Death of Liberalism?
by: staff - Nov 27, 2007 - comments: 15
“The Achilles’ heel of liberal relativism is catastrophically low birthrates. When you deny the importance of family…of children…of God’s teaching about marriage, you end up with low birth rates.” – Richard Land
(Originally posted July 11, 2006. Updated as needed.)
This page is dedicated to tracking the destructive results of liberalism, both within the church and beyond it. We will update it as things develop. If you’ve read an article, book, or published study that applies, let us know by commenting on this article and we’ll consider adding it to the list. Please notify us of outdated/broken hyperlinks by way of the Comments Section
Listen to Dr. Land’s radio broadcast on this issue.
Recently Added:
- NOV 27, 2007 The Rise of Family-Friendly Cities – Joel Kotkin
- Our Religious Destiny – Arthur C. Brooks
- The Roe Effect, by the Numbers – The Wall Street Journal
The Short Stack… (or Dr. Land’s Favorites)
- The Fertility Gap – Arthur C. Brooks – The Wall Street Journal
- The Liberal Baby Bust – Phillip Longman, USA Today
- The Roe Effect – Wall Street Journal
In The Church
- January 8, 2007 Why We Left the Episcopal Church – The Washington Post
- January 4, 2007 Episcopal Churches’ Breakaway in Va. Evolved Over 30 Years – The Washington Post
- December 20, 2006 The liberal (Episcopal) Church in meltdown – The Guardian
- July 9, 2006 Liberal Christianity Pays for its Sins – LA Times
- June 7, 2005 God-Lite Doesn’t Cut It – Dave Shiflett – National Review
- (Book) EXODUS: Why Americans Are Fleeing Liberal Churches… – Dave Shiflett
- The Raw Data – Glenmary Research Center
- May 2005 Why Are Conservative Churches Growing? – Dr. Albert Mohler,
- May 2005 Why strict churches are strong. – Judith Shulevitz, Slate
- July 2006 Kinderphobia – Dr. Russell Moore
In U.S. Politics, Demographics
- NOV 27, 2007 The Rise of Family-Friendly Cities – Joel Kotkin
- Our Religious Destiny – Arthur C. Brooks
- July 11, 2007 The Roe Effect, by the Numbers – The Wall Street Journal
- June, 2007 Turnaround on Abortion (PDF, 84 KB) – Overbrook Research
- October 21, 2006 More People Means More Prosperity – The Wall Street Journal
- September 27, 2006 ‘Fertility gap’ helps explain political divide – USA Today
- September 17, 2006 Republicans’ fertile future – Vicki Haddock – San Fransisco Chronicle
- August 22, 2006 The Fertility Gap – Arthur C. Brooks – The Wall Street Journal
- December 8, 2005 Rethinking Abortion – The Economist (Subscription)
- March 13, 2006 The Liberal Baby Bust – Phillip Longman , USA Today
- Adapted from The Return of Patriarchy in Foreign Policy , March 2006
- May 17, 2006 Baby Bust – Another by Longman, this time for a decidedly “progressive” audience. Note the publication: the magazine of the DLC .
- June 28, 2004 How abortion is costing the Democrats voters—literally. – Larry Eastland – Wall Street Journal
- Defining The Roe Effect – Wikipedia
In World Demographics
- October 18, 2006 France Devises a Baby Boom – The Washington Post
- June 27, 2006 Problems With the New Biopolitics – Human Events
- July 5, 2006 Foreign Countries Depopulating – Associated Press
- Russian People Stats – CIA.gov
- Unborn in the USSR – Dr. Russell Moore
- German Birth Woes – Washington Times Weekly
- German People Stats – CIA.gov
Archive (of sorts)
Viewing the below links may require a subscription, LexNex account, or periodical access at your local library. Still, we thought them important enough to mention.
