[Despite the similarity in name, Religion Dispatches is not affiliated in any way with Mr. Clarkson's book, Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America -- ed.]
Although many in the mainstream media have been writing the Religious Right's obituary for several years, it's probably more accurate to say that the movement is undergoing significant changes. During an appearance at this year's National Religious Broadcasters conference, Dr. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, raised questions about the future of the conservative Christian movement that he helped shape. “The question is,“ Dobson said, “will the younger generation heed the call? Who will defend the unborn child in the years to come? Who will plead for the Terri Schiavos of the world? Who's going to fight for the institution of marriage, which is on the ropes today?“
With the deaths of two movement icons, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Dr. D. James Kennedy, new and younger Christian evangelical leaders are stepping up to the plate, some bringing with them what appears to be a broader and more inclusive agenda. There is even talk about a revivified Religious Left. Thus far, most of that talk has centered on the outreach efforts to evangelicals being made by the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama.
Is there room for a Religious Left whose political principles, beliefs and activities extend beyond the boundaries of the center-left wing of the Democratic Party?
Religion Dispatches had the opportunity to interview Frederick Clarkson, the editor of the forthcoming, Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America (Ig Publishing, Oct. 1, 2008). The book, a collection of 19 essays, challenges the Religious Left to re-envision and reinvent itself. According to Clarkson, “the book is divided into three sections: the first includes several envisioning essays; the second, memos on fresh approaches to hot button issues; and the third, a set of essays about how to begin to think about doing politics differently and more effectively.“ The book, while “not intended as a manifesto, a platform or blueprint,“ said Clarkson, is more like the “application of jumper cables to start a necessary conversation.“
Contributors include former New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges; Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Peter Laarman, head of Progressive Christians Uniting; Carlton Veazey, president of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (and a member of RD's Advisory Council), Debra Haffner, director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing, and Marshall Ganz of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The afterward was written by Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family, contributing editor for Harper's and Rolling Stone, and columnist for RD.
(Following the October 1st publication, the book will be launched on October 14 at Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan, the oldest continuous congregation in America, going back, according to its web site, to 1628. The church features a dynamic, multiracial gospel choir that Clarkson says will perform. Far from a sleepy panel discussion, the church leaders in partnering with the publisher want an event that is more like a catalyst for a movement—and are exploring live-streaming the event on the internet.)
Clarkson was one of the first investigative reporters to look deeply at the Religious Right in the US. Often ahead of the pack he broke the story in Mother Jones of the rise of Christian militias years before the Oklahoma City bombing made them national news; he went undercover at the founding strategy conferences of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition and revealed in Church & State magazine their plans to take over the GOP and establish theocratic politics and policies as a permanent feature of American public life; and in Salon he exposed the bizarre alliance between Louis Farrakhan and Rev. Sun Myung Moon in advance of the Million Family March, causing prominent political leaders and entertainers to avoid the event. He has also written extensively about anti-abortion terrorism in the United States.
In 1997, Clarkson wrote Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy (Common Courage Press), one of the earliest books about the conservative evangelical movement which has become an integral part of the American political landscape. More recently, Clarkson, along with blogger Bruce Wilson, founded Talk2Action, an interactive blog covering breaking news and analysis about the Religious Right and related movements and issues.
Raised in New England, Clarkson attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges where he majored in English. While in prep school during the Vietnam War, he encountered “a yellow covered book with big black letters on the shelf in study hall.“ The book was Gandhi's Autobiography. “My eyes were opened about what it meant to stand up to the mighty British Empire that occupied his native India, as well as to apartheid in South Africa.“ Clarkson told Religion Dispatches that that chance encounter was his “opening into the world of politics and clashing religious worldviews as I considered conscientious objection to the war in light of my Christian upbringing and Gandhi's powerful call to conscience.“
Clarkson has written for Salon, Mother Jones, The Nation, Ms., The Christian Science Monitor, Knight Ridder News Service, Sojourners, and Christianity & Crisis, then the leading magazine of progressive religion and politics, and he has been interviewed by many national and international media including CBS Evening News, ABC's 20/20, the BBC (radio and television), and the Voice of America.
Through a series of e-mail exchanges, we discussed the current state of the Religious Right, the growing influence and media presence of Pastor Rick Warren, efforts made by the Obama campaign to court evangelicals, and how an authentic Religious Left can win a place at the table.
Bill Berkowitz: Rick Warren, the much celebrated and talked about pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, interviewed Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain on Saturday, August 16. Before and after the event, Warren's Civic Forum received a lot of media attention. Many in the media have anointed Warren as representing the new face of Christian evangelicals; creating a new movement that not only distances itself from the old timers of the Religious Right, but one that is setting a new agenda for evangelicals. How do you view Warren's work and where does he fit within the broad constellation of religious leaders?
Frederick Clarkson: Four years ago, Rick Warren wrote an inflammatory letter about the presidential contest to thousands of evangelical pastors. This letter revealed him to be a fierce partisan, who epitomized the worst aspects of the Religious Right. He declared five issues to be “non-negotiable“ and those they “are not even debatable because God's word is clear on these issues.'“ These included abortion, same sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and euthanasia. He later said he regretted the letter but that he had not changed his views.
Tags: fred clarkson
Comments closed
The comments for this story have been closed. Thank you to everyone who participated.