By Alan Noble
Is evangelical Christian morality still viable in American public life? This is the question lurking in recent debates over religious-liberty issues, from the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision to the Christian bakers who object to baking cakes for gay weddings. In discussions of these cases, objections to same-sex marriage and contraception are described as a retreat from “secular society.” And in some cases, evangelicals actually have retreated: Since the Boy Scouts of America decided to allow openly gay Scouts to participate, a “Christian” alternative has been created, giving Christian parents a “safe” space where they can send their kids. But these incidences of retreat have actually been rare. Ultimately, the idea that evangelical Christian morality is incompatible with modern life isn’t sustainable.
In The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch argued that if the evangelical church is to last long into the twenty-first century, certain parts of its moral codes have to change—American society is progressing, and if the church won’t progress with her, then it will be abandoned.
This is based on a popular conception about evangelicals: that they’re toxic. The refusal to serve gay weddings is called bigotry. Laws written to protect businesses that refuse to provide such services are compared to Jim Crow laws. Hobby Lobby’s unwillingness to pay for certain contraceptives is derided as misogynistic.
Read more at http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/07/is-evangelical-morality-still-acceptable-in-america/374341/
1 Comment. Leave new
The problem is that Evangelicals tied themselves to the republican party, and unknowingly lost the respect of younger generations of Americans who are more liberal and open minded of the world around them. From the stupid decision to go into Iraq or the disaster of trickle down economics. There’s no way to put the genie back in the bottle.