By: Christy

Christy — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 22:18:43 +0000

I’m a little tired of the tendency, both in the media and the blogosphere, to assume that the prevailing attitudes of the American white middle-class evangelical Christian subculture is the prevailing attitude of Christians in general, so I’ll make a few points:
1. Not all - or even most - American Christians are white. The African-American and Latino churches may have their faults, but mindlessly supporting the Republican Party is not one of them. In most large cities in the U.S., there are more non-white Christians than white, so why do the white Christians keep getting all the attention?
2. White American Christians are not monolithic, and there is far more diversity of opinion than popularly supposed, even in the evangelical world, particularly for those under 40 and particularly among women. There are a lot of us - we just don’t get much media attention and don’t have much access to the positions of power in the evangelical institutions - or to the god-blog A-list.
3. Neither I, nor any of my Christian friends, pay all that much attention to the religious right or the supposed evangelical spokespeople. We’re asking different questions and living in a different world and speaking a different language. I think the credibility of the recognized “Christian” leaders among the under 40 crowd is far less than they suppose.
4. Although some are politically conservative, none of the American Christian bloggers on my blogroll would see their faith and conservative politics as inextricably linked.(well, maybe one) They’re smart, honest, ask good questions, and good writers to boot. Maybe ya’ll should read them.

By: deb

deb — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:38:17 +0000

“Is it possible to persuade my brothers and sisters there that Conservative politics and Christian faith are not so intimately bound together as they assume?” I don’t think anyone can be convinced of that until they’re ready to stretch and look outside the box. I’m speaking from my own experience. It’s just the past several months that God has been rocking my boat. I’m seeing everything (my political views included) change in drastic ways. What’s been interesting is that my relationship with God and my faith, have never been stronger or richer. At the same time my views are becoming much more liberal. I think when someone finally allows the freedom and grace God offers to permeate their being, those qualities spill over into other areas. That didn’t start to happen for me until I began searching, reading, praying, and yes even blogging. I guess I grew tired of blindly accepting all that I had been fed. I don’t know if I’m expressing myself clearly here. I’m short on caffeine this morning

Comments on: Tracking trends

By: Christy

By: deb