The outline of the story is well known. The Evangelical churches and Creationism grew strongly after the Civil Rights Era, in spite of severe competition from the more theologically Liberal mainstream churches. The New Baptist Covenant, organized with the support of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, represents the Liberal Evangelical movement. Black churches are also evangelical, but nothing like the Southern Baptist Convention.
The book is good on the history and prehistory of these developments, going back to the British roots of many American denominations, the schisms over slavery, and the vast theological gulfs between the Fundamentalists and the Modernists. It follows through the twists and turns of the White Christian Strategy as Evangelical Protestants first accepted Catholics and then Mormons as allies. Unfortunately, the narrative breaks off before the Trump election, although it does go into the Tea Parties and Birtherism.
Right now the megachurches and Liberty University are deeply mired in scandal.
Then there is Trump, who was hailed as the Hand of God because of all of the biased and incompetent judges being forced onto the courts by the Federalist Society, Trump, and McConnell. Substantial numbers of the remaining Evangelicals are now concluding that the price was too high.
The book ends with eulogy for White Christian America, explaining how White churches are going through the usual stages of mourning, from anger and denial to bargaining and grudging acceptance.
Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it may well be the end of the beginning.
Winston Churchill, speaking of the Battle of El Alamein
Comments in the Media
Let us dispose of the Denialists first.
LOL.
Mar 21, 2019 - Evangelicals—grouped in this survey by church affiliation—continue to make up around 22.5 percent of the population as they have for much of …
You will note that they are down from 30.0% since Reagan-Bush
Are evangelical churches growing or not? It would seem doubtful given that nearly every other religious category is either merely maintaining or declining.
