Onward, Christian Soldiers by Deal W. Hudson

Onward, Christian Soldiers by Deal W. Hudson

Author:Deal W. Hudson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00


Most of these complaints are long-standing—racism, imposition of morality, ignoring poverty—and go back to the first critiques of the Religious Right published in the early ’80s. Others, such as the charge of patriarchy, reflect a change in the dominant ideology of the left. It’s highly unlikely that the Religious Left is going to persuade anybody but themselves, and sympathetic secularists, to accept their view of religion. The steep decline in membership among mainline Protestant denominations can be traced to embracing precisely the religious perspective recommended by Wallis, Lerner, and their colleagues. And the Evangelicals they would like to woo away are products of churches that have consciously avoided making the mistake of trading supernatural salvation for a political platform.

The Religious Left constantly pounds away on the issue of poverty and how the Republican Party and its religious supporters ignore the gospel on this subject. The difference between them is not one of caring; both sides care. Religious conservatives, such as Jim Towey, former head of Bush’s faith-based initiative, advise to not look to government programs as the solution to this problem. The solution is getting out of the way of markets and letting a strong economy employ as many people as possible. More people will have the means to help the poor, not out of obligation to pay taxes but directly and charitably. On this score, it looks as if religious conservatives have done better than their liberal counterparts.

Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks published a book in November 2006 comparing the giving of liberals and conservatives that rocked the pundit world. Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism is one of those books that explode a stereotype once and for all. Brooks cites extensive data demonstrating that religious conservatives are three and a half times more generous than liberals. In other words, conservatives do more than verbally tout their preferences for charitable social services over government ones. They put their money into charities at a much higher rate than liberals, who ideologically defer the role of giving to the poor to the government. “For too long,” Brooks writes, “liberals have been claiming they are the most virtuous members of American society.” 24 Liberals have avoided taking personal responsibility for relieving poverty by demanding that government redistribute the nation’s wealth. Brooks writes, “In essence, for many Americans, political opinions are a substitute for personal checks.” 25

Brooks’s documentation and analysis show that religious conservatives give away more money than secular conservatives, secular liberals, or religious liberals—more than $1,000 per year more per family than the nation as a whole. 26 Religious conservatives are more likely to volunteer, give blood, and return change to merchants when mistakenly given back too much—regardless of their income level. Liberals, who give less to charity and spend less time doing volunteer work, talk about conservatives, and especially religious ones, as if they had no concern for those who suffer from economic and emotional need. It is the liberals who have the “charity deficit.” Brooks concludes



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