Rhetoric Race and Religion
[This is the second half of an article adapted from a paper delivered at the 2014 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, 24th Nov. 2014. See Pt. I here.]
The Christian right generational shift
So what do the findings I have shared indicate for the future of the Christian right? They demonstrate despite the Republicans recent 2014-midterm results, that millennial Christians are more ambivalent about politics than their parents. According to Pew Research, millennial turnout in 2014 was down 6 points on the 2012 Presidential election, whilst there was 6 point increase amongst baby boomers aged 50-68. Older white Christian males swung the election in the GOP’s favour.[1] Though this temporarily bodes well for GOP-Christian right relations, it is clear that there will be a significant age-gap problem very soon, for partisan ties are very much weaker amongst millennials. Though educated in a Christian conservative environment at college, being Republican is no longer the default position for many students who seek greater political independence, averse to the polarizing and reductionist “Republican”, “Christian right” tags. Moreover, millennial Christians are more comfortable with America’s post-traditional faith environment. Though they see their own private faith as an important guide in their lives, a framing worldview, they are not motivated enough to clothe the public square, for many students see the Christian right’s activism to-date as counter-productive, intolerant, even one-dimensional. As Smidt has observed, there has been a shift in how millennials take their faith forward into politics.[2] Unlike their parents’ generation they are not as convinced that America is a Christian nation guided and governed by conservative Christian imperatives and that there are liberal secularizing forces working against America’s status as a ‘shining city on a hill’ endangering America’s future or Christian identity. Millennials have come to accept that the picture of American values and demographics has changed considerably, Christianity is less central to daily life, and that for Christian conservatives the exclusive relationship with Republicans appears to be fading. This acceptance, and lack of political activism will likely make the Christian right a greying concern, one that is less appealing to the Republican machine as the young-old voting gap widens. As Guth observes, the evangelical share of the population is both declining and graying, [and] in the long run, this means that the Republican constituency is going to be shrinking on the religious end…’ [3]
Though there is considerable hesitancy amongst millennial Christians to see partisan politics as the solution, domestically they have inherited their parents’ social views on abortion and homosexual marriage, and while not politically motivated at present, millennial Christians may come back into play in future elections if these life issue concerns persist. Nonetheless this would undoubtedly be contingent on breaking millennials’ skepticism of politics; as a recent BARNA study noted, ‘millennials seek authenticity’—politics doesn’t provide this.[4] Lastly international passivity amongst millennial Christians indicates domestic issues at home dominate their political concerns. The international simply doesn’t figure, amongst this demographic it is unlikely that the plight of Israel or the US’s stake in the Middle East will stir a protective foreign policy reaction. Overall, one observes that institutional political perspectives are not being transferred to evangelical-Protestant students, most are apolitical and politically liberated, keeping their politics and faith private. The fidelity of the GOP’s-Christian right marriage comes from its sense of political permanence, of deep-rooted intertwined interests; terming this unconditional bond republicanity therefore seems apt for baby boomers; but amongst millennial Christians its a misappropriation, for any melding of faith and politics there is contingent and fragile, and far less emotive.
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