Republocrat: The Pitfalls of American Politics

Last updated on: May 7, 2013 at 6:21 am by Kendrick Kuo

Republocrat: The Pitfalls of American Politics 2013-05-07T06:21:36-06:00 Kendrick Kuo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative by Carl Trueman

Imagine that an evangelical Brit decides to make running commentary on American politics–what would he say? Add to that the fact that this particular Brit has lived in the United States for almost two decades; then add the dash of cheekiness that we have come to expect of such fellows from across the pond. That’s what we get from Carl Trueman in Republocrat–a book that has something in it to offend all brands of evangelical politicos.

Trueman is quick to lay his cards on the table: politically, he’s left of center. His aim is to serve American evangelicals by providing an informed, outsider perspective of how they conduct themselves in the political arena. The book is a delight due to its witty prose, razor-like insight, and his eye for the ironies of our political system. Republocrat is short–another service that ensures a wider audience. I will quickly summarize each chapter and provide some concluding thoughts.

Chapter 1 – Left Behind: Trueman takes a romp through political history, from the Old Left as a backlash against the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution, through the intelligentsia’s acquisition of Marxism, and finally ending at the New Left and its adoption of “psychological categories.” Trueman writes,

For someone like me, here lies the heart of the problem of the New Left: once the concerns of the Left shifted from material, empiricial issues–hunger, thirst, nakedness, poverty, disease–to psychological categories, the door was opened for everyone to become a victim and for anyone with a lobby group to make his or her issue the Big One for this generation.

His point is simple: Christians should naturally be in favor of the party that cares for the weak and needy, but the New Left has artificially tied these concerns with “psychological categories” of gay rights and abortion.

Chapter 2 – The Slipperiness of Secularization: The United States is known to be an anomaly in the Western world due to its enduring religiosity in the face of a secularized Europe. But is the story so simple? Trueman argues that the church itself has imbibed secularization. He highlights: 1) the prosperity teaching of Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn, 2) the church’s membership culture becoming a consumer culture, 3) the unbiblical marriage of Christianity and the United States in the popular imagination demonstrated in The Patriot’s Bible and the Left Behind series, and 4) celebrity preachers. The golden quote:

What is needed is continual reformation that takes us back to the standards of God’s Word again and again, drives us to repentance, and leads us to put our trust once again in Jesus Christ rather than any set of political policies, or patriotism, or just a nebulous sense that we are better than the rest.

Chapter 3 – Not-So-Fantastic Mr. Fox: Trueman bemoans the state of American political punditry and takes special aim at Fox News. He’s aware of the shortfalls of other networks such as MSNBC, but he pays special attention to Fox News because of the allegiance of vast swaths of the “Religious Right”. Trueman’s main point is that we should use our brains when watching the news and not trust everything we hear. We should think critically, learn how to construct a syllogism, and, above all, remember nothing is black and white.

Chapter 4 – Living Life to the Max: Trueman wants to warn American evangelicals about the pitfalls of capitalism, while also recognizing that capitalism is the best thing we have at the moment. We should avoid chronological snobbery, which assumes that the current principle of social and economic organization is the apex and the end of history. The same was thought of feudalism and where has that gone? The genius of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher was tying religious/conservative values with this free market ideology, but Trueman views this partnership as problematic.

At heart, the problem of contemporary capitalism is that its (at least theoretical) commitment to untrammeled markets as providing the best mechanisms for the shaping of life leads inexorably toward a form of libertarianism–economic at the outset but profoundly moral in the long run. And no economic system, least of all perhaps capitalism, can long survive without some kind of larger moral underpinning that stands prior to and independent of the kinds of values the market itself generates.

The thinking on this follows closely that of Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (my observation, not Trueman’s).

Chapter 5 – Rulers of the Queen’s Navee: Like the prior chapter, Trueman considers the problems inherent in contemporary democracy and the way it limits thoughtful discourse, but concedes with Winston Churchill that it’s the best alternative that we have. His main gripe is how good looks (think the Nixon/Kennedy televised debate) and sound bytes (name any presidential debate or policy meme) triumph over a serious look at the issues and their policy implications. The two-party American system caters to polarization during campaigning, but a run to centrism once in office. But American democracy is what we have, so the solution can only be applied to individuals: Christians must be thinkers, not mindless followers.

Republocrat can be summarized easily as LET MY PEOPLE THINK! Even if readers don’t agree with Trueman’s arguments or do take issue with his conclusions, they must acknowledge that Trueman demonstrates good thinking. If we need anything, we need to learn to hear the other side. But lest we think Trueman is simply calling for the Religious Right to break camp and head for the Religious Left, he has sharp barbs for young evangelicals who vote Democrat just to be naughty.

Christianity in politics was at one time a noble cause. (Think of William Wilberforce’s Practical View of Christianity, early Christian abolitionists, and Martin Luther King, Jr.) Readers will be quick to bring up the noble pro-life cause. Trueman leaves this topic to his concluding postscript, where he directly addresses pro-life, single-issue voting. He states the obvious–when we vote, we’re limited in our choices and have to choose the best of our options. Taking a pragmatic voting philosophy, Trueman advocates a broader view when thinking about pro-life voting, which, in my opinion, is the most controversial part of the book.

Trueman starts by pointing out the negligible progress made on the pro-life agenda. Since 1973, lengthy Republican administrations and Republican-controlled Congresses have done little to roll back Roe v Wade. Politicians cater to pro-lifers during campaigns, but quickly shut up about the issue once in office. (Trueman points to the McCain campaign 2008, which became more vocal on abortion issues to drum up votes.) If the legislative path is not making headway on this issue, is it worth making abortion an ultimate deciding factor? Since most politicians are functionally incrementalists in terms of making policy changes, couldn’t this be done as much by a pro-life Republican as a pro-life Democrat?

The postscript discusses other juicy topics and prodding insights. Unfortunately, because Republocrat was published in 2010, Trueman doesn’t address the more pressing issue of same-sex marriage. Whether or not readers agree with Trueman, readers should still wrestle with his ideas. I will conclude with Trueman’s own words:

It is my belief that the identification of Christianity, in its practical essence, with very conservative politics will, if left unchallenged and unchecked, drive away a generation of people who are concerned for the poor, for the environment, for foreign-policy issues….We need to avoid this marginalization of the voice of Christians in politics by realizing the limits of politics and the legitimacy of Christians, disagreeing on a host of actual policies, and by earning a reputation for thoughtful, informed, and measured political involvement.

Books

Christian

Carl Trueman

Previous Post

May 6, 2013

George F. Kennan: Biography of a Bureaucrat

Next Post

May 8, 2013 My Neighbor Totoro

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Christian" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Disciple Messenger Follower of Christ Believer