Rage Fatigue

This is definitely bad news for republicans, it seems that a large portion of the religious right is suffering from rage fatigue which showed up in the Southern Baptist Convention's recent presidential election of Rev Frank Page. From EJ Dionne's column in the Washington Post:

Bill Leonard, the dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School, largely agrees with Parham's analysis but argues that many Baptists are sensitive to "static or declining" membership numbers and the rising popularity of nondenominational churches such as Warren's.

The election, he said, indicates that "the leadership of the denomination that pushed it hard to the right on theological and social issues is aging or passing from the scene and is unable to rally the troops as they once did."

"Some people," Leonard added, "are tired of just fighting liberals. You need a reason to be a Southern Baptist other than just fighting liberals in the culture or in the church."

Now, I don't believe these people are going to start voting for Democrats, but it is probable that this will lead to lower turnouts by evangelicals in coming elections if true. Actually, this was somewhat inevitable, it's kind of hard to stay perpetually angry over issues that pretty much never affect you in your day to day life. I mean, it's not like your going to wake up one day and find yourself in a same-sex marriage, and you can decide if you want an abortion or not.

There is also a lesson in this for those of us on the left. The wheels of social progress grind awfully slow. You can't be upset over every setback. It's a long road to equality for all and while you might not get to see the return on your work, your children and their children probably will. It sucks, but it's true. Somebody has to lay the groundwork.