The Paradox of Influence
The Paradox of Influence
Evangelicalism became the political and cultural baseline for measuring the status of religion in American public life. The dissemination of two influential metaphors—Richard John Neuhaus's “naked public square” and James Davison Hunter's “culture wars”—demonstrated how evangelicalism was woven into key interpretations of the times. Many who shaped those symbols—not least a group of “thoughtful evangelicals,” such as historians Mark Noll and George Marsden, who received support from the Lilly Endowment and the Pew Charitable Trusts—were themselves believers or fellow-travelers. Late twentieth-century evangelicalism was paradigmatic in ways both obvious and subtle. Ralph Reed's ambitious Christian Coalition and other born-again banes of President Bill Clinton turned the impeachment scandal into a kind of evangelical drama. Whether the setting was Colorado Springs or Willow Creek Community Church, or a Habitat for Humanity worksite or a Promise Keepers rally, evangelical civil society proliferated.
Keywords: Richard John Neuhaus, James Davison Hunter, Mark Noll, George Marsden, thoughtful evangelicals, Lilly Endowment, Pew Charitable Trusts, Ralph Reed, Colorado Springs, Willow Creek, Habitat for Humanity, Promise Keepers
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