Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

‘The Bible Belt is Collapsing’
PJ Tatler ^ | August 17, 2013 | Rick Moran

Posted on 08/17/2013 6:46:43 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

A fascinating interview in the Wall Street Journal with Russell Moore, the incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. This influential position was held previously by Richard Land, who became a well known face on the cable nets and Sunday shows.

Moore says, in essence, that the culture war has been lost:

‘The Bible Belt is collapsing,” says Russell Moore. Oddly, the incoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission doesn’t seem upset. In a recent visit to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Moore explains that he thinks the Bible Belt’s decline may be “bad for America, but it’s good for the church.”

Why? Because “we are no longer the moral majority. We are a prophetic minority.”

The phrase is arresting coming from such a prominent religious leader—akin to a general who says the Army has shrunk to the point it can no longer fight two wars. A youthful 41, Mr. Moore is among the leaders of a new generation who think that evangelicals need to recognize that their values no longer define mainstream American culture the way they did 50 or even 20 years ago.

On gay marriage, abortion, even on basic religious affiliation, the culture has moved away. So evangelicals need a new way of thinking—a new strategy, if you will—to attract and keep believers, as well as to influence American politics.

The easy days of mobilizing a ready-made majority are gone. By “prophetic minority,” he means that Christians must return to the days when they were a moral example and vanguard—defenders of belief in a larger unbelieving culture. He views this less as a defeat than as an opportunity.

[...]

He is definitely pushing a new tone for this generation of evangelicals. “This is the end of ‘slouching toward Gomorrah,’ ” he says. Not only is the doomsaying not winning Christians any popularity contests, but he doesn’t think it’s religiously appropriate either. “We were never promised that the culture would embrace us.”

He also questions the political approach of what was once called “the religious right.” Though his boyish looks bring to mind the former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, Mr. Moore is decidedly not a fan of the “values voter checklists” the group employs. “There is no Christian position on the line-item veto,” Mr. Moore says. “There is no Christian position on the balanced-budget amendment.”

Which is not to say that Mr. Moore wants evangelicals to “turn inward” and reject the larger U.S. culture. Rather, he wants to refocus the movement on serving as a religious example battling in the public square on “three core issues”—life, marriage and religious liberty.

Politically, the evangelical right isn’t going anywhere. They will still play a large role in Republican party politics, and will still be indispensable to the campaigns of dozens of Republicans in many districts.

But to a secularist like me, Mr. Moore’s words sound like a welcome dose of pragmatism. Achieve what is doable, accept the world not for what you would have it be, but for what it is. This is not to say that there shouldn’t be an effort — a war, if you will — to fight on many issues. But perhaps the battles will be fought on a different kind of battlefield — one where moral authority is gleaned not from numbers or political power, but from the light of example.

Read the whole interview for some fascinating insights.


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: abortion; baptists; biblebelt; christians; culturewar; moore; prolife; russellmoore
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last
To: 2ndDivisionVet

If true (and it may be true) then where do we go? I mean that. Because the next step will be genocide.


61 posted on 08/17/2013 8:16:40 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick
Oh I agree, walking into a den of lions is sure to leave an impression. But surely we’re not to that point yet. Christendom has advanced hugely over the thousands of years since then. It would be silly to drop all the way back to that trench. The above statement is stunning. Are you Christian, a new Christian or perhaps only 25 years old or less. If your young and not well read, I cant' exactly blame you. Hello? Have you heard Western Civilization(Christendom) has been de-christanized over the last 50 years.
62 posted on 08/17/2013 8:19:22 PM PDT by RBStealth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: RBStealth

The Republicans, as lame as they are, barely lost the last election. This was with a candidate who no one really liked. I don’t think it’s time to go hiding in the catacombs just yet.


63 posted on 08/17/2013 8:19:28 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick; ReformationFan
The whole gay thing is a luxurious indulgence of a successful culture. If things got rough it would evaporate in a second.

You've raised a good point.

Abortion is different because it involves the morality of life and death of a person. I detest gay marriage but I find my arguments against it are mostly abstract, unlike my arguments against abortion. I think abortion is in a different category.

I think the abortion thing is also in some way "the luxurious indulgence of a successful culture." Let's include contraception along with abortion. Both practices are about preventing new life because they are borne of a worldview that sees the future as of no concern.

For contraception/abortion to disappear quickly, you would envision a culture in which human beings were dying out and each new life or potential new life would be cherished. We have so many life-saving and life-extending medical technologies these days that they have grown to include the preventing and taking of new life. The fertility technologies and the contraceptive technologies are two sides of the same coin.

