There’s a continuous argument in Left Blogistan about whether the Democrats should take up more religious rhetoric.  The idea is that this will make a political appeal to the white voters who have abandoned the party over the years.  Basically, this comes in three flavors.

Some say that it is a matter of saying God more, explaining political positions in terms of “values” and religious beliefs.  Voters will recognize that mainline (read moderate) Christianity is just as valid as conservative evangelicalism.  This was a widespread instant response to John Kerry losing to George W. Bush.

Others say that it should be sufficient for the left to more modestly point out that their political values are more in line with the teachings of Jesus (and other religions).  In other words, lefties are better at caring for the meek and the powerless.  The New Testament as a whole is clearly about this approach rather than a fire and brimstone moralism.

I would like to believe that one of these tactics would work.  We all admire the Catholic social worker, the Reform Jewish ACLU lawyer, and the Presbyterian activist for gay rights.  But they are not the face of activist religion in America today.

So, I have to agree with those who say that there is no point in really getting into this argument.  The people that are voting on religious grounds are not going to be swayed by a few more mentions of God and morals.  They are really supporting a conservative social order with its attendant opposition to gay rights, feminism, and the like.

Conservative Christian polemicist Thomas Reeves has it right here.  As a larger social trend, liberal religion is a first step towards no religion.  That is why these churches keep getting smaller while more moralistic brands are increasing in size and influence.

There’s no reason to attack the religious.  That would be both wrong and stupid.  But to believe that the left can co-opt this religious fervor is plain wrong.  For many years it seemed that modernity would lead to more liberal and less religious societies, and the American left imagined that Western Europe was our future.  Nobody can say whether that will still be true in the long run, but the engagement of religion in politics today is a reaction against liberalism.  It should be recognized for what it is.

Pete DeWan