Prof. Randall Balmer discusses waning cultural influence of Evangelicals

In The Huffington Post, religion professor Randall Balmer comments on the decline of evangelical influence in the United States.  An excert from the article:

"Randall Balmer, a historian of American evangelicals at Barnard College, said leaders of the religious right -- from the late Rev. Jerry Falwell to broadcaster Pat Robertson -- promoted a "cult of victimization among evangelicals" that may have worked at the voting booth but hurt them in the larger culture.

"I think there is some waning of cultural influence," he said, pointing to the politicizing of the movement as the reason for both greater visibility but also cultural decline.

"Like it or not, when you become politically active, you become associated with the politicians you support," Balmer said, alluding to many evangelicals' embrace of the GOP. "Once you begin to covet political power and influence, you lose the prophetic voice.""

Read the full article here.

Prof. Balmer's research interests include religion in American life and politics, Christianity, Evangelism, and religionization, and he is an ordained Episcopal Priest.