by Randall Balmer. New York: Basic Books, 2006. ISBN 0465005195. Hb., 242 pp., $24.95.
This book will anger, frighten and give hope.
Balmer is professor of American Religion at Barnard College, Columbia University, and visiting professor at Yale Divinity School. He is also a Baptist whose evangelical credentials are impeccable. He calls his book “An Evangelical’s Lament,” lament because the religious right has hijacked traditional evangelicalism, and, in its lust for political clout and legitimacy, has sold its soul to the ultraconservative wing of the Republican Party. To be perfectly fair, religious liberals in the sixties and seventies did likewise, often identifying Democratic Party platforms with the promise of the kingdom of God. But that was then; this is now. Have we learned nothing?
In two hundred pages Balmer covers several current topics that sharply divide us: the First Amendment on the clear separation of church and state, public education and vouchers for private schools, the teaching of “creationism” as science in public schools, and environmental concerns. What is most helpful is his exploration of specific issues separated from basic, underlying principles.
For example, many are concerned about the decline of moral standards and respect for religion in public education–a specific issue. I certainly am. But is it government’s duty to correct it, to do the work of church and home? At issue is the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state that every Christian who has had even a glimpse of history should honor. Whenever religion identifies with government and expects the state to give its sanction, not only does government lose its best, loving critic–Old Testament prophets being the prime example–but also religion itself loses its vitality. Balmer’s knowledge of American history gives clear proof of this danger. People who give a “knee-jerk” response to specific issues of the religious right, need to step back and ponder the underlying, basic principles being violated, principles inherent in a free and democratic form of government.
Equally alarming is the religious right’s selective use of certain biblical texts to support hot-button issues while ignoring others. Homosexuality is a case in point. In I Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul says that homosexuality and greed are equally sinful. Why make homosexuality a cardinal issue while remaining silent about greed? Is it because the reigning political party grants tax breaks for the rich and votes itself a raise in salary while refusing to increase the minimum wage, thus deepening the growing economic divide that is stratifying the middle class and preventing the poor from rising to middle class status? After all, a strong middle class has been the mainstay of our democracy. Balmer cites countless other examples of “selective literalism.”
Yes, this book angers, frightens and plants seeds of hope. I felt all three. But regardless of one’s political or religious persuasion, open minds can and will benefit from reading it. After all, freedom thrives, not when contrary ideas are denied or suppressed by political, ecclesiastical and academic powers, but when free and open discussion allows truth to come to light.
William R. Klein is pastor emeritus of Second Church in Roanoke, Va. Reprinted with permission of the Roanoke Times.
