Christianity, Pluralism, and Public Life

Luis Cortes described what he saw as a “decline in the moral fiber of Christian leadership within the two-party structure.”
Christianity, Cortes said, “has been co-opted by two political parties who have demanded that even the Christians within the
parties toe the line…And so that’s a problem because we were a medium for dialogue within the political structures and that
medium has been lost.”
Politics loomed large in leaders’ analysis of what is going wrong with Christians’ witness in public in several other ways. The
way Christians have and are perceived to have responded to President Donald Trump was a concern. Andy Crouch pointed,
in particular, to Trump’s most vocal and prolific evangelical supporters, and explained that “there’s this celebration and
aiding and abetting of his fundamental untruthfulness and arrogance that I just think is... It’s almost incalculably damaging,
given how ready the media is to use them as representatives of an entire movement.” Even though the Christian leaders most
directly connected to Trump are not particularly representative of the wider Christian community, they do speak for some
Christians. As Crouch continued, “But of course, it seems that the movement... That they really represent something, it’s not
just three guys who happen to have stages. Their followers really do, by and large seem, as near as I can tell, to share their
willingness to kind of wink at what makes him, to me, just such a singularly unqualified person to be president.”
Some leaders argued that Christians are too dependent on politics and government. Ed Stetzer, for example, said that
Christians on both the right and left have the false assumption that “political power will ultimately save us.” Andy Crouch
also described this phenomenon: “Politics has always been contested and high stakes in various ways, but it didn’t used to
be thought of as the realm of ultimate concern…And it just feels like it has become the ultimate thing for all sides and has
displaced religion in claiming a kind of ultimate allegiance. So people who have a different allegiance that puts them out of
alignment find themselves in a really tough spot.” From the vantage point of Crouch and several others, many Americans now
put more faith in politics than in God.
SCANDAL, CORRUPTION, AND SPIRITUAL FAILINGS
Aside from politics, leaders worried about the impact of scandal and corruption on how Christians are perceived in the public
square. Many took responsibility for addressing it and rebuilding trust, while also acknowledging the long-term damage and
loss resulting from stories of scandal. Archbishop Gregory noted that “in our society, organized religion has taken a big hit
over the past generation. Much of it has been self-inflicted with the awful scandals that have erupted in the Church. But also,
we have not been able to present, I believe, an effective response to the secularization, I should say, of our society.”
Christians are running scared
right now, and so they are
reacting. We’re having a
politics largely run by fear of
the other, as opposed to faith,
hope, and love.
—Rev. Tish Harrison Warren,
Priest, Church of the Ascension,
Pittsburgh, PA
Some leaders criticized Christians for their lack of courage in the public
square. Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, identified
a spirit of timidity that led Christians to not be active enough out of a
“lack of confidence to speak boldly out of fear” of public reprisal. Charlie
Echeverry spoke of other Christian leaders being “very tentative about
even mentioning things that are principle-based because of the fear of
being somehow associated with ‘you’re making a political point.’”
Fear also arose in a different context from Diana Butler Bass, who argued
that “issues of power and privilege and fears about demographic change
are creating an environment in which many white Christians are failing
to see the moment clearly.” Tish Harrison Warren expressed a similar
sentiment, saying that she felt like Christians are running scared right
now, and so they are reacting. “We’re having a politics largely run by
fear of the other, as opposed to faith, hope, and love. Evangelicals, in
32 | Christianity, Pluralism, and Public Life in the United States