Quote:
"...the postwar period produced two quite different forms of civil religion. During this period, ...Protestants began to realign themselves around either of two poles, one conservative and the other liberal or progressive. The organizing principle in each camp was less theological than cultural. [Liberals, regardless of denomination] were drawn to an agenda defined by America's place in the modern world. They were most interested in issues such as the disproportionate distribution of wealth in the world, environmental degradation, nuclear proliferation, and cultural pluralism. [Conservatives, regardless of denomination] were drawn to an agenda defined by their vision of America as a Christian nation. They were most interested in issues such as the place of God in national life, the Judeo-Christian heritage, prayer in schools, abortion, and family values.
...Evangelicalism consented to become a form of civil religion in the mistaken belief that if it could win the war on such personal issues as family values, abortion and prayer in the schools, it would thereby be able to hold the rest of society in check, ethically speaking.
The problem with all civil religion, whether of the right or the left, is that it tends to be civil in the sense that it is inoffensive. It has no edges because it is driving not by a passion for God's truth but by the politics of the day, whatever those politics might be. Without God's truth, without his Word as its center, a civil religion also forfeits his grace and his judgment - and without these, it has no means to survive in the modern world.
...Evangelicalism consented to become a form of civil religion in the mistaken belief that if it could win the war on such personal issues as family values, abortion and prayer in the schools, it would thereby be able to hold the rest of society in check, ethically speaking.
The problem with all civil religion, whether of the right or the left, is that it tends to be civil in the sense that it is inoffensive. It has no edges because it is driving not by a passion for God's truth but by the politics of the day, whatever those politics might be. Without God's truth, without his Word as its center, a civil religion also forfeits his grace and his judgment - and without these, it has no means to survive in the modern world.
Granted, that neither view is "correct" - I still find it hard to believe that the conservative view is wrong.
And, I cannot imagine how anyone who gives his or her life over to Jesus can possibly be concerned MORE about America's place in the world, than his or her own soul.
