It's Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

I'm Albert Moeller, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from

a Christian worldview.

Well now we have plenty of evidence to answer the fundamental question.

Is the polarization among states more a matter of perception or reality?

Well, here's the reality.

It's reality.

As you look at this, you recognize that increasingly states are becoming so deeply blue or so

deeply red that you are really looking at a level of political polarization in this

country that can be mapped out state by state.

Now this tells us a great deal about the terrain we face, and for Christians it also tells

us a great deal about our mission field.

Because even as we understand the political and the cultural divisions, we understand

there's more to it than that.

Now just keep in mind what we often come back to on the briefing.

And that is that when you look at a scale of political progressivism or liberalism on

the one hand, and then secularization on the other hand, you see parallel tracks, and

they're not exactly the same, but frankly they're overwhelmingly the same.

The deeper the blue, the deeper the liberal, the more secular, the deeper the red, the

deeper the conservative, well you have there a far higher rate of those who identify

as Christians, and in particular as evangelical Christians.

But then you add another issue and you understand that even as you're looking at this, as you're

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