Well, no. Easy answer.
I am sitting in a workshop with Fredrick Clarkson, Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite, and Chip Berlet here at Yearly Kos.
The religious right, for the most part, believes in final showdown battle between good and evil.
Here in America that showdown is “good” Christians against anyone that is not them. They have been a force to reckon with in the political atmosphere and these three panelists are striving to further a dialogue that branches out the “moral issues” beyond abortion and gay marriage.
Just like in the late 80’s when the Christian right was flooded with scandals, we now see much of the today’s Christian right once again flooded with more scandals. It has been successful in taking over the Republican party which is close to drowning with the extreme low level support for the current presidency. But it is still no where near being dead.
There are still think tanks, political action committees, schools and law schools that have been founded by religious right leaders. These are training and funding grounds to continue this conservative movement for the long haul. Next session is what to do about it. So more coming.
I wonder if it will sustain another generation, though. Their rallying cry has always been abortion and gay marriage. Now that a third of young evangelicals support gay marriage, I wonder where that will leave them.
Their next wave as it was talked about later will be Islamaphobia. No one in their network is a Muslim in hiding so they don’t have to worry about being outed in that manner.
Plus it is really easy to drum up the fear that the religious right relies upon.