Politics and Religion in America -
How Did We Get Where We Are?
By R. Hal Ritter, Jr.

What Ronald Reagan did for politics—individual values over social values, evangelical Christianity has done for religion—individual morals over social conscience.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, social concerns were a very present feature in the national consciousness and in public discourse. The writings of Reinhold Niehbur provided careful analyses of how apparently successful societal concerns can be grounded in very dark motives. His writings made public the notions of “institutional evil,” evil that exists in the very systems and processes of public and corporate life.

The struggle for authentic faith was a struggle to “make a difference” in the face of overwhelming forces. For Niehbur, the Christian is called to love, and he argued that love, under the conditions of finitude and brokenness, means striving for justice for those who are victimized by the larger systems of power. Love is justice under the conditions of finitude.
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