An interesting article from AlterNet (by Rob Boston of Church and State) reveals why some former high-profile leaders of the so-called Religious Right or Christian Right became disenchanted with the movement.
Frank Schaeffer, son of the late evangelical hero Francis Schaeffer, made the insightful observation that the movement relies on the “failure of America.”
“My doubts really began when I realized that the people we were working with on the Religious Right were profoundly anti-American,” said Schaeffer. “…When I was working with the Religious Right, they seemed be rooting for the failure of America. Bad news was good news for them.”
That also seems to reflect the attitude of partisans on both sides of the larger political divide. They seem to relish in the nation’s failures when the other party is in power.
It is hard to imagine the attraction to any political agenda that finds its joy and perhaps even existence in the failure of fellow citizens that impacts all.
But I’ll believe the Religious Right’s influence has sufficiently waned when those ridiculous “voter guides” stop showing up in churches at election time — revealing God’s clear positions on issues like a balance budget and missile defense spending.
Of course, James Dobson has already told us that John McCain does not stack up. McCain’s greatest sin, it seems, is that he willing works with “them” at times and not exclusively with “us.”
And the other two possible candidates… well, you know.
Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and former executive editor and publisher at Good Faith Media.
