ProgressiveChristian

Study reveals real world is not the media-created world

A recent Pew Center study, quoted and analyzed in part here reveals once again that the hype over the conservative-liberal divide in churches - the caricature of the fundy evangelical and the limousine liberal mainliner - is a bunch of hooey. As some of the most thoughtful and interesting religio-politiccal thought recently has emerged from evangelical thinkers wrestling with issues of environmental stewardship and economic justice, this study is one more piece in an emerging picture of the reality of the complexity of the interplay within American religious and political life.
Since the rise of the religious right as a force to be reckoned with, back in the late 1970's, and the confusion in the media over the differences between and among the variety of Protestant and Catholic religious groups and churches, more heat than light has been created by a media more concerned with easy explanations than with nuance and shades of meaning. As that picture continues to emerge from the fog of our recent past - along with much else - our religious and political dynamics, rhetorical, practical, and in terms of party affiliation, will continue to evolve. now is the time for journalists to come to grips with the complexities of American religion, and spurn the stereotypes and the easy soundbites from media-created "leaders" such as Falwell and Robertson, as well as such wannabes desiring attention as Jim Wallis.
This study should be a starting point for a long-term discussion over what kind of society we want, and the best ways to achieve it, rather than calling each other names and insisting that one confessional or other tradition is the sole possessor of truth. I think we are entering a great period in our collective religious and political life, one of vibrancy and invention, of a return to the realities of faith as a force for justice and social cohesion. The time of religion as a wedge issue is, I believe, just about over.

posted by Progressive Christian @ 3:37 PM