A Typology: Part Six

The Evangelicals
Now we enter the territory of the Postmodern American Church, or the Post-Post-Modern, or in other words, a rather silly place where terms are endlessly parsed in a what that the world has not seen since the Nicene Bishops spent so much time arguing over the iota in homoousia v. homoiousia.  I sort of blame the internet, but only sort of, because the internet has basically just given a forum for people to divide up into tribes in sort of a new way.
I am aware that there are people who are liberal who would also consider themselves evangelical, in the sense that they have a desire to share the good news of the Gospel with the world, and I am aware that there are conservative folks who have little apparent desire to do so, but for the sake of my own sanity, I am going to use the title Evangelical to refer to the brand of Christianity that most secular people picture when they picture anything but Roman Catholicism.  Evangelicals are right leaning but not fundamentalist, they have rather strong political convictions and tend towards Republican and lately towards Tea Party ideology.  Under the Evangelical Umbrella you have young Earth Creationists, Intelligent Design folks, and even the odd Darwinist, you have millennialists (pre and post tribulation), and you have some who aren't into the rapture at all.  In other words, they are far from homogenous.
So what makes them a type that is helpful to this little adventure?
Well, there are three things, but even these must be held with some flexibility, because of the post-modernity of the whole situation, people from this particular tent, will probably start naming examples, claiming to be examples of exceptions to the rule, but let's just say that, especially in this case: the exception proves the rule.  In other words, if you have to say, "I'm an evangelical but..." the following exception is probably a good example of a general rule.

1. Abortion: this became a huge deal in the late 1970s and on through the 1980s and largely fueled the rise of the "religious right" as a political force that is, even now, basically keeping a largely zombified GOP in some semblance of power.  The animus behind it is the idea that we are killing millions of human beings before they are born, and that is an a priori example of evil that should be right up there with Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot.  And I have to admit, the idea of killing babies in utero is rather abhorrent, even when I allow my utilitarian side to rule the day, and make it about women's rights and a poverty and social justice issue, I still cringe a little when I think of all the lives that could have been but aren't.  It is a galvanizing issue to be sure, and one in which we have a great deal of trouble even agreeing on terms: is it about "choice" or is it "sanctity of life?"  I'm not stupid enough to try and solve this one in a blog post, but if you're going to talk about what divides right from left in America, you can't ignore the big A.
2. Sexual Morality: Some historians will tell you that Christians haven't always been quite so hung up on sex, but in our current Victorian hangover phase, we absolutely are.  Maybe it's because we're so very indebted to Augustine, who abandoned his mistress and child to become a priest and who, (I think) had some serious Oedipal issues, but whatever the cause, Modern and by extension, Post-Modern Christianity definitely seems to worry a great deal about what people do with their genitalia.  Having lost the battle for strict monogamy as a cultural standard, Evangelical Christianity seems to have re-trenched momentarily over homosexuality, but is pretty much getting routed on that front as well.
3. Persecution complex: I suppose because of the general trend of getting beat up in the culture wars (that they sort of started), and not knowing when to just let go, Evangelicals tend to feel persecuted.  They're not, at least not in any sense that does justice to Christians around the world who actually are persecuted, but I suppose in our world, feeling that something is true almost makes it true.  Enter Fox "News," and their blatant fear-mongering that caters to the sort of political perspective that very closely mirrors an Evangelical mindset.  Being beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men, can really help a group to gel.  It's probably this, which is technically probably a result of the first two issues, that holds modern Evangelicalism together, despite significant diversity on other points.

Hold together they do though, and in many cases they manage to flourish, because finally, they've found a cause that "wins" in postmodern culture: alienation.  Yes folks, they have managed to breed a church that thrives on being "against the world," which has a biblical foundation to be sure.  And this is where I think we need them as the Body of Christ, because we're not particularly countercultural in the Mainline church.  They have obviously tapped into some sort of zeitgeist that is worth paying attention to: why do people in a nation as powerful and prosperous as the USA feel alienated?  Walker Percy asked this question and worked towards an answer in his book Lost in the Cosmos, which is wonderful and well worth reading, but let's just say the answer is complicated, and the evidence is still evolving within our culture.
We need conservatives to anchor us and keep us on course, to root us in traditions, even if the reasons and methods they use are sometimes a bit caustic.  Balance and stability are good and important things lets not forget that.