Rhetoric Race and Religion
When Rob Schwarzwalder, senior vice president at the Family Research Council, criticized evangelical groups for ignoring threats to religious freedom, he got some pushback.
“[T]o say that these organizations have not spoken out is not true,” concluded one article in the Christian Post, though it also acknowledged that Schwarzwalder might be looking for a “more robust and vocal outcry” than the organizations had provided.
The dispute was aired in online posts on the website of First Things, the journal that offers ecumenical and interreligious commentary on the role of religion in the public square. It signaled that some leading evangelicals have begun to reassess their response to a developing political issue.
The debate has surfaced during a sea change in evangelical political leadership, following the retreat of Focus on the Family’s James Dobson. Some evangelical activists contend that no other leader has been able to match Dobson’s ability to catalyze churches throughout the nation to register their concerns on Capitol Hill.
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