- Mar 9, 2006 American Teenagers Split on Gay Marriage – Gallup Poll
- Dec 7, 2004 The New Red-Diaper Babies – David Brooks, New York Times
- July 18, 2004 When One Is Enough – Amy Richards, New York Times
Further Learning
Learn more about: Faith, Apologetics, Family, Marriage, Parenting, Adoption, Sexual Purity, Homosexuality, Life, Abortion, Citizenship, Church and State, Social Issues, Issues
15 comments (post your own) feed
1 On Aug 30th, 2006, at 3:26pm, Wanda Henry wrote:
I would like to encourage Christians to unite and fight this spiritual culture war for our country before it is too late. Let’s really give them something to be offended about by erecting crosses all across the USA!!
They attack the foundation that has held this country together. To them, God, family, and decency are the enemy.
We can’t ignore it any longer. We must take action now. Like the song “Onward Christian Soldiers”, we must march into this war - with the cross of Jesus going on before.
I challenge all Christians to display a
large cross on their property so that everywhere our enemies look they will see a cross.
The cause of Christ must not be defeated. Jesus must be glorified.
Wanda Henry
2 On Dec 29th, 2006, at 10:24am, Craig wrote:
Conservative Christians play a valuable role in the church as the guardians of orthodoxy. Without orthodoxy, the church would lose its way.
However, liberal Christians—better thought of as progressives—play an equally valuable role in keeping the church current and relevant. Without liberal reforms, the church would become irrelevant in a modern society.
That’s why liberals are needed to save the Church. Especially now. The biggest current threat to Christianity is not lack of orthodoxy but lack of relevancy.
3 On Jan 12th, 2007, at 11:33pm, Robert Vincent wrote:
“God is sovereign. God has more authority to do whatsoever he pleases. I have the power and ability and the freedom to do those things that I can do, but my freedom can never override the power or the authority of God. My freedom is always limited by the higher freedom of God. What is a contradiction is God’s sovereignty and human autonomy. Autonomy means that man can do whatever he wants without being worried about judgment from on high. Obviously those two are incompatible, and we do not believe that man is autonomous. We say that he is free, but his freedom is within limits, and those limits are defined by the sovereignty of God.” R.C. Sproul
We must seek to serve our Sovereign God and to allow Him to work through us to whatever objective lies within His will. This may be accomplished only through His children who deeply desire to follow Him passionately.
4 On Jan 17th, 2007, at 7:36am, Craig wrote:
Richard,
When you say that “we much seek to serve our Sovereign God and allow him to work through us.” I agree with that so much.
Is it too much to as Conservative Christians to trust that our Sovereign Lord might be working through us liberals, too?
As a liberal Christian, I find it VERY discouraging when I’m belittled, as a class of people, by conservatives. How does this honor God, which I honestly believe that conservative Christians want to do?
5 On Feb 6th, 2007, at 9:45pm, Joy E. Bruce wrote:
I am not saying no liberal can be a Christian,
but I am saying, with due respect, that I do not understand this concept. Christian, means to be an imitator of Christ. As I study the Bible I see the Christian lifestyle to be very conservative; evidenced by the valuing of life, by humility, and by living out the moral teachings of God’s word. It seems to me a liberal lifestyle is not only tolerant of, but condones values not consistant with those teachings. ‘Liberal and conservative’, these terms
seem like the terms ‘daylight and darkness’, or ‘summer and winter’; direct opposites.
6 On Feb 8th, 2007, at 7:01am, Craig (liberalgrace.com) wrote:
What you’ve done is mis-defined liberals and dismissed us.
I’m a liberal and I dare say, I’ve lived a more moral lifestyle than most of my conservative Christian friends. Never done drugs. Never cheated on taxes. Was celibate before marriage and monogamous after. (How many conservatives can honestly make that last claim?) Don’t get drunk. Don’t curse. Don’t gamble.
My wife is quite a bit more liberal than me and all the above is true for her too!
To say liberals are less moral than conservatives is bearing false witness—which was one of the big-10 sins, last I checked!
Do you believe in that teaching of Jesus that you should do unto others as you would have others do to you? Then please tell the truth about us—don’t just make stuff up.
7 On Jul 18th, 2007, at 8:37pm, Willis B wrote:
Low birth rate impacts all of Americans. We so devalue children in our culture. We must be ready to witness and live out our faith to those not of the Christian faith, who are being blessed by children.
