I Am Apparently "Tweed." What About You?
A typology of conservative Protestants that (sort of) works
This article from John Ehrett provides “A Typology of Conservative Protestants in an Anxious Age”—and, although I am typically dubious when it comes to any such typologies, I think he makes some valid points. The titles he assigns to each quadrant need some work, but the concepts seem to describe the lay of the land with some degree of accuracy.
I recognize myself, without a doubt, as a member of the Tweed quadrant—though I don’t see a clear link between woven wool and the values of this quadrant—with a critical appreciation of the Pluralists.
Also, I’m not sure Bookish and Blue Collar are the correct concepts to govern the vertical axis. Most of the Patriots and Pugilists I know are every bit as bookish as the Tweeds and the Pluralists. Still, it seems like Ehrett might be on to something here.
What about you? As you read the descriptions below, in what quadrant do you fit best? What terms might work better than “Bookish” and “Blue Collar”?
Neo-Anabaptist pluralists
Christians in this intellectual camp tend to be fairly skeptical of culture warring, especially when undertaken by political conservatives. Instead, they favor cultivating what (in their minds) is a more authentic faith defined by its resilience and compassion under conditions of cultural hostility and persecution. The ur-text for this group would probably be theologian Russell Moore’s positive treatment of the collapse of “Bible Belt” cultural Christianity….
Evangelical patriots
This group of Protestants strongly supports the symbols of American nationhood, identifies explicitly with the Republican Party, and in many ways echoes the religious conservatism of the George W. Bush years. A tendency toward a dispensational-premillennialist eschatology leads to apocalypticism, as well as to a strong sense of the reality of spiritual warfare. This group is probably more willing than the others to form big-tent coalitions in pursuit of a common end, and likely won’t police theological distinctions as aggressively as the Tweeds or the Pugilists. You also won’t catch them criticizing “democracy” or waxing nostalgic about monarchy, as the Tweeds might….
Tweedy liturgical types
This group is composed of Protestants who are theologically conservative, but whose political conservatism is probably heterodox at some level (e.g., they may support robust state welfare systems, unions, and other traditionally left-wing causes). The Davenant Institute and its affiliated writers are good exemplars of this approach. Members tend to share a strong interest in ressourcement, particularly of the Protestant scholastic tradition, and tend to be fairly circumspect about their engagement with partisan political projects. The membership of this group, like that of the Pluralists, is disproportionately white-collar, and tends to be highly educated. Nobody would likely accuse them of being political agitators—a reason they may be criticized by Patriots and Pugilists alike. Their actual political views, though, tend to upend the standard assumptions of “liberalism” as such.
Paleo-traditional pugilists
This group, exemplified by the complex of institutions built and led by Douglas Wilson and the Christian Reformed Evangelical Church (CREC), is composed of intellectual descendants of the Southern Agrarian writers and the American paleoconservative tradition.
Read the entire article here: “A Typology of Conservative Protestants in an Anxious Age.”