Having lived long enough to observe the ebb and flow of religious tides, it is no surprise now to be witnessing the resurgence of an optimistic Christian liberalism. Since I know more about what is happening in American Protestantism than in Catholicism or other religious traditions, I will limit my remarks to that corner of the world. Nor is it surprising to see how what has happened in the religious world has overflowed in a reciprocal dynamic with the nation’s social and political realities.
The last part of the 19th century and much of the early decades of the 20th witnessed a robust explosion of religious optimism. In the words of John R. Mott, a leader in the missionary enterprise, we were going to win the world for Christ in one generation. For Mott and others that meant improving the condition of the world’s people through medical, educational and agricultural missions. This spirit was reflected in our hymns. “Bring in the day of brotherhood, and end the might of wrong,” The Kingdom of God was coming, and we were going to build it. The watchword: “Every day in every way things are getting better and better.” This liberal social dynamic was in concert with a cultural stirring in the wider world evidenced by the seemingly unstoppable flow of human progress.
However, In the midst of this progressive euphoria there ensued two world wars and sandwiched in between a devastating depression and a flu epidemic that killed more people than the bubonic plague. Simultaneously, the buoyant spirit of religious liberalism was being countered by what is called “neo-orthodoxy,” mainly through the writings of Karl Barth modified by the realism of Reinhold Niebuhr. On the underside of this orthodox wave was the rise of Christian fundamentalism, evidenced by a split in the faculty of the Princeton Theological Seminary. The advent of American evangelicalism is the most obvious contemporary result. This rigid underbelly of American Protestantism became more concerned about right doctrine (orthodoxy) than about social transformation (orthopraxis). And on the fringe was the specter that there might arise an American egomaniac, a leader who would be supported by a vigorous evangelical tidal wave. Voila!
In more recent years the serious dialogue between main-line Protestantism, evidenced in the National and World Councils of Churches, and the conservative perspectives of Pat Robertson, Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell has been spirited at its best and destructive at its worst. While evangelical fervor has already now peaked and started on an inevitable downward spiral, the more liberal churches and the institutions they support have for some time been on the slide into societal irrelevance.
However, often overlooked is the progressive religious coterie centered in main line Protestantism that had already produced a remarkable record of social and political achievements. Consider its role in helping to end the disastrous Vietnam war in addition to promoting the civil rights movement, the struggle for the dignity and the rights of organized labor, the women’s movement and the inclusion of gays and lesbians -- to name just a few of its contributions. None of these social advancements would have been possible without the steady support of liberal religion.
Now there has come on the scene the resurgence of a vibrant new secular social and political liberalism seen most dramatically in are invigorated younger Democratic Party. Consider the 2018 House elections, the Green New Deal, the call for universal health insurance and the unfortunate use of the clouded term “socialism.” But note that this resurgence has come about practically without any visible support by the liberal Protestant church. Who now, except for a few of us, really pay much attention to what the National Council of Churches decrees? It is possible, however, that the residue of progressive Christian commitment had already formed the sturdy base of this resurgence. But its fervor now comes not from liberal religion but from a whole new generation of young “nones” and “no-longers” who have abandoned most forms of organized religion. While that may be true, they are reaping a fruitful harvest from a crop planted by their religiously committed parents and grandparents.
At the same time, despite the gloom currently smothering the political landscape, there is already at every level of society a rebirth of the older liberal optimistic fascination with progress. More about the appearance of this social optimism next week.
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