God's Will Be Voted?

Insight on the News, May 3, 1999 by Larry Witham

The Christian right tries out new voices as conservatives debate importance of politics.

Twenty years after the Moral Majority came and went, Christians continue to wonder whether political power can change society. They have raised the question anew in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, failed initiatives such as the ban on partial-birth abortion and conservative strategist Paul Weyrich's declaration that "politics itself has failed."

"This is not the world of the fifties," says syndicated columnist Cal Thomas, coauthor with Ed Dobson of Blinded by Might, a cautionary book. In the riffles, most Americans frowned on abortion, illegitimacy, premarital sex, homosexuality and pornography. "A lot of people don't believe that today," says Thomas, who advocates "bubble-up morality" instead of imposing virtue through political power from the top down.

Thomas and Dobson, a minister, have offended some members of the new Christian right by assenting to an old assertion of the left -- that America is not a Christian nation and organized prayer isn't necessary in school to have God present. They also suggest that groups taking extreme positions to raise money only paint themselves as embattled scolds.

"After 20 years of political activism and millions of dollars spent on various religious-political movements, how much longer are they willing to pursue their strategy and agenda before they realize it not only has not worked, but cannot work?" write the authors.

To many, however, the debate about political involvement hardly is new. Even Ronald Reagan, a widely popular president, failed to deliver key conservative legislative objectives. "A moral majority was probably never there if you are talking about a sustained effort," says Corwin Smidt, a political scientist at Calvin College. Religious conservatives have had a "mighty army" only when an issue has high symbolic power.

Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center has tracked the new Christian right's attempt to balance its role between politics and culture since the mid-eighties. "After Reagan left office, some people were despondent and said nothing had been accomplished" says Cromartie. "After Pat Robertson was defeated in 1988, there were similar disappointments."

According to Cromartie, conservative Christians have forgotten a historic tradition that views government's primary role as restraining sin and injustice. From that point of view, the new religious activism has had an important impact on American politics. Nevertheless, "many evangelicals see dramatic conversions in people's lives, and they expect the same thing in the political realm," he says. "Political change is a slow and patient process."

Some observers see the presidential bid of Gary Bauer, a social conservative, as the latest wave in that patient process. Bauer believes America's traditional values are alive and well. "I wouldn't be running if did not think there was a solid majority of American people who, when provided the right leadership, will do the right thing" he says. "When I get out of Washington, I'm not running into a lot of people saying, `Woe is me; we failed.'"

Recent public polling indicates Americans have mixed attitudes on morality and politics. The Center for Gender Equality found that American women have become more conservative on abortion and family and more supportive of religion in politics. According to the center's poll, two in three women believe the Christian Coalition's agenda improves the lives of American women.

But the National Values Center in Denton, Texas, argues that the number of "heartland" traditionalists who support the new Christian right makes up only 29 percent of Americans. They have found a new surge among "cultural creatives," a group the values center claims makes up nearly a quarter of Americans. Cultural creatives pursue values such as idealism, nature, social activism and new models of management -- but eschew traditional morality.

Concerned Women for America, or CWA, a conservative policy group, takes the classic Christian stance: While society will not be God's kingdom, the more virtue, the better chance to spread the faith. "Our role is to help keep the ship afloat as long as possible so more people can get in the lifeboats," says Carmen Pate, president of CWA. "I'm not going to claim that the majority of people are moral and support what we do."

Yet minorities can influence political races and legislation -- countering attitudes that teach young people "abortion is moral because it is legal," notes Pate. Without a countervoice, other ideologies would dominate government. "Not only would you lose free speech, you would lose the culture war," Pate says.

D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries has taken a firm stand against the message of Blinded by Might. Kennedy disinvited Thomas from speaking at the recent "Reclaiming America for Christ" conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and later pronounced the gathering as the best attended and "most upbeat" ever. "There are far more Christians in Congress today than there were 40 years ago, and you see it also in sports and everywhere," he says.