Left Behind? Elites and November 2
This morning we all heard the news that George W. Bush has been re-elected. While I’m not going to discuss the election politically I would like to reflect on movements within book publishing that might be symptomatic of movement within the North American Christian community. Certainly at or near the top of the pundits’ post-election analyses is the topic of the religious vote and how it reflected “values” as opposed to the “wallet.”
I’ve just returned from a lecture at the University of British Columbia and amidst the beforehand chatter I overheard snippets of conversations that were entirely devoted to the election. Clearly there was disorientation about the results. I heard words such as “surprised” and “Christian movement.”
Over the past couple of years I have seen developments that I have not seen in my 22 years as a bookseller. The Left Behind series is clearly a cultural phenomenon. As I recall, the recent initial print runs of the series each have filled approximately 70 tractor trailers and occupied large web presses around the clock for 2 months. I have had no desire to read any of the series but I am sure they point to a craving for the experience of the transcendent among many within our culture. A second book whose sales signal a cultural shift is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Ten years ago this book would have been lucky to have sold 10,000 copies. And yet several months ago it had achieved worldwide sales in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. It dominates the Christian bestseller lists from South Korea to countries in South America. Here in Canada it has sold over 500,000 copies but does not appear on the bestseller lists which are controlled by liberal cultural elites. One of our former long-term employees is now pastoring in a church. During his time here he had no use for Rick Warren’s earlier book, The Purpose Driven Church. However, now that he is a pastor he makes regular use of The Purpose Driven Life and claims it genuinely connects with people on the fringes of the church. Harvard sociologist Robert Putman, author of Bowling Alone, in his new book Better Together: Restoring American Community, highlights Warren’s church and holds it up as a model of one of the places where “communal capital” is being regenerated.
How does all this relate to the election? Certainly these books did not bring about yesterdays outcome. However their unprecedented sales velocity point to movement in American Christianity and even global Christianity. Key Christian writers such as Warren, Chuck Colson, and Jim Dobson head key churches or organizations that have a strong media presence and they are pro-Bush. In many ways they contributed to a strong Bush vote. Anti-Bush writers such as Philip Yancey, Tony Campolo, and Jim Wallis, while receiving attention in select quarters, have very little impact on the large mass of the evangelical community. Liberal elites have simply not recognized the extent of the cultural shifts within the Christian community. Even evangelical elites, of the type that read CT, Books & Culture, or Sojourners have not comprehended this shift. I myself, who has extensive exposure to the world of evangelical books and media, have a hard time getting my head around the fact of 70 tractor trailer loads of a single title which is already presold. Whether one cheers or curses yesterday’s results, clearly there is a trend here that elites need to ponder.
Bill Reimer
I’ve just returned from a lecture at the University of British Columbia and amidst the beforehand chatter I overheard snippets of conversations that were entirely devoted to the election. Clearly there was disorientation about the results. I heard words such as “surprised” and “Christian movement.”
Over the past couple of years I have seen developments that I have not seen in my 22 years as a bookseller. The Left Behind series is clearly a cultural phenomenon. As I recall, the recent initial print runs of the series each have filled approximately 70 tractor trailers and occupied large web presses around the clock for 2 months. I have had no desire to read any of the series but I am sure they point to a craving for the experience of the transcendent among many within our culture. A second book whose sales signal a cultural shift is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Ten years ago this book would have been lucky to have sold 10,000 copies. And yet several months ago it had achieved worldwide sales in excess of 15 million copies worldwide. It dominates the Christian bestseller lists from South Korea to countries in South America. Here in Canada it has sold over 500,000 copies but does not appear on the bestseller lists which are controlled by liberal cultural elites. One of our former long-term employees is now pastoring in a church. During his time here he had no use for Rick Warren’s earlier book, The Purpose Driven Church. However, now that he is a pastor he makes regular use of The Purpose Driven Life and claims it genuinely connects with people on the fringes of the church. Harvard sociologist Robert Putman, author of Bowling Alone, in his new book Better Together: Restoring American Community, highlights Warren’s church and holds it up as a model of one of the places where “communal capital” is being regenerated.
How does all this relate to the election? Certainly these books did not bring about yesterdays outcome. However their unprecedented sales velocity point to movement in American Christianity and even global Christianity. Key Christian writers such as Warren, Chuck Colson, and Jim Dobson head key churches or organizations that have a strong media presence and they are pro-Bush. In many ways they contributed to a strong Bush vote. Anti-Bush writers such as Philip Yancey, Tony Campolo, and Jim Wallis, while receiving attention in select quarters, have very little impact on the large mass of the evangelical community. Liberal elites have simply not recognized the extent of the cultural shifts within the Christian community. Even evangelical elites, of the type that read CT, Books & Culture, or Sojourners have not comprehended this shift. I myself, who has extensive exposure to the world of evangelical books and media, have a hard time getting my head around the fact of 70 tractor trailer loads of a single title which is already presold. Whether one cheers or curses yesterday’s results, clearly there is a trend here that elites need to ponder.
Bill Reimer
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