Triablogue: Political Will, Cultural Elites and Confessional Churchmen

Reformation Anglicanism attempts several things.  One objective has been to vet solid blog-sites.  Triablogue is one such site, not because we agree on all things; they are Reformed and we are Anglican.  But, they often offer important insights.  Here, Matthew Schultz offers a good one.  We’d add a few qualifications however.  According to the Census Bureau 2010, 27% of America has a baccalaureate degree; even worse, 12% of African Americans have a B.A.; one can see how louds mouths like the Rev. "Big Al Sharpton" easily influences uneducated black folks ("Big Al" hasn't even finished one year of undergraduate college, but he yaps away anyways); of course, the Caucs aren't without their own tub-thumpers either like the Baptacostals at TBN; we do not believe these numbers have shifted widely since 2010. We do not live in a highly educated nation.  Illiterates still widely populate this large land. This means that elites in Hollywood, music, art, and academic centers can easily influence the masses and mobs.  Those who survive the academic world (“the few, the proud, the elite”) more often than not perpetuate earlier indoctrinations.  Relatedly, notice how easily the masses follow the Hillbilly religionists in Baptacostal-land;  these anti-intellectuals have been and always will be with us.  The educated flock to mainline churches, if they go at all.  There, they get doctrinal pablum proferred with polite and meaningless niceties, although the hymns and liturgy are often better. Ergo, the takeaway: be an educated Churchman or Churchwoman and influence academic, media, publishing and musical centers with a view to the unvarnished masses.  That’s exactly what elites are doing and they know it.  Elitist?  Yes, indeed, but wisely and, we pray, humbly so.

http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2012/05/political-will-and-cultural-elites.html

Thursday, May 10, 2012 

Political Will and Cultural Elites

 Rick Santorum said:
I will continue to fight to make sure that the cultural elites don't further undermine the institution [of marriage] that gives the best opportunity for healthy, happy children and a just and prosperous society.

You can't fight cultural elites with political weapons. Film makers, journalists, artists, university professors--these people care little for what a conservative politician says.

Even if you legislate a law against their positions, it will be overturned in a generation (or less) since these elites are the ones who train our youth and future political, cultural and business leaders.

This is why liberalism, despite being a minority position, holds ascendency in our world. Power lies in cultural transformation, and conservatives own little of it.

There's a sense in which we lost the cultural battle generations ago, when the fundamentalists fled the universities and similar cultural institutions and let the secular perspective reign unchecked.

We are just seeing the fruits of that capitulation.

There's hope, but the change will be generational, and will involve sending more Evangelicals to the university. This is also reason to be glad many Evangelical philosophers have made headway into the university setting. There is a very real sense in which philosophy undergirds all cultural pursuits.

It will also entail giving more money to foundations, scholarships, etc., for Christian artists, lawyers, academics, and similar groups--another reason to support sending more Christians into business, since they are the cash cows for serious, lasting cultural efforts.