What We Can Learn From The Failure Of The Religious Right (And Why They’re In A Panic)

The Religious Right has failed, and now they’re panicking.

They’ve been this way for quite some time, but I think we’re about to enter a new era of desperation as they attempt to plug the holes in their boat and keep it from sinking. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any fresh and inspiring ideas produced from that camp in a long time (something I’m completely open to; I don’t care where a good idea comes from) and I’m not confident they’ll be able to prevent the ship from turning broadside.

They know it, and we know it: the movement of the “Religious Right” has failed. What we’re seeing out of the Religious Right is similar to when a star dies– after the death of a star there’s still some fusion activity going on, the core begins to collapse under the forces of gravity, and the outer layers temporarily heat up as the star undergoes a prolonged death experience. The star is dead– out of fuel– but the actual death process can take a few billion years.

The death of the Religious Right is similar– though it certainly won’t take nearly as long to become a dwarf in the religious solar system.

As part of the death process, they’re grasping for straws and attempting whatever they can do to escape the inevitable. Case in point: there’s a new book just released by Chelsen Vicari called Distortion, which is basically a progressive Christian hit-list packaged with the same old ideas they’ve always had. The book was promoted as a book that would “name names” of the people who are destroying the faith, so that parents could learn them and protect their precious children from their harmful ideas– ideas like nonviolent love of enemies.

Those people damaging the faith? Well, the list includes friends like Shane Claiborne, Sarah Bessey, and a host of others (including me). People can say whatever they want about me, but anyone who thinks that Shane and Sarah– two of the most inspiring Jesus followers I know– are the enemy or a “menace of the Gospel,” is someone who has had a severe break with reality, and probably doesn’t understand the Gospel at all.

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