64 posted on 08/17/2013 8:21:07 PM PDT by thecodont
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick

Good bye , you get the last word


65 posted on 08/17/2013 8:21:07 PM PDT by RBStealth
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

Comment #66 Removed by Moderator

Comment #67 Removed by Moderator

To: RoosterRedux
>> They are worthless institutions in the eyes of God.
>
> You don't speak for God. He draws his people in strange ways, opening their eyes with great care...and you are no one to judge.
> You need to offer up an apology for your comment (and not to me).

No, I think he has the basic right of it; after all God says this of religion:

James 1:19-27
19 You must understand this, my beloved:[g] let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves[h] in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
And also
James 2:14-24
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,[m] if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
And, if you really want to see how much the heart, and not the institution or ritual is to God:
Isiah 58
Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?


6 Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator[a] shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10 if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.

13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day;
if you call the sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs;[b]
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

68 posted on 08/17/2013 8:29:47 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: RoosterRedux
Since you're confused, let me restate what I said before:
What I know is that the left has made its progress mostly through sheer willfulness. It certainly hasn't been because they're right. The fact is that the world we live in, the world that God has given to us, is highly responsive to human will. We can beat the left but not if we retreat to the status of martyrs being fed to the lions. We must be more willful than that.
Now what is it again that confuses you?
69 posted on 08/17/2013 8:34:01 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: RoosterRedux

I applaud you. Many don’t understand the term “church.” It refers to the body of believers - not a denomination. Those are just titles over a door. There are many in good standing within the walls of these “churches” who have never had a born-again experience and believe that they are doing the Lord’s work.

Jesus said that many will say to him, Lord, Lord have we not done many wonderful works in your name? He will say to them- depart from me you workers of iniquity - I never knew you. This is a very sobering Scripture.


70 posted on 08/17/2013 8:46:04 PM PDT by Catsrus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: thecodont

‘I think the abortion thing is also in some way “the luxurious indulgence of a successful culture.” Let’s include contraception along with abortion. Both practices are about preventing new life because they are borne of a worldview that sees the future as of no concern.

‘For contraception/abortion to disappear quickly, you would envision a culture in which human beings were dying out and each new life or potential new life would be cherished. We have so many life-saving and life-extending medical technologies these days that they have grown to include the preventing and taking of new life. The fertility technologies and the contraceptive technologies are two sides of the same coin.’

I agree. Homosexuality/abortions/contraception are all links in the anti-life/natural family chain.


71 posted on 08/17/2013 8:46:56 PM PDT by ReformationFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

to attract and keep believers = make sure the collection plate is full


72 posted on 08/17/2013 9:20:22 PM PDT by Theodore R. (The grand pooh-bahs have spoken: "It's Jebbie's turn!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick; Admin Moderator

Hey admin moderator, why only delete my #67?

Why don’t you delete all my posts on this thread? They’re all contrary to the defeatist position that you apparently support.


73 posted on 08/17/2013 9:22:31 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: wintertime
nearly every teacher in this nation ( pre-K through graduate school) was trained by godless Marxists in Marxist dominated colleges and universities.

Yes, but the American people don't know that, nor do the teachers trained Marxists.

74 posted on 08/17/2013 9:22:44 PM PDT by Theodore R. (The grand pooh-bahs have spoken: "It's Jebbie's turn!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick
This thread is posted in the Religion Forum where, due to the very sensitive nature of the discussion, the main guideline is to "discuss the issues all you want, but do not make it personal."

When a post moves the thread away from the issues and towards the personal we may either remove the post or leave it with a warning to stop making it personal.

Other posts on the RF are "automatically" removed, e.g. use of potty language or references to potty language, quoting a banned source such as Chick publications, etc.

75 posted on 08/17/2013 9:30:21 PM PDT by Religion Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: Religion Moderator

Oh, I see. I didn’t realize this was a Religion Forum thread.

My bad!


76 posted on 08/17/2013 9:35:00 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“He is definitely pushing a new tone for this generation of evangelicals. “This is the end of ‘slouching toward Gomorrah,’ ” he says. Not only is the doomsaying not winning Christians any popularity contests, but he doesn’t think it’s religiously appropriate either.”

Where does the Bible say to pretend the culture is cool when it is not? Or that Christian evangelism is a popularity contest?

Does he want to excise, say, Jeremiah from the Bible?


77 posted on 08/17/2013 9:35:07 PM PDT by ModelBreaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick

No problem. It’s good to see you here.


78 posted on 08/17/2013 9:45:43 PM PDT by Religion Moderator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]

To: Religion Moderator

Okay, thanks RM.


79 posted on 08/17/2013 10:00:15 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: Religion Moderator

What? You’ve deleted my #66 too?

You guys are serious business I tell ya...


80 posted on 08/17/2013 10:09:22 PM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-90 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson