I can't think of any book recently written that tackles the Christian's relationship to power that has poked at so many sensitive areas. The discussion of this book has at times been charged, but you've all behaved yourself -- even when you've disagreed. And we have been fortunate enough to have had Balmer himself show up on the blog to clarify and respond. So... keep it up. The big question I ask of you today is not whether or not you think you could nuance Balmer, but whether the big picture is right: Has the RR [religious right] clamored after power? Has it lost its prophetic voice? [ ]
He [Balmer] asks, what would America look like if the RR had its way? They would "take the country back to the seventeenth century" and "impose their vision of a moral order on all of society" (181). In other words, Balmer sees the RR to be the 21st Century's embodiment of American Puritanism. Both groups are frightened by pluralism.
Religion, he argues over and over, is best left at the margins rather than at the seat of power: it corrupts and it becomes corrupted. [ ] There is a trend toward anabaptism in the evangelical movement, and I'm thankful for it.
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