"Wild Goose exemplifies how the Evangelical Left translates 'social justice' into Big Government and pacifism." -- Mark Tooley, IRD President

Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell, jwalton@TheIRD.org 

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- Evangelical and Religious Left groups are converging on a North Carolina field in Chatham County this weekend for a four-day festival of music acts, yoga and liberal Christian speakers. The IRD will provide onsite coverage from three reporters.

The second annual "Wild Goose" festival is touting a "renewed vision of social transformation learned alongside the Occupy movement." Emergent Church guru Brian McLaren, pacifist activist Shane Claiborne, and Religious Right critic Frank Schaeffer, the son of evangelical writer Francis Schaeffer, will all be featured. Combining "justice" issues with a vague "spirituality," the festival is also showcasing "evangelical progressives" like Sojourners chief Jim Wallis. "Wild Goose" is patterned on Britain's 38-year-old "Greenbelt" festival.

IRD President Mark Tooley commented:

"Wild Goose exemplifies how the Evangelical Left translates 'social justice' into Big Government and pacifism.

"Interestingly, young adults drawn to Wild Goose are not flocking to liberal Mainline Protestantism, which festival founders would seemingly have them emulate.

"Vague spirituality can seem attractive, with a feel-good vibe and lack of demands. What it lacks is the power to perpetuate itself: emergent Christianity has seemingly plateaued, drawing mostly disaffected former Evangelicals."

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