Friday, July 14, 2006
Weekend Reads: Right Wing, Wrong Bird, by Joel C. Hunter
 "We are called to be involved in government but not to depend on it for solutions," Joel C. Hunter writes in his new book Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians. The senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Florida, Hunter describes himself as a political conservative. However, he believes that he is not alone as an evangelical Christian who feels increasingly misrepresented by the religious right. Hunter argues that, in their quest for political dominance, right-wing Christians have misinterpreted the biblical relationship of church and government: "The Christian right seeks support in government. It could be irony, judgment or God's great sense of humor that finds the conservatives now doing what they accused the liberals of doing for years--looking to government for solutions," he writes. "We may get an answer, but never a solution. It is the nature of government to make matters more complicated. Government finds, as science does, that every answer raises more questions." Instead, Hunter advocates a partnership of sorts, in which the church contributes to government rather than imposing its demands on government.
# posted by Matt Green : 1:58 PM
 
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"We are called to be involved in government but not to depend on it for solutions," Joel C. Hunter writes in his new book Right Wing, Wrong Bird: Why the Tactics of the Religious Right Won't Fly With Most Conservative Christians. The senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Florida, Hunter describes himself as a political conservative. However, he believes that he is not alone as an evangelical Christian who feels increasingly misrepresented by the religious right. Hunter argues that, in their quest for political dominance, right-wing Christians have misinterpreted the biblical relationship of church and government: "The Christian right seeks support in government. It could be irony, judgment or God's great sense of humor that finds the conservatives now doing what they accused the liberals of doing for years--looking to government for solutions," he writes. "We may get an answer, but never a solution. It is the nature of government to make matters more complicated. Government finds, as science does, that every answer raises more questions." Instead, Hunter advocates a partnership of sorts, in which the church contributes to government rather than imposing its demands on government.
