On Christian Mass Market Culture and Identity Politics

Thanks to Carlos Stouffer at the Jesus Politics blog for calling my attention to the article on "Mass Market *Culture* and Identity Politics" at the Daily Kos blog. Shock makes a lot of interesting and insightful comments. Here's the core of his argument:

Christians are behaving just like good consumers should. They are unconsciously slipping into the "mold" that the marketers have laid out for them. It's done so well that it has become part of the Christian culture.

Importantly, this directed marketing has given Christians a sense of separate identity. They are no longer Americans who happen to be Christians and happen to be Republican or Democratic. They are Christian Americans -- separate from (and some believe, superior to) the rest. (Note this is just like typical "identity politics", except, at the heart, it was not originally about politics, but rather money... although Republican politicians are now engaging in it as well, of course.)

I think Shock has put his finger on one of the factors that has led to our current Republican-Christian hegemony. I think a greater factor has been the very effective efforts of people influenced by Christian Dominionism to organize and takeover the mechanisms of government.