A recent article (AP) examines the non-fiction book, Blue Like Jazz. According to the article, it's a best-seller among some evangelicals and "puts [a] tolerant face on Christianity." The book's author, Donald Miller, is an evangelical, but the term "Christianity" for him came to mean, "conservative politics, suburban consumerism, and an 'insensitivity to people who aren't like us.'"
The article continues with Miller's words:
"I felt, once again, that there was this underlying hostility for homosexuals and Democrats and, well, hippie types. I cannot tell you how much I did not want liberal or gay people to be my enemies. I liked them," he wrote. "The real issue in the Christian community was that (love) was conditional . . . You were loved in word, but there was, without question, a social commodity that was being withheld from you until you shaped up."
As the article notes, many 20-something evangelicals are buying Miller's book and passing it along. Apparently, he's struck a chord. However, I share the skepticism of Frederick Clarkson of Talk To Action, who stated in an e-mail:
Miller is … heading off in the direction of a depoliticized conservative evangelicalism and getting along with people instead of being arch and judgmental. Seems to be a common thing among the younger generation of evangelicals these days. It is quite unproved, however, if their voting and general political behavior will be much affected by these various shifts.
We shall see.
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