The white evangelical schism

The return of the “social gospel”?

The Los Angeles Times reports on the growing factional battle within the white evangelical churches between the fossils who want to covert Christianity into a sexual-purity cult, with a dash of economic conservatism and authoritarian politics, and those who think that Christianity might have something to do with the Sermon on the Mount.

It seems obvious to me that the battle is good news for Democrats, that it would be even better news if the good guys won, and that anything that helps them win improves our chances of winning elections from here on out. It also seems obvious that offering Democratic candidates who aren’t religiously tone-deaf, and having people identified as Democrats abstain from rude and bigoted remarks about other people’s religious beliefs, would help the good guys win.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com