Why the Evangelical Movement Is in Disarray After Dobbs
b'With Roe now overturned, the evangelical movement has achieved one of its decades-old political priorities. But for many evangelicals, this isn\\u2019t the moment of celebration and unity it may have first appeared to be. In the wake of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\\u2019s Health Organization, Russell Moore \\u2014 a former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the policy wing of the Southern Baptist Convention \\u2014 described the state of evangelicalism as one of \\u201cdisarray.\\u201d He argues that surface-level political allegiances paint over much deeper divisions within what has become an increasingly polarized movement. Understanding those divisions and what they portend for evangelicalism is deeply important, in large part because of the movement\\u2019s immense power in American politics.\\n\\nMoore is the editor in chief of Christianity Today; the author of numerous books, including \\u201cOnward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel\\u201d; and one of the most visible leaders in the evangelical movement right now. But he has also voiced some of the most stinging criticism of the movement\\u2019s current direction. He believes that evangelicals\\u2019 embrace of Donald Trump was a mistake and that the way many evangelicals are approaching the culture wars \\u2014 with what Moore calls a \\u201csiege mentality\\u201d \\u2014 is toxic for the faith. He encourages his fellow evangelicals to embrace their role as a \\u201cmoral minority\\u201d in America instead of desperately clinging to political and cultural power. \\u201cThe shaking of American culture is no sign that God has given up on American Christianity,\\u201d he writes in \\u201cOnward.\\u201d \\u201cIn fact, it may be a sign that God is rescuing American Christianity from itself.\\u201d\\n\\nSo this is a conversation about how evangelicalism morphed into the political identity we know it as today, why so many evangelicals have come to embrace apocalyptic thinking about politics and where the movement goes next now that Roe has been overturned.\\n\\nMentioned\\n\\n\\u201cThe Supreme Court Needs to Be Less Central to American Public Life\\u201d by Russell Moore\\n\\nBook Recommendations\\n\\nThe Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis\\n\\nMere Christianity by C.S. Lewis\\n\\nThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis\\n\\nThe Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright\\n\\nThe Gilead Novels by Marilynne Robinson\\n\\nThis episode was hosted by Jane Coaston, the host of \\u201cThe Argument.\\u201d Previously, she was the senior politics reporter at Vox, with a focus on conservatism and the G.O.P. Her work has appeared on MSNBC, CNN and NPR and in National Review, The Washington Post, The Ringer and ESPN Magazine, among others.\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\n\\u200b\\u200b\\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d is produced by Annie Galvin and Rog\\xe9 Karma; fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Sonia Herrero and Isaac Jones; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Special thanks to Kristin Lin and Kristina Samulewski.'