8 On Jul 23rd, 2007, at 9:55am, Greg Z wrote:
Conservatives, liberals, society needs all of them. America is a great nation and it became great with both of these groups of people. Liberalism brought civil rights, social security, and expanded the right to vote. Conservatives protected the economy from over-regulation that would have hampered growth and prevented us from being competitive in a global world. Extreme liberalism gives you communism, but extreme conservatism gives you modern day Iran or the Nazi regime and holocaust. Both extremes are bad. I am a liberal for sure. However, I consider both viewpoints and come up with my own opinion. I don’t agree with something because it is simply the liberal way to think. I make up my own mind and I am not ignorant about it. I think going too much one way or the other is a detriment to society. Both sides almost always have a point. A good solution to any problem is a solution found through compromise.
9 On Jul 23rd, 2007, at 10:01am, Greg Z wrote:
Although I am a liberal I hate conservative bashing as much as I hate liberal bashing. Aren’t we more mature than that?
10 On Jul 24th, 2007, at 5:15pm, Liberal Grace wrote:
Willis: Low birth rates? You think 300 million Americans isn’t enough? Seems like more than enough to me!
Greg Z: I generally agree with your macro view about extremes of liberalism and conservatism.
However, I will quibble with your admiration of conservative de-regulation.
It’s obvious to me that Reagan-style conservative deregulation has led to the _increase_ of effective monopolies which _decrease_ competition and free markets.
Joy:
The Pharisees were clearly the CONSERVATIVES of their day, not the liberals. And these Pharisaic conservatives were the main opposition to the liberal grace that Jesus offered.
I like to believe that Jesus transcended the categories of “liberal vs. conservative” but it’s pretty clear in the gospels that religions conservatives were not natural allies of Jesus, if not just plain enemies.
11 On Jul 26th, 2007, at 10:38am, Greg Zahner wrote:
Grace I agree with what you said. As a said I am a progressive liberal, so I am just trying to be fair. My family and I think Reagan was one of the worst President’s in history. But many people love and I mean LOVE Reagan. But I do believe that conservativism has its place.
If I always got my way there would be a lot of regulation of the economy and a lot of ‘red tape’ and political correctness to ensure equality and coexistence. And thats not always a good thing. For example, ensuring equality, although a good thing, slows government actions waaay down. Sometimes a quick response is needed.
I am pretty extreme, but I realize that and try to temper it. My belief is that I don’t know everything, so consider what other people say, they may have thought of something that you haven’t. And thats how liberals and conservatives balance each other.
12 On Aug 1st, 2007, at 5:06pm, The Blonde wrote:
The rather cruel attempts by some conservatives to exclude liberals from the Body of Christ is most unfortunate.
13 On Aug 2nd, 2007, at 10:29am, Puzzled wrote:
I’m Singaporean.
I don’t understand the ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ divide which seems highly linked to American politics - Con GOP supporters vs liberal ‘crats?
Seems to me that the only useful distinction is ‘saved’ and ‘unsaved.’
Nothing else matters.
14 On Aug 3rd, 2007, at 10:11am, Liberal Grace wrote:
Dear “Puzzled”
Don’t feel bad for not understanding… the “liberal vs conservative” divide is a non-biblical theological distinction that comes from our American two-party political system.
I expect that future theologians will likely conclude that this “liberal vs conservative” divide is the great heresy of the American church.
As you insinuate, our Christian responsibility is to be unified in the Lord and most of we Americans totally disobey that.
Sadly, our American “liberal vs conservative” heresy is being exporting by our missionaries and Christian media to the world.
PTL it doesn’t seem to have fully made it all the way over to Singapore yet!
Truly yours,
Liberal Grace
15 On Aug 3rd, 2007, at 10:31am, Liberal Grace wrote:
I think my above post needs to be clarified—please forgive the second post:
Please don’t misunderstand me: I don’t think liberals or conservatives are bad. It’s dividing the church along those lines that’s the heresy.
Using me as an example: I’m a proud liberal but I eagerly accept my conservative brothers/sisters as good and honest Christians. In obedience to Christ, my conservative brothers/sisters should accept me, likewise.
When that doesn’t happen, that’s where the heresy happens.