Rise of the Warrenites

Intellectual salvos have been raised over the Rick Warren-hosted debates. I would personally like to see a mano-a-mano, online intellectual cage-fight break out between Catholic heavyweights Sullivan and Douthat, but I digress. The only point I’d like to bring into the already crowded discussion of Faith v. State comes from the missed Solzhenitsyn, a proud Russian orthodox arch-conservative, in his famous address at Harvard:

And while it may be that in past years Japan as increasingly become, in effect, a Far West, drawing ever closer to Western ways (I am no judger here), Israel, I think, should not be reckoned as part of the West, if only because of the decisive circumstance that it state system is fundamentally linked to religion.

Even Solzhenitsyn, while believing that Western civilization has become over-secularized, maintains that there is a definitive separation between church and state. Several writers have pointed out the near impossibility of reconciling fealty to a higher Being with the possibility of neglecting that duty in terrestrial duties to the state. But this logic hints strongly towards Christian anarchism of Dorothy Day, whereby giving unto Caesar was is Caesar’s translates to “nothing”, since everything is God’s, and must be given unto Him.

I highly doubt that Warren, or all but a handful of Americans, fall under this umbrella. Cynically, I find that the push for more faith is little more than theological rent-seeking, an attempt to gain more power here through appeals to the Other.

Ultimately, a compromise must be reached, and I would maintain that comes in holding noble and honorable a sacrifice of personal values in order to continue faithfully serving a role as an elected officials. A president’s view of the book of Daniel should be subservient to what must be done in Sinai. If there is an impasse between these two worlds, then that person should never consider public office or, if they are already elected, resign.

All this is a vague introduction  to the Warrenites, and the power of Rick Warren. The Showdown at Saddleback (unfortunately, not a Clint Eastwood film) may be the only debate outside of those hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Warren’s constituency is the only one, outside of the broad American public, that both candidates agree need to be courted.

So who are the Warrenites? Their tome is the Bible, their devotional The Purpose Driven Life, and their drive comes from is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. They ultimately represent an American update to Max Weber’s Protestant work ethic. Weber’s Protestants, while similarin their drive, were ultimately dour people, and would throw an awful BBQ, if they even had a grill. These Warrenites have taken the formula, and added a dose of soccer camps, family pool parties, and weekend retreats.

Of course, we’ve seen these Warrenites before. They are Reagan Democrats, soccer moms, blue collar dads, and Silent Majorities. Now, however, they fall under a very, very broad umbrella, with a man serving as a nexus point to access a good deal of them. Warren is the closest thing we have had to an American spiritual leader.

I am rather pessimistic about the role these folks will play in the future of politics. The closest thing to a Warrenite candidate on the national scale is Mike Huckabee, who is essentially a Purpose Driven Candidate. Very few people loathe Mike Huckabee; he has taken away the apocalyptical tones of Pat Robertson, and replaced them with a happy, beaming, slightly pudgy face that you can trust. Sunday Brunch politics, however, do not fit well with a looming national debt, nor with an increasingly Realpolitik world.

Flickr image courtesy of user Diluvi.