Sour grapes. That is the abstract version of the tantrum appearing in the New York Times today, throwing ignorant slurs at the voters Mr. Douthat doesn’t like. This is the part that pertains to secularists.
Or consider the secular vote, which has been growing swiftly and tilts heavily toward Democrats. The liberal image of a non-churchgoing American is probably the “spiritual but not religious” seeker, or the bright young atheist reading Richard Dawkins. But the typical unchurched American is just as often an underemployed working-class man, whose secularism is less an intellectual choice than a symptom of his disconnection from community in general.
(Shh. Don’t tell him, but those he dismisses as “unchurched” are a lot more likely to financially stable. Likewise, almost 90% of those without a religious affiliation are not “seekers”, as he seems to think.)
As offensive as the article is, I, for one, welcome these insults. They will go a long way to ensure the coalition that defeated the religious right will stay in place for the foreseeable future and accelerate the descent of the right wingers into oblivion.
