The Religion of Politics: The Galli Report

Also: Meet 'the Exhausted Majority' | You Don’t Own Your Body | The Philosophy of the Alt-Right | Church Names Redux | [View online]( [Give Now]( Advertisement [The Galli Report]( [Home]( [Podcast]( [Subscribe]( Friday, January 18, 2019 The Religion of Politics I read a number of articles in December that I haven’t had space to include. As these things go, most just fade away after a while. But I didn’t want that to happen to Andrew Sullivan’s “[America’s New Religions](”—yet another meta-analysis of our culture that I think hits a number of nails on their proverbial heads. After arguing that everyone is religious in one way or another, even atheists, he starts to explain why we have turned politics into religion: Liberalism is a set of procedures, with an empty center, not a manifestation of truth, let alone a reconciliation to mortality. But, critically, it has long been complemented and supported in America by a religion distinctly separate from politics, a tamed Christianity that rests, in Jesus’ formulation, on a distinction between God and Caesar. And this separation is vital for liberalism, because if your ultimate meaning is derived from religion, you have less need of deriving it from politics or ideology or trusting entirely in a single, secular leader. It’s only when your meaning has been secured that you can allow politics to be merely procedural. So what happens when this religious rampart of the entire system is removed? I think what happens is illiberal politics. The need for meaning hasn’t gone away, but without Christianity, this yearning looks to politics for satisfaction. And religious impulses, once anchored in and tamed by Christianity, find expression in various political cults. These political manifestations of religion are new and crude, as all new cults have to be. Careful GR readers will note his difference with Yoram Hazony, who [I quoted two weeks ago]( as saying that classic liberalism (not current American political liberalism) is not merely a set of procedures but a definite (and anti-Judeo-Christian) philosophy. I go back and forth on who is right about that, but for this week, I’ll side with Sullivan! How’s that for conviction? At any rate, there are many more insights in his essay. Meet “the Exhausted Majority” Hat tip to GR reader Jeff Yokey for pointing me to the website and project “[The Hidden Tribes of America](.” I like their analysis and goal: Our research concludes that we have become a set of tribes, with different codes, values, and even facts. In our public debates, it seems that we no longer just disagree. We reject each other’s premises and doubt each other’s motives. We question each other’s character. We block our ears to diverse perspectives. At home, polarization is souring personal relationships, ruining Thanksgiving dinners, and driving families apart. But this can change. A majority of Americans, whom we’ve called the “Exhausted Majority,” are fed up by America’s polarization. They know we have more in common than that which divides us: our belief in freedom, equality, and the pursuit of the American dream. They share a deep sense of gratitude that they are citizens of the United States. They want to move past our differences. You Don’t Own Your Body The January-February issue of CT is now out, and among its many virtues is [an editorial]( by CT Women editor Andrea Palpant Dilley, which begins, Modern feminism has spent the last century fighting to give women the freedom to have jurisdiction over their voting rights, their ambitions, and their bodies. Some of the movement has done great good. But some of it has done great harm by reinforcing a common and problematic idea: that women’s rights ought to be understood in terms of property rights. “Owning your own body” seems like a natural enough freedom—who wouldn’t want it?—but in fact, it delivers a reductionistic conception of human flourishing that fails both women and the unborn. And it only gets better from there. The Philosophy of the Alt-Right Here’s the type of article I most enjoy sharing in the GR—explainers of complex things. A lot has been said about the alt-right, but most of it (including stuff I’ve said!) can be superficial and uninformed. And then along comes an informed writer, who helps us get [a deep and wider grasp of what a movement or trend is about](. Almost everything written about the “alternative right” in mainstream outlets is wrong in one respect. The alt-right is not stupid. It is deep. Its ideas are not ridiculous. They are serious. To appreciate this fact, one needs to inquire beyond its presence on social media, where its obnoxious use of insult, obscenity, and racism has earned it a reputation for moral idiocy. The reputation is deserved, but do not be deceived. Behind its online tantrums and personal attacks are arguments of genuine power and expanding appeal. I wonder about one of author Matthew Rose’s arguments—that it is uniformly anti-Christian—because I can imagine (sadly) a Christian version of it. And though I’m still not convinced it is a widespread phenomenon, that doesn’t mean it’s not something to understand and take seriously. Church Names Redux Another HT goes to GR reader Chip Watkins who had a couple of follow-up links (like [here]( and [here]() on funny church names. The latter link includes a picture of a church sign in New Orleans, not far from where my latest grandson lives (er, and his parents): The Church of I Am that I Am. However, it doesn’t appear to have been active for some time. Some of these names remind me of my favorite denominational name: [Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists](. The Two Seed Baptists apply their Calvinism with utmost rigor: They only evangelize those they believe to be elect, and as one wag put it, they are “so Calvinistic that they would exclude John Calvin himself.” That’s not surprising, as I sometimes wonder if many Christian churches would welcome Jesus as a member, given his reputation as a connoisseur of fine wine ([John 2]() and his sometimes quarrelsome spirit and lack of respect for authority ([Matt. 23](. All this is infallible proof that either there is no God or he has great patience and an abiding sense of humor. Grace and peace, [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli](mailto:GalliReport@christianitytoday.com) Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today Advertisement More from Christianity Today [Spiritual Revolutionaries in an Age of Despair]( Theology [Spiritual Revolutionaries in an Age of Despair]( These practices of Anna and Simeon kept them faithful in a time of seeming hopelessness. Esau McCaulley [Read More]( [Pastor, Why Are You Hiding?]( [CT Pastors]( [Pastor, Why Are You Hiding?]( Sin-management strategies rarely work. It’s time to risk moving out from the shadows. Chuck DeGroat [Read More]( [No Sign Language in the World Has Its Own Bible Translation]( [Quick to Listen]( [No Sign Language in the World Has Its Own Bible Translation]( Deaf communities around the world are still waiting to experience God's Word in their first language. How much longer will it be? 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