Rhetoric Race and Religion
Robert D. Putnam, the Bowling Alone author and social scientist, spoke recently in Louisville, KY, hosted by several churches and a temple. His book, American Grace, co-authored with David E. Campbell, has been out since 2010, but the book’s message has yet to sink in. Their subtitle, How Religion Divides and Unites Us, is no chiasmus, but points to a chasm between Right and Left in American religious life. The chasm was opened up first by the sexual revolution of the late ‘60’s, then by the reaction called the Religious Right, and now by young people reacting against the political power of conservative religion. The chasm is overcome on the personal level by a surprising amount of tolerance, an American grace, but such tolerance may mean little for the mainline church or social justice.
This editorial will summarize the American Grace argument and identify some of its implications for justice-oriented faith. Just to state one of the biggest at the outset: if young people find the “Church” most intolerant on issues of sexuality and gender, should the PC(USA) and other mainline bodies not be clearer about their support for gay and lesbian people, rather than moderate their views and continue to be lumped negatively with “religion?” And even if young people are more turned off by hypocrisy than turned on by justice, should churches not try to give more of a justice vision and identify themselves more strongly with a greener and more egalitarian future? If not, the real danger Putnam and Campbell point to is that baggage from the Religious Right will continue to erase our witness in a shallow and reactive culture.
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