Randall Balmer on the religious right in America:
[W]hat has the religious right done with its political influence? Judging by the platform and the policies of the Republican Party — and I’m aware of no way to disentangle the agenda of the Republican Party from the goals of the religious right — the purpose of all this grasping for power looks something like this: an expansion of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, the continued prosecution of a war in the Middle East that enraged our longtime allies and would not meet even the barest of just-war criteria, and a rejiggering of Social Security, the effect of which, most observers agree, would be to fray the social-safety net for the poorest among us.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The above quote is an excerpt from his upcoming book Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America: An Evangelical’s Lament. Which, if it’s anything like Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory (a book that was a huge help in sorting out various aspects of my own faith), will be an absolute must-read.