From “Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies” by David P. Gushee
The argument I am making in this book is that religious, moral, and, most relevant here, political authoritarianism among Christians is often activated by a strongly negative reaction to modernity, democracy, and pluralism, or to certain cultural, moral, political or legal developments in democratic societies, which progressive forces treat as great advances for progress but traditionalist Christians reject. This negative reaction can then fuel latent or open political authoritarianism.
When a negative reaction to modern cultural and political developments hardens into a permanent posture of Christian disdain for modernity and democracy, I believe that it can be fairly named reactionary, a term I use here both descriptively and as a negative value judgment. I judge it negatively because, from the perspective of Christian ethics, I believe that a blanket posture of negative reaction is a too simple form of engagement with culture, and a too pessimistic response to social change – even the dramatic social changes we have seen in our cultures since the 1960s. I judge it negatively because it also yields bad fruit; it tempts toward authoritarianism and other toxicities that are its fellow travelers, such as conspiracy theories, gutter politics, and even militia violence.