With God on our Side?

William Martin's, With God on our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America (Broadway Books, 1997) is a great read for someone like myself who is finding increasing dissonance between my evolving views on politics and my conservative upbringing within the Religious Right. It is clear that Martin feels little sympathy with American conservatives, but this does not generally get in the way of his helpful analysis. Although the book is written for a popular audience, Martin effectively links the activism of today’s conservative Christians with a broader Protestant heritage rooted in the evangelicalism of the 18th century and the social activism of the 19th. Although I recognize these elements within evangelical history, I am always hesitant to ascribe too much continuity across large swaths of time – contextualization inevitably suffers. However, it is helpful to see the broader historical narrative and place this generation of political activists within an historical framework.

Conservative evangelicals may feel challenged by this text on a number of levels. Martin helps us see that the efforts of the Religious Right in the political arena have often been short sighted, entangled by partisan wrangling and generally have lacked an authentic commitment to justice, compassion and charity – even under the guise of “compassionate conservatism.” This inevitably raises the question of evangelicalism’s saliency within the contemporary political scene and the Right's consistency with Christian ideals. Many evangelicals would, for these reasons, hesitate to blindly follow the standard raised by James Dobson, the late Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. And if my conversations with students on the (Christian) campus where I teach is any indication, the emerging generation is looking for a better way to engage the public arena. In discussing With God on our Side with my students this semester, it is clear that they are looking for a Christian witness that goes beyond the prevailing paradigm of the Christian Right’s political agenda. They seek to be authentically engaging, intellectually sophisticated, committed to justice and equality, and to the powerful witness of the Prophet Micah’s words -- "do justly ... love mercy ... walk humbly."