This post is a follow up to my post earlier this week in which non-members of the NAE tried to oust lobbyist Rev. Richard Cizik because of his principled stance on global climate change. Those non-members include James Dobson and Paul Weyrich.
Jim Wallis, no stranger to evangelical circles, being one himself, threw down the gauntlet to Dobson, as reported here in the LA Times. In his challenge, Wallis asked whether global poverty, the AIDS/HIV pandemic, and war were not on an equal moral footing with abortion and same-sex marriage. The response, both unexpected and typical, was, in effect, that for this group of aging reactionaries, sexual morality trumps everything. Dobson refused to debate Wallis (probably a good idea, as we wouldn't want to give Wallis any more publicity than he already gets), but I do believe that the fact he was not ignored, but indeed that a Dobson spokesman felt the need to respond publicly shows that, while still powerful, the old guard is no longer monolithic. Of course, Wallis is as pro-life as the rest of those gray-beards of the old religious right, but he has tended to focus on issues of public, rather than private, morality in his career, and therefore has downplayed his own very conservative views on sexual morality and abortion.
Dobson, Falwell, et al. still feel it possible to speak from the mountain top, but, to change the metaphor a bit, they may need to look behind them to see if anyone is actually following them. They can no longer feel secure in their position of authority, although they still wield quite a bit of power and influence. I do believe that as the generations change, the tide turns, and it is washing many an old salt out to sea, hopefully, one wishes, to float away to ignominy and irrelevance (although, I think Falwell's role in the revival of a certain kind of activist conservative evangelicalism is secure, despite his many public failings). The pulpit, these gentlemen should recall, is no place for bullies.
Virtual Tin Cup
