the rix mix

Yet another essay attempting to explain the protestant right to the unsaved secular masses: The Evangelical Crackup by David D. Kirkpatrick in the New York Times Sunday magazine. The writers always go to the big churches, interview the big shots old-&-fading, & up-&-coming, & top-o-the-heap, with a few side comments from church-going folks.

The unity of the contemporary protestant right was always illusory as religion. The diversity of belief & practice among all American protestants is mind-boggling from one end of the spectrum to the other. In politics, the protestant right remains unified in the sense that it is overwhelmingly conservative Republican. That is, I think, how Democrats ought to view "Evangelicals." It should be no surprise that conservative protestants are disappointed with George W. Bush for a variety of reasons, or even that some don't like war. There's always been a protestant tradition of resistance to government interference, whether the Baptists of colonial Virginia fighting the Anglican ruling class, refusal to cooperate with military conscription, & opposition to forced integration. Although there's a preference for strong religious leaders & clear moral teachings, this doesn't mean all Southern Baptists are happy that their National Convention strong-arms them into a doctrinal & political conformity most of them already embrace voluntarily. For all the megachurches, there are thousands of independent or loosely-affiliated pentecostal & Bible Baptist churches & "Family Worship Centers" basically loyal only to themselves, their local preachers, & the Scriptures as they read them. Plus large Baptist associations not affiliated with the Southern Baptists, & the conservative wings of the mainstream denominations. The Methodists are very strong in the South & Midwest; they are not "fundies," & their evangelicalism tends to be expressed through local outreach ministries & church social activities rather than loud appeals to become "born again."

I'm a "culture" person. I believe that culture has a lot more impact on politics than politics have on culture, & that education & economics drive various levels of culture. So when conservative Christian culture gained enormous political influence, it was unrealistic to expect that this would result in politicians who could change the broader & stronger secular culture. Politicians (including judges, prosecutors, & bureaucrats) influence culture by imposing or removing restraints on expression: to censor or not to censor. They don't create the movies, the TV shows, the popular music. They don't write the best-sellers or design the video games. They don't control the advertising agencies. Neither do those conservative protestants (except products for their own edification) now realizing government is not a reliable proxy in the "culture wars." No president is seriously going to antagonize media giants like The Sony Group, Disney, Time Warner, etc.

The internet has radically changed the cultural landscape over the past decade. Reagan was pre-dotcom. The internet has done a lot for the protestant right, but it's also brought porno, YouTube, MySpace, text-messaging, downloads, & information overload. How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've got a laptop & wi-fi? Can't keep 'em from learning about global warming. Or stop 'em from exploring the nefarious "gay agenda" & discovering the drive to middle class banality at its heart: Ellen DeGeneres. She's more like you than unlike you.

When I see Democratic presidential hopefuls falling over each other to show who is more devout, I think, That is so 2000. They're acting like Tom DeLay era Republicans even as Giuliani, Romney & Thompson change the game, & an affable "fundy" like Mike Huckabee - more the real deal than George W. ever was - can't hardly catch a break from the old guard mullahs or the youngsters. Even Repugs can't woo the conservative protestants like they could in 2004. Run a Jim Webb or Bob Casey against a big jerk & you grab a senate seat. But conservative "values" Republicans will not vote for Hillary Clinton no matter how studious she was in Methodist Sunday School. The "ex-gay" Gospel singer headlining Obama's Southern campaign events won't win them over, either.

Evangelicals are learning that they can't trust politicians to do the work they have to do for themselves. But the middle class is the great consumer of popular culture in America. It remains to be seen if the younger, white, suburban, conservative protestant middle class demographic, with iPods, iPhones, Blackberries & high def TV, can influence that culture more than it is influenced by it. I have my doubts. Some things about the power of pop culture never change. The Jordanaires were a fine gospel group on their own, but they became world famous as Elvis' backup singers.

Labels: culture, religion