The New Christianity

A disclaimer, I am an atheist but do go to church (Unitarian Universalist). I don’t espouse, as Karl Marx did, that "Religion is the opium of the masses". I do think we have to be careful about extreme dogma.

Religious conservatism now is more intentional and mission-driven and a post-secular formation. The Christian right’s bargain with the current administration could look less corrupting and more necessary.

The Kirk service was more religious than political, with a portrait of the slain father and husband emphasizing his faith over his political activism — but his memorial unfortunately was still a fundamentally right-wing and Republican affair. The good is still very good. Erika Kirk’s act of forgiveness should be remembered for a very long time.

It was a statement of evangelical resilience and an indicator of enduring religious influence within the G.O.P.. But controlling a political coalition is not the same thing as converting a culture..

Traditional Christianity in the past was seen as an overly ideological and factional persuasion by many Americans. There was some distance between partisan conservatism and Christian faith.

But if the Republican Party becomes identified with Christian revivalism and vice versa, then any Christian renewal could hit a ceiling outside the distinctive culture of the G.O.P.

Then there’s also the question of how much the ongoing requirements of the administration are still influencing conservative Christianity for the worse. The new religious conservatism as a mind-set that seeks an “assertive common good Christianity” that aspires to “anchor society in the stability and order that flow from Christian ethics.” There are a lot of Christians who think of their faith’s public witness in this way — as a moral and spiritual answer to the dissolving influences of the 21st century

But there are also versions of religious conservatism that cheerfully participate in our era’s very online cycles of scapegoating while forgetting the key moral concerns of religious conservatism from abortion to foreign aid to the public morals of our politicians.

And there is also very clearly the public Christians have to constantly prove that they, too, are tough enough and mean enough, willing to cross the line or play the bully or break the moral norm if that’s what it takes to stand by the boss or stick it to the libs.

And so it is today. We are enduring vengeance. Far too few experience Christian kindness. It is a great tragedy of our time that so many Christians see a divine plan on what’s happening today/

Unitarian Universalism embraces peace, love, and understanding that goes beyond individual belief systems.

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