Michael Kazin
The New Republic
“The Christian Right is a fading force in American life,” said Michael Kazin. For more than two decades, conservative Christianity has had a powerful hold on the Republican Party, but this once-monolithic political movement is now “fighting a losing battle with the rest of the country.” Despite vehement opposition by evangelicals, public support for same-sex marriage now tops 50 percent in national polls. Two thirds of Americans have endorsed the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” A majority of Americans continue to support legal abortion in the early months of pregnancy, and it’s unlikely that a Republican president would ever sign a law “that could lead to the indictment of millions of women.”
The old Christian coalition is now run by aging, largely faceless men whose Old Testament worldview has little appeal to the increasingly secular population under 30; even evangelicals under 30 care more about “hunger and poverty than abortion and homosexuality.” The Christian Right may still play a role in a handful of states, but the sun is setting on its national influence.
