4 weeks ago, our young adult minister spoke on Sunday night and suggested a *contrast* between allegiance to Christ and allegiance to America, and people were clearly upset and uneasy. From WW1 and earlier, this was not a radical idea in the CoC. Now some act as though any sentiment of disassociation from American-citizenship or patriotism is near blasphemy. What do we do?
–guy
A Christian Empire, hmmmmm, isn’t that what the Europeans in the 1700’s were fleeing from? It was called Catholicism, It was the divine right of kings, it was the Inquisition.
In Europe it was called the final solution in Germany during world war II. Protestants, Lutherans, Catholics killing Gypsies, Jews, immigrants from Eastern Europe and anyone who was not like them.
When coming to America, it wasn’t just about religious freedom. The slave trade was booming in the Carribbean. The potato famine drove the Irish to America. Indentured servitude played in the development of the Americas as well as Criminals sent to the Carolinas. My God doesn’t anyone read about American history?
Segregation in the 1900’s. I remember my first experience with Colored and white separate toilet facilities in West Virginia. I found it really sad to see this as a 10 year old boy coming from an interracial neighborhood in Dayton Ohio. I saw no difference as I had black friends I went to school with, played baseball with in little league, but didn’t attend church with as they had their own churches. Hmmmmm, why was that?
This was 1960 not 1865. Yes as Christians we have a long way to go to embrace what Christ told us to do. Love one another as I have loved you……………….I don’t think
Christians have much tolerance with people who are not like them.
This is not what Christ had in mind. But organized religion has changed the program from love, acceptance and service to others. This would include accepting all human beings and respecting their beliefs, customs, nationality, religion and nationalism.