Bring Us Your Loud, Your Brash, Your Foolish

In response to John D. Boy’s piece, Icons of the New Evangelicalism, this morning, Bruce Illig writes in:

Mr. Boy, I think it would be a grave mistake to assume that a change of appearance would signal any change in the basic beliefs of the evangelicals, or their influence. Would this not be the time, after the public embarrassment of their high-profile involvement with the Bush administration, for them to “go underground”, as Abram directed his Family after the explosive public politics of the New Deal and union busters? And, after the public exposure of Jeff Sharlet’s “The Family” it would seem obvious that a savvy operator like Doug Coe would follow that tack. His being the predominant force in the power broker area of the movement, other influential groups not directly tied to him would follow suit. Any minor players on the edges who wish to remain loud , brash, and foolish would be secretly welcomed by the “underground elite” as a cover and a distraction, like the CIA welcoming UFO nuts to cover military exercises. If these minor wing-nuts crash and burn, so much the better cover. Anyone who has read Jeff’s expose cannot possibly see the influence of this cabal diminishing, but increasing, and as being firmly entrenched far into the future. The question is, as they go even deeper underground, what can we do to mitigate their influence, and track and expose it? Thanks for your perspective.

What do you think?