The evangelical movement's eye-popping numbers (new megachurches are opening as mainline churches shrink), cultural power (think The Purpose Driven Life or crossover hits from Christian radio), and political success (George W. Bush, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty, etc.) makes it easy to forget that evangelical Christianity is very much a countercultural phenomenon.Even as it adapts to the contemporary American cultural landscape—look at Rick Warren's Hawaiian shirts or the number of megachurches that now boast coffee shops—the American evangelical movement nonetheless defines itself as separate from the rest of the country.
"Religions that grow are the ones that are hard-core in some way—they have something that differs sharply from the culture in which they operate," Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University, told me recently. "That's the problem with mainline Protestantism: It's not different enough from mainstream America. Evangelicals have been able to pitch themselves as the alternative to mainstream culture."
Does this remind of you of someone?
During last year's campaign, the Republican vice presidential nominee portrayed herself as fighting not only the liberal media elite but the McCain campaign itself and the broader GOP establishment.
Palin has reportedly modeled her leadership on the biblical Queen Esther, who pulled off a long-shot gambit to save the Jews from an oppressive king. When she stepped down as Alaska's governor this year, Palin quoted Esther directly in reference to her own political future: "If I die, I die."
Palin's much anticipated memoir, to be released next month, is poised to solidify her appeal to the embattled evangelical psyche. Just look at the title: Going Rogue. With the book already in the No. 1 slot on Amazon, the pitch seems to be resonating.
There's a reason for that. Sarah's appeal isn't just because she's "one of us", although that's certainly true.
I believe Sarah's appeal is more easily explained: she has that "something that differs sharply from the culture". She stands for rock-solid principles which have made this country great, and which the leftists/statists/marxists/progressives (did I leave anyone out?) can't figure out.
She resonates with people who loved Ronald Reagan, again for cause: she believes those things, and won't waiver on them. President Reagan once said, "A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell numbers. This is the very basis of conservatism."
The "progressives" and the formerly-mainstream media - now on the ragged edge of the fringe - will never understand her, nor grasp why she's so popular. They'll put up with almost anything, except conservatives and Christians.
Like the rapidly-growing churches, Sarah Palin stands for something. She is a hard-core traditional conservative who won't accept anything less.
We shouldn't have to, either.(cross-posted at ThePalination)
1 comment:
Excellent post.
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