Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite

by D. Michael Lindsay

Overview

Evangelicals, once at the periphery of American life, now wield power in the White House and on Wall Street, at Harvard and in Hollywood. How have they reached the pinnacles of power in such a short time? And what does this mean for evangelicals--and for America?

Drawing on personal interviews with an astonishing array of prominent Americans--including two former Presidents, dozens of political and government leaders, more than 100 top business executives, plus Hollywood moguls, intellectuals, athletes, and other powerful figures--D. Michael Lindsay shows first-hand how they are bringing their vision of moral leadership into the public square. This riveting volume tells us who the real evangelical power brokers are, how they rose to prominence, and what they're doing with their clout. Lindsay reveals that evangelicals are now at home in the executive suite and on the studio lot, and from those lofty perches they have used their influence, money, and ideas to build up the evangelical movement and introduce it to wider American society. They are leaders of powerful institutions and their goals are ambitious--to bring Christian principles to bear on virtually every aspect of American life.

Along the way, the book is packed with fascinating stories and striking insights. Lindsay shows how evangelicals became a force in American foreign policy, how Fortune 500 companies are becoming faith-friendly, and how the new generation of the faithful is led by "cosmopolitan evangelicals." These are well-educated men and women who read both The New York Times and Christianity Today, and who are wary of the evangelical masses' penchant for polarizing rhetoric, apocalyptic pot-boilers, and bad Christian rock. Perhaps most startling is the importance of personal relationships between leaders--a quiet conversation after Bible study can have more impact than thousands of people marching in the streets.

Faith in the Halls of Power takes us inside the rarified world of the evangelical elite--beyond the hysterical panic and chest-thumping pride--to give us the real story behind the evangelical ascendancy in America.

"This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to."
--Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"For people wanting an understanding of how evangelicals have acquired so much power, money, and influence in the past 30 years, this is the ultimate insider's book."
--Sojourners Magazine

"Anybody who wants to understand the nexus between God and power in modern America should start here."
--The Economist

"Fascinating."
--John Schmalzbauer, Wall Street Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195376050
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/29/2008
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

D. Michael Lindsay is President of Gordon College. He is the author of two books, both with George Gallup, Jr., and has written many scholarly and popular essays. He has received several awards for his writing, teaching, and speaking and writes a regular column for Rev! magazine.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction 1

Part I Campaigns, Coalitions, and the Oval Office

1 Presidents and Politics 15

2 Allies and Enemies 38

Part II Intellectuals and the Groves of Academe

3 Knowledge to Change the World 75

4 Life of the Mind 94

Part III Artists, Celebrities, and the Public Stage

5 From Protest to Patronage 117

6 A Cultural Revolution 137

Part IV Corporate Titans and the Corner Office

7 Faith-Friendly Firms 161

8 Executive Influence 186

Conclusion: Move-the-Dial Christianity 208

Appendix 233

Notes 255

References 301

Index 317

Editorial Reviews

"A book for serious readers, with insights into how Christians have shaped aspects of Republican Party policy; how they've engaged with the intellectual elite...and how corporate America has many Christians in the boardrooms." —Christianity

"As Lindsay demonstrates with overwhelming evidence, the rise of religious conservatives is a carefully orchestrated, well-financed, and systematic effort to inject evangelicals into the center of American society. ...revelatory." —Symposium

"The single finest account of the goals, ambitions, challenges, and complexities of evangelical elites I have ever read."—The Journal of Law and Religion

From the Publisher

Should we expect evangelicals, because they are so upfront about their faith, to act differently than the less devout? Evangelicals, as D. Michael Lindsay demonstrates with impressive research and inexhaustible energy in Faith in the Halls of Power, have made great strides in entering mainstream institutions like academia, government, the media and business. Unless we are interested in religion for reasons of pride—the way young Jewish baseball fans would single out Sandy Koufax, or, in my Philadelphia childhood, Saul Rogovin, for special notice—Lindsay's subject matter should pique everyone's curiosity.
—The New York Times

Alan Wolfe

Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University who has previously worked with pollster George Gallup Jr., looks at the rise of evangelical Christian influence in the spheres of power of American public life: political, intellectual, cultural and economic. Based on interviews with 360 leaders from these spheres, including two former presidents, as well as a command of what everybody else has heretofore written, Lindsay demonstrates how over the past two decades evangelicals have moved into positions of great influence. From a sociological point of view, their path to power is easy to discern through networks of relationships or institutions that have seeded larger political and economic institutions. This growing network has produced new leaders whose ideas and actions are motivated by their Christianity. The interviews allow Lindsay to cite numerous examples that make his point persuasively. He is a sympathetic observer who understands that evangelicalism is as reformist as any other movement that has ascended to power in America. Yet he also understands that evangelicalism has made accommodation to the larger public life it seeks to reform, a tension he calls "elastic orthodoxy." This important work should be required reading for anyone who wants to opine publicly on what American evangelicals are really up to. (Oct.)

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Publishers Weekly

This definitive work by Lindsay (sociologist, Rice Univ.), who has coauthored two books with George Gallup Jr., addresses the whos, whys, whats, and implications of the evangelical movement's increasing impact on the realm of politics and the marketplace. Lindsay conducted more than 350 in-depth interviews with politicians, academics, artists, media and film people, corporate leaders, White House staff, and U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. He also interviewed pastors of large churches, seminary presidents, and heads of evangelical organizations. Some participants with whom he spoke are public about their faith, while others express only their beliefs in private; some emphasize a vibrant religious experience, while others primarily promote issues like the environment and welfare. Lindsay explores evangelical social networks and organization: one "nonpartisan" gathering, called Renaissance Weekends, has included key Democrats (e.g., Hillary and Bill Clinton) among its early participants. Another group, Faith and Law, composed mostly of senior staffers on Capitol Hill, was formed to think through the implications of faith-informed public policy. Lindsay predicts we may soon see whether evangelicals become a counterculture for the common good, or, as some critics fear, amount to a religious crusade. Highly recommended for all libraries.
—George Westerlund

Library Journal