Evangelicals Oppressed Because People Disagree With Them

A common refrain heard from the Christian Right these days is that Christians (which only means them, because liberals can't be 'real' Christians) are persecuted in America. These Christians possess a great deal of political power and influence, so how can they be 'persecuted'? For them, persecution means disagreeing with them.

Rachel Zoll writes:

Bill Leonard, dean of Wake Forest University Divinity School in North Carolina and a critic of the religious right, says evangelicals consider themselves oppressed only because some Americans disagree with them. “They want to be culture dominant,” Leonard said. [...]

John Green, an expert on religion and politics at the University of Akron, said evangelicals who feel slandered are responding partly to the added attention from their role in the presidential race. “Their very success has brought extra criticism that feeds this sense of being persecuted,” Green said. “Before, they felt a lack of respect. Now, they feel some hostility.” [...]

Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, a top evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif., said loss of influence in the broader culture is behind the frustration that persists no matter how many lawmakers Christian activists help elect.

“The idea that you are at the center of society, you’re a foundational institution, there’s been a move away from that,” said Gibbs, who thinks evangelicals are misunderstood but not persecuted. “I think the church is struggling to regain that, which in my personal view, ain’t gonna happen.”[San Francisco Chronicle]

The Christian Right has a lot of political clout, but despite this they have made very little progress in many of their biggest goals. Abortion is still legal. Homosexuality has not only failed to go back in the closet, but it is increasingly accepted and the prospects of legalized gay marriage keep getting better. Stem-cell research continues to make news and attract supporters. The government continues to be barred from sponsoring, supporting, or endorsing their religion.

In short, despite all their political successes they have failed to acquire the power necessary to change American culture. It hasn’t occurred to them yet that they won’t be able to achieve their goals simply by acquiring political power in a democracy like America. If they could acquire undemocratic power, like through a dictatorial takeover, they could, but not in a pluralistic and diverse society governed by a democracy.

Thus, unless the Christian Right intends some sort of takeover, they have been wasting the resources all these years. They should have been investing time, money, and effort into changing people and setting a better example that people would want to follow. Instead, they dove into politics and, in the process, demonstrated that they weren’t any better than any other interest group out there.

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