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Aug 07, 2007

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will spotts

I don't know that one can speak for evangelicals as a single group.

It sort (though not quite as bad) like trying to speak about the 'emergent conversation' or pomos.

People want them to behave as a group because it makes marketing or politicking easier. But I don't know that it is accurate - especially now that people compete for the title. One does a little better with a term of derision or contempt like 'fundamentalist' is often used - because no one wants to occupy the same space.

Dana Ames

I agree with Will.

Also, Rick Warren and Bill Hybels as the "younger generation"???? Bill has grandkids, for cryin' out loud...

Michael W. Kruse

I agree with the definition problems. However, I think Falwell was approaching 50 when kicked of Moral Majority in 1980. How old is Warren? I suspect he might have been a similar age as he has come into view. But again what is called Evangelical has become fragmented and more diverse than Falwell's day.

will spotts

There's also another issue - leaders and those in the public eye are often so after the fact. 'Has beens' of sorts. Warren and Hybels are in the public eye now because they are no longer the cutting edge of 'evangelical' thought. Yes, they have an effect, but sort of like stock advisors: the people these influence are the ones trying to catch the wave of evangelical fashion - who are late to the game and pretty much doomed to fail. (The same as those who buy stocks at their 52 week highs and hope for continued growth.) They may succeed for a short time, but this is a movement that is past its prime. These are not the ones making the transition.

Sadly, I'm rather more disturbed by what I perceive to be the future of the 'evangelical' movement (if the term is even of any use). What one saw in Falwell was the result of many years of development before he even appeared on anyone's radar. (It just happened that he was articulating views that many had already adopted. Warren is the same way. In spite of his attempts at Liberty, Falwell's views are not continued by those educated there.)

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