Were it not for Melissa Rogers on the list of endorsers, we would throw up our hands and walk away from the Third Way (over which Matthew Yglasias' blog was big-footed).
Today's press release headline from them proclaiming Longtime Foes Unite To Bring An End To The Culture Wars seems to us to defy experience with optimism by asserting that some group of leaders, somewhere, can actually do that.
They're serious, and make altogether sensible arguments. For example, Reverend Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Florida and one-time President-elect of the Christian Coalition, says:
The culture wars have been characterized by vilifying those who differ from us on provocative issues and treating them as traitors and threats. I believe we can end those wars by thinking of our differences as ways we can learn from each other and advance without compromising core values.
Powerful stuff, and it confronts powerful organizations which wring large amounts of money out of the culture war by exciting extremes of emotion. Even waning proponents of the culture wars are still hard at work. From Kyle we have this Christian Coalition emailer:
As we begin a new year and a new congress comes into session, pro-family conservatives must face a stark reality: the liberal onslaught is coming.
It is coming because extreme liberals look at the election results as their opportunity to solidify domination of our government and our culture … [W]e know what they plan to do. It’s no secret. The only question is what will we do to stop them?
…
Liberals don’t want Christians like you and I to stand up and work together. They know how effective we can be when we speak with one voice. That’s why it is so vital that we work to educate and activate America’s Christian conservatives!
…
Stand with us as we work to prepare Christian conservatives to fight back against the assault on our values being waged in the halls of our government. But if you want to stand up for your beliefs, you simply must speak out … [N]ow is not the time for us to despair and give up. There is too much at stake for conservatives to be caught on the sidelines.
Please click here and make a contribution to the Christian Coalition today!
People who believe in the underlying ideas aren't simply going to turn on a dime toward compromise after decades of insistence on clear-cut goals.
Yet in the face of the still relentless rolling barrage of such appeals, the Third Way proposes:
. . . seizing on a new political moment, emissaries of these historic adversaries have come together to send a letter to the President-elect and congressional leaders offering “a shared vision and a plan for ending the culture wars.
The Come Let Us Reason Together Governing Agenda breaks new ground by uniting key Evangelical and progressive leaders behind specific policy recommendations on abortion, gay rights, torture, and immigration reform – ground zero in the nation’s culture wars.
And they're sending a letter with their proposal [.pdf], which we hope you will review (as we dig into it ourselves).
Addendum I
Pastor Dan at Street Prophets is also skeptical, albeit more gently than we.
Addendum II
Mark Silk at Spiritual Politics says, Culture wars over! Not.
Concluding:
... The way to end the Culture Wars is not to create a third way (pace Third Way), but to do the work itself. Sez I.
We're still thinking Amen.
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