Re: Who Speaks for Christianity?

Preston Davis — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:44:49 +0000

You’re correct, Peter, that the progressive side needs to have some inklings of doubt about possessing the correct vision of Christianity—as does the conservative side. Does Christian equal conservative? Of course not; nor is it liberal. The important part now is that each side continue to hear the other. By not paying attention to the voices of opposition, one’s perspective always clouds with the dangers of certainty.

Which is why this poll is needed. It lays the cards on the table. I’m not surprised by most of the material from this survey, but you have to admit how jarring it is to see the quantitative separation in values. Let’s review.

Executive Summary Highlights:

Issue/Value	Progressive	Conservative
Issue of Priority	74% – Poverty	83% – Abortion
Abortion Legalization	80% Yes	95% No
Same Sex Marriage	59% Yes	82% No
Comprehensive US Health Care	78% Yes	6% Yes
Iraq War Justified	80% No	35% Completely, 48% Probably
Separate Church & State	81% Yes	21% Yes

These are just some highlights. The report itself details gender, age, community, church attendance, importance (or lack of importance) of scripture, and on and on. It’s thorough. The random samples of 4,200 progressive activists and 3,000 conservative activists tells us what we may have presumed. Progressives’ interests are spread out while conservatives have their sights almost unanimously locked. For instance, conservatives have been pitted in the fight against Row v. Wade for almost 40 years now. Moving toward a half century means little, however, other than proving the issue remains an unclosed wound in the side of conservative Christians. Its sticking to an issue like that, for better or worse, that lends one a reliable and established voice. This is not to say progressives have not been doing the same on the reverse end. It’s simply that conservatives round the troops much more efficiently. There is always power in consensus. And this quite possibly is where the progressive position stumbles. Do we sense in that lack of consensus a lack to effective argument also?

More commentary on the report:
The Christian Post
The Center for Progressive Christianity

Who speaks for Christianity?

Peter Herman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:24:37 +0000

A popular trope among religious liberals and progressives is that there is a great, unrecognized majority of our kind. If the mainstream media would only seek out Jay Bakker or James Cone instead of Rick Warren or Pat Robertson, we’d get a more accurate image of contemporary Christian belief. It is a hopeful thought to hold and it is seductive in the suggestion that the socially conservative presence in Christianity today is being overreported. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be true.

A study published in September by Public Religion Research has revealed some thought-provoking statistics on this question. The survey queried both conservative and liberal activists who identify as religiously faithful. In the conservative camp, 99% identified as some variety of Christian. The liberals reported 71% of their numbers as Christian. While the data could be interpreted as the liberal activists being a more inclusive community, it also points to the notion that perhaps equating “Christian” and “conservative” may not be that inaccurate after all.

Resources:
Public Religion Research
Daniel Schultz at Religion Dispatches on this report

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Re: Who Speaks for Christianity?

Who speaks for Christianity?