Religious Right leaders forfeited their prophetic voice by abandoning social reform.

Evidence

Rather than reclaim the reforming zeal of their forebears, who sought to make the world a better place by caring for those on the margins, politically conservative evangelicals cast their lot with someone who stands squarely outside of the evangelical tradition, someone either unfamiliar with or contemptuous of the long and noble tradition of evangelical social reform. The latter part of that description applies as well to the leaders of the Religious Right. If they are unfamiliar with their own tradition, they have passed on the opportunity to be guided by the example of worthy predecessors; more likely, given the politicians and the policies they support, leaders of the Religious Right hold that tradition in contempt. Whatever the case, having thereby forfeited their prophetic voice, leaders of the movement and the Religious Right itself have become little more than a political interest group. — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 165

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Evangelicals abandoned social reform for individual conversion as proto-liberals embraced it; The Religious Right’s stances drove liberal-minded Americans out of denominations entirely — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 446

Related

• The Religious Right’s stances drove liberal-minded Americans out of denominations entirely (similarity 0.84)
• Evangelicals abandoned social reform for individual conversion as proto-liberals embraced it (similarity 0.84)
• Evangelicals traded collective social redemption for individual salvation as liberalism embraced the Social Gospel (similarity 0.80)
• American evangelicalism was politically reformist long before it aligned with the right (similarity 0.80)
• Religious Right leaders reframed racism as religious freedom to mask self-interest (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Evangelicals abandoned social reform for individual conversion as proto-liberals embraced it #expands (0.85)
• The Religious Right’s stances drove liberal-minded Americans out of denominations entirely #qualifies (0.70) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 446