David, your site doesn’t have a comments link (that I could find) so I’m posting it here. (Re: this post)
I actually agree with many of your points. (I’m not sure about your vested interest, so I’ll defer to Alex.) I think that religion in this country has become watered-down, over-marketed, soulless and boring. The music is the tip of the iceberg. I’ve been to about 3 services in the last 5 years and every time, the sermon given was so bland, uninspiring, and neutral–well, if I hadn’t left the church before, I would have then.
But, I have to pick a bone with your classification of the religious right as being inartisitc and unspiritual. Too many times in these debates, the “religious right” gets trotted out and poked at. Just like the left, though, the right has its shades. I think it’s unfair to lump everyone together and then call them inartisitc and unspiritual. It’s all in the nuance; we just don’t always appreciate the nuance if we don’t know what to look for.
I don’t know if the nutters on the right tipped the vote for Bush. I have a feeling that the nutters on the left tipped enough of the fence-sitters to spread the blame around. Calling undecided voters idiots and raving about the obviousness of voting Kerry probably didn’t sit well with many who wanted to vote against Bush, but not for a side that runs around insulting people as a recruitment technique.
My two cents.