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Gloryland: Christian Suburbia, Christian Nation PDF

189 Pages·2007·0.67 MB·English
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P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 GL(cid:1)ORYLAND Christian Suburbia, Christian Nation H. B. CAVALCANTI iii P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Cavalcanti,H.B.,1956– Gloryland:Christiansuburbia,Christiannation/H.B.Cavalcanti. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex. ISBN978–0–313–34812–9(alk.paper) 1.Conservatism—Religiousaspects—Christianity. 2.Religionand politics—UnitedStates. 3.UnitedStates—Churchhistory. I.Title BR115.C66C38 2007 261.7—dc22 2007027852 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright(cid:1)C 2007byH.B.Cavalcanti Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2007027852 ISBN:978–0–313–34812–9 Firstpublishedin2007 PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.praeger.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 iv P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 TotheGnosticSisters, fortheirlivingκoıνoν´ıα v P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 vi P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 CONTENTS Preface ix 1. OnwardChristianSoldiers:TheNewChristianConservatism 1 2. WilltheCircleBeUnbroken?Co-optingModernity 19 3. GodShedHisGraceonThee:ColonizingthePublicSquare 45 4. BlestBetheTiethatBinds:DefendingReligiousLiberty 71 5. HisTruthIsMarchingOn:PublicMoralsandPublicFaith 97 6. ShallWeGatherattheRiver?ReligiousZealandAmerican Pluralism 117 Notes 133 References 159 Index 175 vii P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 viii P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 PREFACE This book represents a personal effort to understand an important and recent development in American Christianity. Christian conservatism, the subject of itsanalysis,hasexistedformostofthiscountry’shistory,butisnowinaprocess of reinventing itself. In its original mode, the faith was mostly practiced at the marginsoftheAmericanreligiousscene,outsidethelargersanctuariesofcolonial churches, or the 1950s’ growing suburban congregations of middle-class Chris- tianity.Surprisingly,bytheendofthetwentiethcentury,whatwasoncemarginal hasgrowninsizeandimportancetobecomeoneofthedominantforcesinAmer- icanreligion.Forthoseofuswhostudyreligion,therepercussionsofthechange haveyettobefullyunderstood.Howdidittakeplace?Howisittransformingthe faith?Howhasitchangeditsrelationshipwiththelargersociety? ManymightclaimthatinthisbookIpaintconservativeChristianitywithtoo broadastroke,andthatmyanalysiscombinestraitsofmanygroupsanddenom- inations, without the clinical sociological precision of more rigorous, empirical tests. Since this is not a study of a particular group (evangelicals for instance) or denomination (Assemblies of God, say), my approach cannot rely as readily ondemographicdataorsurveyresultsthatmaychartthechangesIdescribe.By necessity, what is described in the following pages is an ideal type, thegeist of afaith,somethingbroaderthanalldenominations,congregations,andreligious groupsthatitencompasses. This is not a book about the details of all the groups that fall within the abstractcategoryIcallconservativeChristianity.Rather,theworkexamineshow alargesegmentoftheAmericanfaithfularebeingChristianstoday.Itdescribes a certain way of looking at the world, of reacting to it, and finding a sense of callingandbelonging.Onethingiscertain—thesefolksareclearlyveryserious ix P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 x Preface abouttheirreligiouscallingandaboutbringingtheirfaithtobearuponAmerica’s publicsquare.Somethingisenergizingthisgenerationofconservativebelievers andthatdeservesourattention.Understandingtheirmotivation,themeansby whichtheyaretransformingtheirfaith,isimportant. Max Weber’s ideal type is a useful methodological tool for the task at hand. It offers a strategy to avoid “the individualizing and particularizing approach ofGermanGeisteswissenschaftandhistoricism”(Coser1977: 223).Convinced thathumanrealityinitsempiricalstatewasfarmorevaried,fluid,andcomplex thananysocialsciencemodelcouldevercapturewithscientificprecision,Weber thought the ideal type would provide a handy analytical construct that isolated certain critical traits of a given phenomenon and then measured them against the concrete case at hand. Anideal type describes the broader characteristics of a phenomenon and its consequences for life in society. