(Fred is one of the long-time leading scholar-activists of America's religious culture wars. I'm pleased to have him speaking out here. - promoted by Paul Rosenberg)
The responses to something new and different can be as interesting as the new and different thing itself. Even the best of us sometimes have difficulty with new ideas, fresh approaches, and especially anything that challenges certain Conventional Wisdoms. Thanks to the invention of writing, we can see this play out when books and articles that question status quo thinking cause cognitive dissonance among the gate keepers. The intellectual debris left in the wake of such dissonance-induced crashes have much to teach us about the way things are and the nature of struggles that lie ahead.
The main reason why the Religious Right became powerful is not what most people may think. Some would undoubtedly point to the powerful communications media.
Others might identify charismatic leaders, the development of"wedge issues," or even changes in evangelical theology in the latter part of the twentieth century that supported, and even demanded, political action. All of these and more, especially taken together, were important factors. But the main reason for the Religious Right's rise to power has been its capacity for political action, particularly electoral politics.
Given my own repeated writing about the one-sided Gramscian "culture war"/"war of position" it's no wonder that I have a lot in common with him. But it's my hunch that I'm not the only one who does. His own welcoming diary begins on the flip.
And it is these words, and this man, that have inspired rabbi Dennis Shulman (D) to challenge conservative extremist Scott Garrett (R) in NJ-5 this 2008.
Like his spiritual forefather, Shulman has concluded that he can no longer speak about God and remain silent on Iraq, as well as many of the other pressing and important issues of our times.
One of the creepiest and least understood parts of the conservative coalition are the Christian Zionists, right-wing evangelicals looking to support a militant Israel and an attack on Iran as a way to bring on the rapture. Max Blumenthal's excellent work on these people is here. For starters, Joe Lieberman is a keynote speaker. Anyway, it appears that mainline religious organizations are now trying to work the left-wing angle on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
A coalition of U.S. mainstream churches urged presidential candidates to make a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top priority.
"Churches for Middle East Peace urges you -- as a candidate, and if you succeed, as President -- to support a two-state peace between Israelis and Palestinians as a top priority from the beginning of your administration and to commit yourself to stronger American diplomatic leadership toward the goal of a comprehensive regional settlement," said the letter sent Aug. 9 to all candidates. "Both sides have made serious mistakes. Neither has grasped the suffering of the other, and peace making efforts by the United States and the international community have been inadequate."
Churches for Middle East Peace brings together Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox , Mennonite and Quaker bodies.
I've never heard of Churches for Middle East Peace, and this should be a pretty non-controversial stance since the other side seems to take the stance of 'let's blow the Middle East up so the messiah can descend and send all non-believers to hell'. But I suppose framing it this way makes me antisemitic.
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