Sunday, October 28, 2007

Politics: Apocalypse

Fantastic article this weekend in my new favorite read, The New York Times Magazine. It's called, "The Evangelical Crackup," by David D. Kirkpatrick, and it's about the state of the evangelistic movement today, specifically as it relates to the 2008 election. (You might get a better idea of what the story's about by its billing on the front cover: "End Times for Evangelicals? They don't have a natural presidential candidate. They don't have a unified leadership. They no longer seem to share even the same political beliefs.")

This story is compelling on many levels. It grants some insight into the allegiance of religious followers to the Republican party, and how that's shaking out in light of the Iraq War. It explores the religious rhetoric of both the Republican and the Democratic candidates for presidency, and how religious followers are responding. It also deals with the changing generations of fundamentalists and what that means for religion and politics. Most interestingly, it talks about social change and how evangelical faiths are either adapting, embracing, or condemning the changing ethos.

Whether you're interested in politics, sociology, religion, or any combination thereof, you should read the article. Anyone planning to vote (which all of you better be) should read the article as well, if only to gain some insight into both the candidates for 2008 and the political process. The article might seem long at first, but it was worth every minute.

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