Who Speaks for America's Evangelicals?
-
Stephen McGarvey Stephen McGarvey's weblog
- Updated Aug 06, 2007
The outspoken, politically conservative James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson may not always be the brand of leader Christian evangelicals are looking for, according to an article in USA Today.
Journalist and author Mark Pinsky (who I interviewed on an unrelated matter years ago) has a great feature on this topic today. Who will lead tomorrow’s evangelicals? Pinsky believes as these enormously influential figures come to the end of their careers, the “emerging face and voice” of the next generation of Christian leaders will be much different than the current guard.
Will it continue to be bombastic, GOP-leaning, Southern preachers, such as the late Jerry Falwell, and strident, hard-line broadcasters such as Pat Robertson and Focus on the Family's James Dobson? I don't think so. From my neighborhood in the suburban Sunbelt, it is clear that a subtle, incremental but nonetheless tectonic shift is under way. And this is more than what Freud called "the narcissism of small differences."
These new evangelical leaders may be different primarily in style rather than substance, but this shift will be significant to the movement. Says Pinsky:
[The future leaders] want to change the tone of the national political debate, making it less confrontational, and to open the movement to tactical coalitions with mainline Christian denominations, other faiths and even liberal secularists on a broad spectrum of issues.
Read the full article: Who speaks for America's evangelicals? “The answer is not as clear-cut as in years past. In fact, a younger generation of ministers is changing the face and voice of this very influential constituency. With the 2008 election approaching, that's no small thing.”