Even the evangelicals are becoming more progressive as the old leadership that understood the dangers posed by secular ways die off. And the corporations of all things are calling for some form of universal medical insurance in order to relieve themselves of the massive costs. The future course of the nation was outlined a few years ago when Judis and Ruy Texeira -- who are a lot more savvy then Karl Rove – took a look at the pro-secular trends and predicted The Emerging Democratic Majority.
There is very little that the right can do to recover the situation, which is being driven by long-term trends that no one really controls. Obviously the godly conservatives can no longer plausibly claim that they will expunge secular corruption in favor of faith-based integrity when they are in charge of the government. And once the progressive cycle of democratic social and economic secularization has set in it has never been significantly reversed -- the Europeans and Australians show no signs of chucking universal health care, or of returning to the churches. Will the USA some day be as progressive and secular as Denmark or Japan? Perhaps not. But who in the 1970s could have imagined that the devout dictator Franco’s Spain would in just a few decades become a prosperous Eurostyle democracy where the church enjoys so little of its former power and influence that abortion, gay marriage and divorce are legal?
Further Reading –
This essay wraps up the following series, the first segment is at the bottom.
“Why is Secular European Society Doing So Much Better Than God-Fearing America? The Big Picture, Part 1”www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_gregory__080221_why_is_secular_europ.htm
“Why is Secular European Society Doing So Much Better Than God-Fearing America? Raising the Kids.”www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_gregory__080214_why_is_secular_europ.htm
“Why is Secular European Society Doing So Much Better Than God-Fearing America? A Look at Marriage and Divorce.”www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gregory__080208_why_is_secular_europ.htm
“Why is Secular European Society Doing so Much Better Than God-Fearing America? Lets Start With Sex.” www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gregory__080131_why_is_secular_europ.htm and“Why the Claim that Progressive Secular Values and Policies Are Bad For Societies is a Great Big Lie.” www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_gregory__080118_why_the_claim_that_p.htmThe ways in which high levels of stress resulting from high levels of social disparity and insecurity are contributing to America’s societal ills is discussed in a large body of literature of which the following is a small sample. Sapolsky, R. 2005. “Sick of poverty.” Scientific American 293(6), 92-99. Sachs, J. 2006. “Welfare States, Beyond Ideology.” Scientific American 295(5), 42. Wilkinson, R. 2005. The Impact of Inequality: How to Make Sick Societies Healthier New York, New Press. American Sociological Review 70, 633-655. Marmot, M. 2004. The Status Syndrome. London, Bloomsburg Publishing. Kawachi, I. and B. Kennedy. 2002. The Health of Nations: Why Inequality is Harmful to Your Health. New York, New Press. Winkleby, M., C. Cubbin and D. Ahn. 2006. “Individual socioeconomic status, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and adult mortality.” American Journal of Public Health 96, 2145-2153. Anderson, G., B. Frogner, R. Johns and U. Reinhardt. 2006. content.healthaffairs.org. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2000. “Policy statement: Corporal punishment in schools.” Pediatrics 106, 343 and 1998. “Policy statement: Guidance for effective discipline.” Pediatrics 101, 723-728. Vulpe, M. 2000. “Sweden and the 1979 Ban on Corporal Punishment.” Innocents Among Us. www.innocents.ca/sweden.htm. Pratt, T. and T. Godsey. 2003. “Social Support, Inequality and Homicide: A Cross-National Test of an Integrated Theoretical Model.” Criminology 41, 611-643. Messner, S. and R. Rosenfeld. 2001. Crime and the American Dream. Belmont, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Neapolitan, J. 1997.
Himmelstein, D., E. Warren, D. Thorne and S. Wollhander. 2005. Illness and injury as contributors to bankruptcy. Health Affairs. content.healthaffairs.org and Seifert, R. and M. Rukavina. 2005. “Bankruptcy is the tip of a medical debt iceberg.” Health Affairs explain how medical expenses are ruining the financial status of millions of Americans each year.
Weisman, J. and A. Cooperman. 2006. “A Religious Protest Largely from the Left: Conservative Christans Say Fighting Cuts in Poverty Programs is not a Priority.”
Washington Post 12/14: A8 covers how strong the preference among many old school leaders of the evangelical movement is for targeting “moral” wedge issues over addressing practical social problems.
Phil Zuckerman and I discuss religion and its relationship to socio-economic conditions from a more global perspective in “Why the Gods Are Not Winning,” Edge (2007) 4/30, www.edge.org/3rd_culture/paul07/paul07_index.html.
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