Here's a piece about our evangelical tradition and the religious right that I think just about all of us here will find interesting. It's an interview with Randall Balmer, professor of religious history at Barnard College, about his new book Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament. He speaks a lot of my heart about the movement. It's often hard to see much that is Christian in the supposedly evangelical religious right, especially when we view it in persepective of evangelicalism's progressive origins (abolitionism, universal education, etc). I know I'm largely preaching to the choir here, so I'll just shut up now.
I also found this NPR interview with Michael Gerson. The web page also has transcripts of several important speeches that Gerson wrote and some non-broadcast portions of his Morning Edition interview (including his ideas about "compassionate conservatism" and the current direction of the evangelical movement). I found this really interesting because I had previously only heard Gerson's words coming out of Bush's mouth, and at that point it is difficult to determine whose words we are hearing. My opinion of Gerson rose considerably through listening to him here.
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3 comments:
Gerson sounds pretty cool, but I still like Andy more.
I wouldn't ever say that conservatives can't care about the poor. I do question whether being a conservative is the most efficacious way of achieving justice for the poor and oppressed. I also recognize the limitations of those labels, especially as used in contemporary American politics. But, sure, let's talk politics sometime. I don't have a lot of conservative friends (and fewer who can carry on satisfying conversations), and I think I'm getting intellectually lazy. We already have enough isolated left-wing reactionaries in academia.
Coye, I'd say I'm flattered, but I suspect you mean Logemann. Also, the plank is still in my own eye on this one, but I suspect it's more important how we interact with the poor that we encounter in our own lives rather than the political positions that we espouse. Not that politics don't matter, we just can't rest there.
The ambiguity was quite intentional and will remain unspoiled.
You've also hit on my critique of a lot of the left: liberals tend to care more about the idea of people than they do about actual people in the flesh. I absolutely agree with you that it is supremely important how we treat the people we come into contact with personally-- in the flesh, so to speak (we can't forget the embodied, physical nature of our faith).
At the same time, I feel like NOT pursuing political change is somewhat like saying "be warm and well-fed" without offering any real help. My experiences tutoring on the South Side in Chicago and working in the youth shelter in Amarillo convinced me that the system is broken and we will be fighting a losing battle against our own policies as long as the status quo stands as it is. Lack of education, nutrition, health care, etc. perpetuate and exacerbate generational patterns of poverty and powerlessness. But, once again, I feel like I'm largely preaching to the choir and will shut up now.
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