Conservatives have been calling for a spiritual revival, another Great Awakening, to undo the cultural stagnation infecting the nation. Evangelicals debate whether they should engage in the political arena to address society’s ills. They agree on the need for increased religious fervor to solve the nation’s problems. They see in history a recurring Old Testament theme: that people persist in erroneous ways until they desperately turn to God, repent and flourish, only to repeat the cycle. Conservatives see these revivals occurring when things seem darkest and when believers were most prone to despair.

Conservatives see signs of America’s decay in the economic and moral realms and find solace in the Churchillian sentiment “you can count on Americans to the do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else.” No matter how bad things seem, they are confident America has endured similar trials before and always emerged stronger. They combine belief in an omnipotent, benevolent Creator with despair about how far society has fallen.