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It's hard to say whether these movements (Like Redletter Christians) still consider themselves Evangelical - at least in the current sense of the word. There's
by UncleOxidant 4y ago
It's hard to say whether these movements (Like Redletter Christians) still consider themselves Evangelical - at least in the current sense of the word. There's a huge movement of (mostly younger) people leaving Evangelicalism right now because the term 'Evangelical' has been co-opted to mean something political rather than a theological category (as it was in the past). At the same time there are people who wouldn't have considered themselves religious in the past who are now identifying as 'Evangelical' more for political reasons. These latter folks may never attend a church but they like the political alignment.
Historically, Evangelicalism was a reaction to Fundamentalism in the early part of the 20th century. I'm old enough to remember that there were Evangelicals who were politically liberal - my parents voted for McGovern in '72 and were very much anti-Nixon, antiwar, pro-environment and pro-civilrights, they considered themselves Evangelical in those times and they weren't alone - these are the folks that helped Jimmy Carter win in '76. Now Fundamentalism and rightwing politics have taken over Evangelicalism. Leading to the exodus away from Evangelicalism in many quarters (though many of them would still consider themselves 'Evangelical' in the earlier theological sense, they feel that the term has been co-opted so that it's not so much that they've moved it's that the wider Evangelical church has moved away from it's original moorings).