Rev. William Barber, head of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and leader of the Moral Mondays, declares, “This is no momentary hyperventilation. This is a movement.” All the more reason to heed the lessons learned from the cautionary tale of the Christian Right, which in addition to gaining visibility and political influence turned off innumerable Americans (especially younger people, believers and nonbelievers alike) with its frequently shrill tone and condemnatory treatment of its rivals.

Today, as on other recent Mondays, protesters are congregating in North Carolina to raise a moral voice against the actions of elected officials in the Tar Heel state. Beginning at the capitol this past spring, and now spreading to other North Carolina cities with the legislative session finished for the year, the protests have attracted gatherings as big as 10,000 and captured the nation’s attention.

Led by a minister and operating under the catchy moniker “Moral Mondays,” the protests call to mind Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority from days gone by. But apart from rhetoric that appeals directly to scripture and morality, Moral Mondays bear little in common with the Christian Right, the movement of evangelical conservatives who used to enjoy a monopoly on politics of this sort. Concerned with legislation falling hardest on the poor, minorities and women, the Moral Mondays forces appear as solidly liberal as the Christian Right is conservative.

If the drama in North Carolina represents the rise of a Christian Left in this country — and recent polling data indicates it might — liberal hearts like mine will gladden. Yet whatever better angels I have in my nature are counseling caution.

If the Christian Left becomes a real force, please may it keep its eye on a prize higher than winning at politics. And please may it remember that it’s not just what you pursue in politics, but how you pursue it.

A study released earlier this summer by Public Religion Research finds that a larger percentage of Americans than previously believed fit the category of “religious progressive.” And the gap between them and religious conservatives is smaller than most observers would have guessed: Religious progressives add up to 19% of the population compared with the 28% figure for religious conservatives.

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