The cover story of Sunday’s New York Times Magazine pronounced the demise of the religious right in America. The ranks are demoralized, split, and liberal evangelicals are taking over with a new agenda for the environment and the poor. On the editorial page, the acerbic Frank Rich coordinated his column with the magazine, concluding, “Inauguration Day 2009 is at the very least Armageddon for the reigning ayatollahs of the American right.”
Wow! Just three years ago the press touted conservative evangelicals as the most powerful voting block in America. What happened?
Nothing. The press is up to its old tricks. When I was in the White House, the press heralded me as Nixon’s brilliant political strategist. Then within a year, once having built me up, I was called the “White House hatchet man” and a lot worse. The press loves to create monsters, build them up, and then take credit for slaying them. It sells papers.
The press’s portrayal of the religious right was always a caricature. Take Jerry Falwell. They had fun printing unflattering pictures of him and playing up his extreme statements. Yet they paid no attention to the good things Jerry did, like reaching out to homosexuals and unwed mothers. And the same thing applies to Jim Dobson. He is upbraided for his political statements, but his heroic defense of the family is ignored.
And where was the press in 1999 when Bill Bennett and I started a campaign against sexual trafficking? Or when I and others, like Franklin Graham, urged President Bush to fight against AIDS in Africa? And how about the legislation to stop prison rape or enact prisoner reentry legislation? The media yawns.
Now they say we are dying, but the agenda has not changed one lick in the last 15 years. All evangelicals—Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Jim Dobson, Jim Wallis, Ron Sider—all of us, right and left, in our own way, are battling for traditional values, defending life, and pursuing justice and caring for the poor. We do it in the name of God, which is what sets the media’s teeth on edge. And sure, abortion has been out front—and has been since the first century—because it goes to the whole dignity of human life. It’s what drives me to go into the prisons and care about prisoners.
What is really happening here is that the liberal media, aided by liberal politicians, is desperately anxious to marginalize the evangelical movement and to try to drive a wedge between us and get us fighting. So, the most important thing, right now, is for serious evangelicals of all political interests to join together to proclaim the Good News, protect the family, build the Church, help the suffering, and defend the truth—all the while avoiding, as I have written for years, becoming a special interest group or placing ourselves in the hip pocket of one political party.
I am sorry to spoil the fun of the New York Times, but Inauguration in 2009 will not be Armageddon for the religious right or religious left or evangelicals, unless we fight each other, which is what the press really wants. It makes the best copy.
But if we reject their prophecy, a biased caricature, we will prove the New York Times wrong. All we are called to do is to stick to our job and work together.
No matter who wins or loses the election, I am sorry to tell you, Mr. Rich, the kingdom of God will continue to reign stronger than ever on Inauguration morning.
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From BreakPoint®, October 30, 2007, Copyright 2007, Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with the permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or distributed without the express written permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. “BreakPoint®” and “Prison Fellowship Ministries®” are registered trademarks of Prison Fellowship
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Comments
To Ifeelfine72:
Dear one, I may not have perfect vision, but I do know where to go if I want to distinguish from right and wrong, moral and immoral, life and death.
Whether taken out of context or not, it still speaks to us individually. If one had been searching for a direction to go, and came across this verse, the council that it spoke would be of good council. It would not lead them astray.
And, since you keep insist on using scripture, even if you reject it, so shall I.
2nd Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.
BTW JC - why do you question what is in my heart - take the plank out your eye before trying to remove my speck.
JC - You've committed no crime but have taken the Word out of context - which you seem to do quite regularly in your posts. Do you really believe that passage refers to politics? Common on.
Bravo, mcfbc
I have to disagree with Mr Colson. The Christian right as we have known it for the last 25 years is dying.
Traditiionally Christian conservative has been about 2 issues, abortion and family values.
Colson is attempting to rewrite history to say that Christian conservatives such as Dobson and Falwell have had other concerns. And while their ministries may have included these other areas, it stopped with politics. Groups such as the Moral Majority and Focus on the Famiy have had two focuses politically, abortion and family values. Nothing about the poor, nothing about the environment, nothing about other justice issues. Traditional Christian conservatism is all about two things abortion and family values.
Then Colson attempts to further rewrite history by including Wallis and Sider's names in a discussion abot how the religious right is not dying. Excuse me. Wasn't it Jerry Falwell who called Wallis a Secularist liberal? The religious right has never embraced the causes these men have stood.
Then Colson pulls out the old tired argument about the media bias. The media doesn't need help causing division when Dobson is screaming down anyone with a concern about the environement and we see arguements going on about who is the most 'Christian' candidate.
Christian conservatism as it has been narrowly defined is dying. Poll after poll shows that 30 something evangelicals want to focus more than on abortion and family values, they are also concerned about the envirnment, the poor, and other justice issues. It looks like there is a changing of the guard in Christian conservative leadership, and hopefully with that a broadening of what Christians need to consider as important when considering candidates.
To ifeelfine72:
In an earlier post you stated "JC - you are so condescending. How sad for you."
Really?
Once again, my only crime is to quote the Word of God. If you find that hypocritical and condescending, then I would suggest that you not call yourself a Christian anymore. For a true Christian cherishes God's Word as His and does not question its authority, for they know in their hearts it is truly His.
What's in your heart?
JC - Here we go . . . posters claiminig that God is a Repuglican. Now your true colors come out - not Christians, but right wing ideologues. That is outrageous.
There is no liberal media bias. The media is all owned by a handful of folks who are rich and right wing. This supposed bias is nothing more than made up mumbo jumbo by right wingers.
Amen, JC, amen!!
In the case of this article, the term "Right" is associated with those who believe that the Bible is the Word of God. The term "Left" is, by natural contrast, associated with those who don't.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
Food for thought.