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AMERICA’S CULTURE WARS: In Search of a Third Way
The upcoming election between George W. Bush and John Kerry is likely to be one of the most divisive presidential elections in American history. A major reason for this divisiveness is the ongoing culture wars in America reflecting a deeply polarized church.

The polarization in the American church is between those on the politically-correct left in a number of mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and the religious right that is clearly the most influential force in the American evangelical movement.

Those on the politically-correct left are a small but increasingly influential group within mainline churches. Of course Christians in mainline protestant and Catholic churches reflect a broad range of political views. Those who are a part of these churches are working for a number of causes that Christians from many traditions can affirm, including their concern for the poor, environmental stewardship, and racial justice. However, the politically-correct left tends to work to support the political advocacy of the most progressive edge of the Democratic Party. Some from this group demonize the religious right in order to secure support for agendas advocating individual choice regarding reproduction and sexual-preference issues.

The religious right comprises a major movement within American evangelicalism. A number of issues expressed by evangelicals and those on the religious right could also be affirmed by Christians from many other traditions, including the concern for the integrity of families, moral behavior in society, and religious liberty. However, those who are a part of the religious right are very nationalistic and tend to support the views of the most conservative side of the Republican Party. As leaders in the religious right promote agendas not only to limit abortion and gay marriage but to cut back government funding for many of the social programs that serve those at the margins, they often demonize those on the other end of the political spectrum. One frequently hears the mantra on Christian radio regarding the threat posed by a small elite group of liberals, secular humanists, and feminists in Washington DC who they accuse of seeking to destroy the Christian family, our basic freedoms such as the right to bear arms, and everything else that many evangelicals care about.

Christine and I work regularly with evangelicals and charismatic Christians in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and a number of other countries. Curiously, we have yet to find there anything equivalent to America’s culture wars. We typically find that, in these countries, Christians from opposite ends of the theological spectrum often work together on social programs for the needy and on political advocacy for a number of legislative initiatives.

Nor have we found anything that approximates the American religious right anywhere else in the world. In fact evangelicals in these countries tend to be all over the road map politically. They don’t feel an obligation to be a part of either the political right or left. However, they generally tend to be more progressive in their political views than their American counterparts. And they are put off by American evangelicals who are inclined to confuse the agendas of the kingdom with the agenda of the United States....