Being a “big picture” kind of guy, a can really appreciate the history of “the left” and the Democratic party presented in this article just published on The Catholic Thing written by David Carlin. I also recommend his book, “Can a Catholic Be a Democrat?”…Short answer is “no”.
Years ago, Democrats decided that they must build a “wall of separation” between themselves and “the left”. The article describes how that wall eroded starting in the late 60’s, allowing more and more leftist ideas to filter in. The article, however, does not mention the decline of Catholicism (and religion in general) post Vatican II, which I found surprising. Other than that it makes a lot of sense.
Carlin ends with the question, ” Will Catholics be able to make the GOP what the Democratic Party once was, an almost-Catholic party?”
For the answer to that question, see Joseph Bottum’s An Anxious Age.
Summary version: After the abuse scandals, why would anyone not Catholic take Catholics seriously about anything?
The basic bottom line faith in Christ and the earnest openness to listening for and seeking His will will bring true believers – Protestant and Catholic- to that unity Jesus prayed for 2000 years ago.
The effects of the spirit of revolution, and the Reformation, are playing themselves out…having seen the holes in the theories and philosophies debunked.
2 Peter 3:14 and following
This article/comment/post on Woke Calvinism corresponds with Bottum’s observations about the post-Christian Protestant Mainstream coming into its own. Basically, you can take the Puritan out of the Church, but you can’t take the Puritanism out of the unchurched. Everything’s still a moral crusade. Only the scarlet letters have changed.