Yesterday, I linked to an article of Fred Clarkson noting that the mainstream media in the U.S. still just don't get the religious right. Every election cycle, it seems, the media rediscover with a surprise that the U.S. is a nation with the soul of a church--that religion and religious ideas profoundly influence the political thinking and culture of the U.S. And that many of those fighting for their particular candidate or political agenda are largely motivated by religious outlook to do so.
Since the media have been willing to re-open discussion of these issues as the 2012 election cycle begins, commentary about the issues (and about media takes on them) is popping up all over the place. Here's a selection of articles in the past few days for readers who want to pursue the topic further:
1. Fred Clarkson, "Another Senior Journalist Confesses to Ignorance," Talk to Action, 21.8.11
2. Jeff Sharlet, "Fundamentalism Springs Eternal for GOP," Washington Post, 21.8.11
3. Sarah Posner, "The Christian Right's 'Dominionist' Strategy, Salon, 8.21.11
4. Jim Burroway, "Christian Dominionism Is Not a Myth," Box Turtle Bulletin, 8.2.11
5. Lisa Miller, "Be Not Afraid of Evangelicals," Washington Post, 18.8.11
As Sarah Posner says at the end of her Salon article to which I link above, it would be nice if we could be having this national discussion all the time, since the strategies of dominionist Christians to control the nation and its political life don't vanish between election cycles. Strangely, though, the media seem intent on avoiding the discussion except when it's shoved into their faces in an election cycle, and then they all too frequently profess with unconvincing surprise that they've only now discovered how powerfully these currents affect American cultural and political life--and all of our futures, as a result.
It's almost as if they don't want to go up against the considerable power and wealth that they would find hidden behind movements of the religious right and far-right, if they did their journalistic work and followed the money trails, isn't it?
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