Subscribe to RSSChristian Commerce in the Culture War
Paul Weyrich, a well-known Christian activist inside the Washington beltway, started a movement with an idea for a weekly lunch meeting hosted in his office. He invited peers to join him once a week to discuss the need for some political coordination in fighting a growing trend toward the degradation of cultural values in federal legislation.
This weekly meeting group grew into the Moral Majority—the precursor of the powerful Christian Coalition. For nearly twenty years Christians flexed their political muscle in their quest for influence and cultural change.
Years later Weyrich wrote a note to his peers saying “We have lost the culture war” in a bid to inspire a renewed activism effort. His letter met with mixed results.
From my viewpoint, I see a change beginning to take place in America. And commerce is right in the middle of it. Rather than depending on a political party to carry water for a positive moral influence in society, I see Christians beginning to better understand the value of the free market as a tool.
I also see businesses recognizing that Christians aren’t a group of religious zealots, but rather a significant and influential consumer group. Corporations are beginning to test the water of formally seeking the attention of this new vertical market of faith-based consumers.
This new “salt and light” free market commerce may lead to a new breed of influence that the “political right” could never really deliver.
Tags: christian, church, commerce, culture war, moral majority