At First Things, Carl Trueman discusses the recent controversy where David French endorses The Respect For Marriage Act. Trueman, who is against the bill, views the controversy as a sign of American Evangelicalism. Trueman appears to believe that American Protestants have not been able to recognize the post-Christian shift in the United States. The facts are mounting. Excerpt:
Two things will occur when Protestants realize that the country is not theirs.
First, the terms of society’s officer classes changing, so will those who value their social standing. The “personally opposed, but publicly supportive” argument that has been so successful for Catholic elites for many years will likely become a standard part the elite Protestant playbook. It will replace the current penchant to specious “third way” arguments. It is unlikely that it will ever be extended to Trump voters or those who do not believe in critical race theory.
Second, the Protestant leadership will be passed very quickly to a new generation. It was the older generation that grew up in the shadows of the Battle for the Bible that assumed it would be Christian doctrine. This would be the fault line in the churches and the reason the outside world would reject Christianity. This generation lived in a world in which such beliefs were not relevant to actual membership in society. These things might have made Christians look foolish but they didn’t make them look evil. In that world, Christians could make up for their perceived foolishness and combine Christian orthodoxy with cultural savvy. These days are gone and the leadership is not equipped for what’s happening now. It is easier to be mocked for believing that miracles can happen than to be hated as an extremist. It is obvious that the Christian position on key issues of membership in today’s society–those of gender, sexual identity, and abortion–cannot help but be implicated in public debates. This will earn the title of bigot. It doesn’t matter if you are literate, urbane, and can mix a good martini Vesper. These things will not make up for being rejected by any identity, act or right progressive society decides is unacceptable. We need leaders in the church and thinkers who are aware of this reality and prepared to face the social consequences. Why should the people stand for the truth if the leaders won’t?
Trueman makes this an important point. Funny thing is, this was something I found out after attending a Thanksgiving dinner in Budapest last night with some friends. One of them is an intelligent, well-travelled, and charismatic Hungarian Catholic who takes her faith seriously. She believes I am too pessimistic with my Benedict Option idea and my interest in Living Not by Lies, small-o Orthodox Christians forming Kolakovic networks and groups to aid the churches in surviving persecution, no matter how soft or hard. She believes that things are moving well and that Christianity will continue to thrive in Europe. It can only survive if it was brought up through Communism. She believes that Christians must be outgoing, optimistic, and work to build influence with those in power. This is a good philosophy for a country such as Hungary, where the government is openly Christian.
The data are not encouraging. In a 2017 Pew survey,only nine per cent of Hungarians attend church every week. Although Hungary is mainly Catholic, it has a significant Calvinist minority. Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, and Katalin Novak, its president, are just two examples. Although the number of monthly attendees is 26% higher, 64% of Hungarians report that they rarely or never attend church. Hungary is not an exception in this region. Poland is not an exception in the region. However, as I have been reporting, this is rapidly changing for worse. Less than 25% of Polish youth practice their faith today. This is a shocking decline since the 1990s when Communism was destroyed. Anecdotally, young Catholics in Poland tell me that, since my first visit in 2019, they expect their country will follow the example of Ireland and embrace secularization. Even a modest level of religious practice in Poland would be a blessing for many of us. However, the West is not following the same trends.
Hungary has a lot more cultural Christianity than the US. This means that many people do not go to church but consider themselves Christians. The Hungarians hold traditional views on homosexuality, which is the main dividing line between the US Christian churches. This is also changing. Furthermore, it’s hard to say that a country with 44 percent of its births outside of marriage can’t be called Christian in regard to sexuality. When I was first visiting Central and Eastern Europe years ago, I was often questioned about my “gender ideology” — mostly transgenderism. It was hard for people in this region of the globe to believe that Americans accepted it. They could see that we were doing it, but couldn’t understand why. They would be shocked to hear that the majority of Americans didn’t see things as they did a long time ago.
During our conversation last night I shared with my friend how the Internet’s influence, particularly social media, is helping to destroy Christian commitment and practice. My theory was that every Christian in the world will eventually have to choose between professional success and social success and faithfulness to Christ. I described how entire professions, such as law and medicine in the US, are making it difficult for traditional Christians to become members. It was clear to me that she couldn’t imagine such a thing happening in Hungary. Although I do hope she is right, I wouldn’t put my future at risk if it did. The European Union withholds huge amounts of money from Hungary, Covid-relief funding, because the Orban government passed legislation that blocked LGBT education for minors and other things like Drag Queen Story Hour. Hungary is not a wealthy nation and urgently needs the money. This is an example of the high prices Christians will have to pay. Remember that Communism guaranteed people the right to attend church. This was a meaningless right, as the only thing Christians were allowed to do was worship. Also, remember that Hillary Clinton, to name just one liberal elite, defines “religious liberty” as “the right of worship.”
Living Not by Lies has many examples of Christian dissidents who left Communism to emphasize the importance of being able to and willingly suffer for their faith. Those without it will not be able to get through the difficult and rapid times ahead. Trueman is referring to this. You don’t get that ability overnight. You will be in trouble if you don’t work now to build that capacity within your family, church, and yourself. All of us will. Kamila Bendova, a Czech Catholic martyr who led the anti-communist movement of Czechoslovakia told me that many Christians back then did the same thing as everyone else: they kept their heads down, and their mouths shut in an attempt to avoid trouble. If we don’t live in a country where our faith is not appropriate, it will be you and me. Trueman says so.
Carl Trueman wrote: “But those days [of Christian culture dominance, or even peaceful co-existence among secularists] have ended and that leadership has become ill-equipped to deal with what is happening now.” It is easier to be mocked for believing that miracles can happen than it is to be hated as an extremist. True. This is true. I have repeated this story many times. A friend who participated in the campaign to raise church support said that all the leaders in the campaign supported it in principle, but they were afraid of being labeled bigots because they weren’t allowed to speak publicly about their opinions. The threat was defeated by the black Pentecostal leaders of Los Angeles and the Latino Catholic archbishop.
This is Carl Trueman’s world. Aaron Renn’s Three Worlds of Evangelicalism model is referring to this world. This is not just a challenge for Evangelical Christians. It’s a challenge for all Christians in postChristian America (and Europe). Trueman states, “And now we need church leaders to understand this and be prepared for the social consequences.” Why should the people stand for the truth if the leaders won’t speak the truth? Last weekend, in Poland, I heard young Catholic Poles tell me they were hungry for genuine leadership from the Catholic clergy. But, getting very little.
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Let me explain it this way. Here is Ryszard, a Polish philosopher and statesman, giving a speech in the European Parliament. He is a Catholic and a conservative who criticizes the Parliament’s undemocratic and high-handedness toward European peoples, Hungarians, and other Europeans who don’t share the secular left-wing views of the majority. This speech is not religious, but political. It is important that I mention it because Legutko speaks as a politician in the lions’ den and shows the courage and boldness that Christians from all walks of life will need in the near future.
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