I am taking a class at the University of Toledo on "Religion and Postmodern Culture," the first college class I have taken in nearly three decades. It has been tremendously helpful to my understanding of the American religious landscape of the 21st century.
At the same time, I am in a book club that is studying Dr. Tony Campolo's book, "Letters to a Young Evangelical."
In my class readings, I learned that the group that was known as "fundamentalists" in the first half of the 20th century tried to influence modern culture -- from calling for morality and decency in Hollywood to becoming involved in politics -- and failed miserably. Fundamentalists were considered by most of the country, especially the power elite, to be poorly educated, narrow-minded, simplistic dolts.
After WWII, the American public became better educated in general, and the group known as fundamentalists began to catch up with the mainline Protestants in college degrees, economic earnings, and social status. A new group of leaders emerged from this fundamentalist subculture who purposely tried to distance themselves from their fundamentalist predecessors in name and in strategy.
They started calling themselves evangelicals -- same concept, new label. This time, their efforts succeeded, including founding influential political groups like the Moral Majority, running global media empires such Pat Robertson's CBN, and becoming key players in the political sphere, so much so that the evangelical vote is considered crucial to virtually every national candidate.
But Dr. Campolo believes that the word evangelical has been "kidnapped" by the religious right. He is trying to create a new reference point for Christians who essentially believe in a literal translation of the Bible, i.e., fundamentalists, but who do not automatically align with the Republic party.
He and others, notably Jim Wallis of Sojourners, are calling this group the "Red Letter Christians," people who want to follow Jesus's teachings and his example of how to live. The term comes from the Bibles that print all of Jesus' quotes in red ink.
Here's a link to their web site.
I agree that labels carry more weight than most people realize. I also agree that the word evangelical, when used in political contexts, has become almost synonymous with the Religious Right.
But it's also hard to create a new label and have people catch on to it. The public will latch onto terms as it wills, and ignore even the most carefully crafted phrases and labels.
Only time will tell if "Red Letter Christians" earn a niche in the American lexicon. But I think Dr. Campolo's efforts are admirable. Christianity is not monolithic by any means, and there is room even among the "fundamentalist/evangelical/Red Letter" Christians to disagree when it comes to politics. Diversity is good for a country, both politically and culturally.
Toledo, Ohio
Oct. 9, 2007