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber offers shows how sociological analysis can benefit from the use of ideal types. The work examines in detail the Protestant worldviewfoundinPietismandCalvinism,notonlythroughitsstructuralaspects ordoctrinaldisputations,butalsoinitsgeist.Thenitconnectsthatworldviewto theeconomicsphere. Weber’sbookmodelshowaworldviewcanbecapturedthroughanidealtype, allowing the investigator to understand why people participate in society in ratheruniqueways,withadistinctsetofvaluesandbeliefsthatalsoaffectsthe roles they play within their groups and the larger community. It is no wonder that Weber’s use of verstehen is an integral part of that process. One needs to understand the religious world from the point of view of those who are living it.FollowingtheWeberianexample,thisbookisnotanexhaustivedescription of the empirical phenomenon it examines, but rather an idealized viewpoint of conservativeChristianity.Hopefullyitsynthesizesthefaith’suniqueaspectsina clear-sightedmanner.Unlikeanypossiblestatisticalmodel,thisanalysisdoesnot seektorepresenttheaverageformofChristianconservatism,butratheritsspirit— thevisionandpracticesthatmovethefollowersofthisdynamicformofreligion. CurrentconservativeChristiansareseekingnewwaystoincreasetheirpresence inAmerica’spublicarena.Theyaredoingsotochallengewhattheyperceiveto bethethreateningforcesofsecularmodernity.Intheprocesstheyarereinventing theirfaith.Forthepasttwenty-fiveyearsconservativeChristianshaveplayedan importantroleinAmerica’spublicarena;andtheirreadingofAmericanreality hasreorientedpublicdebateinsignificantways.Butithasalsoaffectedthefaith’s cosmologyandrelationshiptothelargersociety. One would hope that this analysis would meet the methodological standards set by Weber, but it is extremely difficult to replicate the old master’s genius. The more modest goal here is to employ his methodological construct to shed lightonarecentreligiousdevelopment.ProfessorLewisCosersuggeststhat“ideal typesenableonetoconstructhypotheseslinkingthemwiththeconditionsthat broughtthephenomenonoreventintoprominence,orwithconsequencesthat P1:000 GGBD154FM C34812/Cavalcanti TopMargin:5/8in GutterMargin:3/4in September13,2007 12:51 Preface xi followfromitsemergence”(1977:224).Inthatspirit,thisbooktriestodoalittle bitofboth.ItreviewstheconditionsthatbroughtconservativeChristianityinto prominenceinthelatetwentiethcentury,andexaminessomeoftheconsequences ofitsnewlygainedstrength. ThecentralityoftheconservativeChurchintheAmericanreligioussceneis bothrecentandunexpected.Mostsociologicalliteraturefromthe1960stillthe early1980sexpectedsecularizationtocontinuetopushreligionintotheprivate sphereofAmericanlife.Therewasalsoaclearexpectation thatreligionwould continuetoloseitsholdintheAmericanimagination.Whathappened,inmany ways,wasexactlytheopposite. Sinceallresearchhasanelementofbiography,thisworktoorevisitspartsofmy personaljourney.FrommyconservativeChristianchildhood,tothetheological and legal training of my young adulthood, to my sociology graduate days in mid-life, I have followed the development of this new form of conservative faith with great interest. First, as someone personally affected by its developing trends—watching how its changes affected people who had invested a lifetime in the faith. Later, as a student of religion, my concern translated into a more sociologicalquest.Thesocialsciencesofferedmeabroaderwindowwithwhich to analyze conservative Christianity. They also added depth perception to my analysis (hopefully, taming some personal biases along the way). My concern gradually moved from the personal level to becoming an academic enterprise, dealingwitharesearchproblem. Thereis,ofcourse,adebtofgratitudetothosewhoaidedmeinthisjourney. First, to those who interested me in the study of American Christianity: my Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professors—Larry McSwain and Paul Simmons,andmymentorsintheGraduateDepartmentofReligionatVanderbilt University—HowardHarrod,EugeneTeSelle,andPeterParis.Mygratitudeisalso extendedtotheVanderbiltSociologyfaculty,whohelpedmebetterunderstand grassrootsorganizingandsocialmovements(religiousorsecular).So,mythanks toLarryDiamond,GeorgeBecker,DanCornfield,andKarenCampbell. TotheirnamesIaddthenamesofcolleagueswhohelpedmecultivatethecraft of research at the University of Richmond: Ted Lewellen and Ray Wingrove in Sociology, Del McWhorter in Philosophy, Scott Johnson in Rhetoric and Communications,andTerrylGivensandLewisSchwartzinEnglish. At an experiential level, I’m grateful too to friends who have dedicated a lifetimeofservicetothebroaderChurch.Theyinspireandchallengemyunder- standingofAmericanChristianity.SomyheartfeltthankstoDonSteele(Pastor, WestminsterPresbyterianChurchinGallup,NM),JohnMackandBarbaraGer- lach(Pastors,FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist,Washington,DC), BobButziger(Chair,WesternRegion,AmericanCounselingAssociation),Har- monWray(Director,PrograminFaithandCriminalJustice,VanderbiltDivinity School),andDanielBagby(TheodoreF.AdamsProfessorofPastoralCare,Bap- tistTheologicalSeminaryinRichmond,VA).

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Christian conservatism has changed drastically in the last 25 years. From the working-class faith of small, autonomous rural churches or storefront sanctuaries to the megachurches of the suburbs and the halls of power—Congress and the White House—the faith is no longer at the margins of American
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