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Don't Bet On The Emergence Of A "Religious Left"
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dont-bet-on-the-emergence-of-a-religious-left/Progressives sifting through the wreckage of the 2016 campaign would not find much to be cheerful about. Many on the left saw the Obama era as one defined by compromises, incrementalism and the politics of the possible, which reached its logical conclusion when the party nominated Hillary Clinton, a candidate whom many of them considered uninspiring. And the worst was yet to come: Democrats lost the presidency, were unable to wrest control of either chamber of Congress from the Republicans, and as a result may have ceded the Supreme Court for another generation.
Yet even in a deeply disappointing year, there were a few bright spots for progressives. One of the brightest was in North Carolina, where voters ousted conservative Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, even as they sided with President Trump over Clinton. More significant than the result itself were its roots in the state’s “Moral Mondays” movement, a coalition of left-leaning religious groups that organized large-scale demonstrations against a raft of conservative legislation. In the wake of McCrory’s loss and Trump’s win, left-leaning faith-based groups around the country have kicked off a spurt of activism around issues such as immigration and health care, which has led to suggestions that a progressive religious movement is emerging to counter the religious right. It’s doubtful, however, that a revitalized “religious left” will actually materialize.
The first and perhaps most significant reason for skepticism is that there are far fewer religious liberals today than there were a generation ago. Nearly four in 10 (38 percent) liberals are religiously unaffiliated today, more than double the percentage of the 1990s, according to data from the General Social Survey. In part, the liberal mass migration away from religion was a reaction to the rise of the Christian right. Over the last couple decades, conservative Christians have effectively branded religious activism as primarily concerned with upholding a traditional vision of sexual morality and social norms. That conservative religious advocacy contributed to many liberals maintaining an abiding suspicion about the role that institutional religion plays in society and expressing considerable skepticism of organized religion generally. Only 30 percent of liberals report having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in organized religion. Half say that religion’s impact on society is more harmful than helpful.
...Yet the the religious left has never faced more serious challenges. Religious progressives are fighting for relevance at a time when secular voters are becoming an increasingly crucial part of the Democratic coalition, and their political clout is only going to grow. Recent work suggests that secular voters are often uncomfortable with religiously infused political appeals, which could hurt the prospects of creating a secular-religious coalition. Progressives have always celebrated the big-tent nature of their movement, but religious liberals who once operated in the center ring may now have to come to terms with working outside the spotlight.
Yet even in a deeply disappointing year, there were a few bright spots for progressives. One of the brightest was in North Carolina, where voters ousted conservative Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, even as they sided with President Trump over Clinton. More significant than the result itself were its roots in the state’s “Moral Mondays” movement, a coalition of left-leaning religious groups that organized large-scale demonstrations against a raft of conservative legislation. In the wake of McCrory’s loss and Trump’s win, left-leaning faith-based groups around the country have kicked off a spurt of activism around issues such as immigration and health care, which has led to suggestions that a progressive religious movement is emerging to counter the religious right. It’s doubtful, however, that a revitalized “religious left” will actually materialize.
The first and perhaps most significant reason for skepticism is that there are far fewer religious liberals today than there were a generation ago. Nearly four in 10 (38 percent) liberals are religiously unaffiliated today, more than double the percentage of the 1990s, according to data from the General Social Survey. In part, the liberal mass migration away from religion was a reaction to the rise of the Christian right. Over the last couple decades, conservative Christians have effectively branded religious activism as primarily concerned with upholding a traditional vision of sexual morality and social norms. That conservative religious advocacy contributed to many liberals maintaining an abiding suspicion about the role that institutional religion plays in society and expressing considerable skepticism of organized religion generally. Only 30 percent of liberals report having a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in organized religion. Half say that religion’s impact on society is more harmful than helpful.
...Yet the the religious left has never faced more serious challenges. Religious progressives are fighting for relevance at a time when secular voters are becoming an increasingly crucial part of the Democratic coalition, and their political clout is only going to grow. Recent work suggests that secular voters are often uncomfortable with religiously infused political appeals, which could hurt the prospects of creating a secular-religious coalition. Progressives have always celebrated the big-tent nature of their movement, but religious liberals who once operated in the center ring may now have to come to terms with working outside the spotlight.
