I heard a very interesting comment on the way home from work tonight which got me thinking. There was an Evangelical commentator on NPR who was describing this weeks election as an "unmitigated disaster". This person went on to describe how the Religious Right no longer has the clout to be kingmakers such as they were in the late 80's and 90's. How even though they tried desperately to nominate... any candidate except "the Mormon", they failed and still ended up with the Mormon. How, even though they marched in lockstep to elect their Republican candidate their numbers were insufficient to overcome the rising tide of a nation made up of an increasingly diverse population. And, for the good, bad or indifferent, our nation's population is indeed becoming more and more diverse.
Yet this statement, paraphrased more or less by me from this self proclaimed mouthpiece of white evangelical Christendom, misses an even more important point. That is the floodtide of religious voters outside the evangelical ranks away from the GOP. The demographics are showing that the vast majority of Hispanic Catholics, Black Protestants, and those of the Jewish faith, not to mention an overwhelming majority of the "non-affiliated" religious voters, fled the GOP tent for the inviting openness and abundant tolerance of the other party. And until the GOP engages in some sincere soul searching, and inaugurates some fundamental changes, they won't be back.
But perhaps this is really for the best. To me, the politicalization of religion destroys the true meaning of religion. After all, religion, in its purest sense at least, is really no more than the attempt of the individual to commune with the Creator. When religion attempts to become more than this, when it become a movement for political or social change, what it becomes is no longer religion. Religion, like Truth, loses its vitality when it is forced into the strict mold of social convention. Religion, like Truth is fluid and non-static. It dies when it is restricted into a tenant, forced to conform to a law, or imprisoned into a "holy book". Religion is the one thing we have which is truly our own, and it should stay that way. Let the life you live be a reflection of your religion, for actions speak much louder than words.
This, of course is not to say that religionists should not be active participants in social movements, even in politics. But is to say that Religionists must function in society, in industry, and in politics as individuals, not as groups, parties, or institutions. A religious group which presumes to function as such, apart from religious activities, immediately becomes a political party, an economic organization, or a social institution. Religious collectivism must confine its efforts to the furtherance of religious causes The kingdom of heaven is neither a social nor economic order; it is an exclusively spiritual brotherhood of God-knowing individuals. True, such a brotherhood is in itself a new and amazing social phenomenon attended by astounding political and economic repercussions. The religionist is not unsympathetic with social suffering, not unmindful of civil injustice, not insulated from economic thinking, neither insensible to political tyranny. Religion influences social reconstruction directly because it spiritualizes and idealizes the individual citizen. Indirectly, cultural civilization is influenced by the attitude of these individual religionists as they become active and influential members of various social, moral, economic, and political groups.
So perhaps the lesson to be learned for the Evangelical community from this election is "Let it Go!". Loose the self imposed restrictions which you have placed upon yourselves and work as your Master would have wanted you to work, as individuals, not as "Christian Coalitions".