No one paying even the least bit of attention to political affairs in America can question that the polarization of our religious institutions has helped to fundamentally reshape America’s historic commitment to the separation of church and state.
Dr. Muqtedar Khan, political science professor at Adrian College, wrote about this subject in a recent edition of National Catholic Reporter:
Unlike Europe, American has always been a religious nation. Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831 claimed that religion was the first political institution of American democracy. On Nov. 2, we saw this first political institution unleash a backlash against the assault on Christianity from Muslims -- therefore the support for Bush’s irrational and bloody foreign policy and against the growing secularization of American society; therefore the across-the-board support for a ban on gay marriage. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah and Oregon passed constitutional amendments banning gay marriages. A large number of voters, nearly 25 percent, said that the primary issue for them was “moral values.” Moral values are being widely understood as the Christian conservative opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights. But I suspect there is more to it.
The rise of political Christianity -- a coalition of white born-again Christians, conservative Catholics, conservative African Americans and conservative Hispanics -- is concerned with more than gay marriages and abortion rights. Political Christianity seeks to breach the wall of separation between the church and state and wishes to make this country a Christian nation.
America has been experiencing nativist resurgence along with the rise of a form of Christianity -- evangelical -- that is both self-righteous and “untraditional.” It is unwilling to compromise and is uncomfortable with enduring American traditions of religious tolerance, freedom of conscience, fundamental equality of all and appreciation for diversity. This nativism can be heard in the calls for restoring America’s moral values and in political works of scholars such as Sam Huntington who ask, “Who are we?” or in the fears of Pat Buchanan, who declares “the death of the West.”
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What are the next steps for religious progressives to undertake in light of these new realities? How do we better engage ourselves in interfaith actions? Are their issues of common concern for both conservative and progressive Christians that could be addressed in partnership despite differences on other issues? And would such a process have the benefit of developing some sense of reconciliation for a faithful people worshiping in a broken church.
Abortion divides us. But love of children unities us. Could we develop projects in different neighborhoods where pro-life and pro-choice people, as an example, work to create after school programs for children who have been left behind? Could we work in a systematic way to promote adoption as an alternative to abortion? These are just some off the cuff ideas.
People with strong differences on important issues have the ability to look past those differences – without ever leaving behind their core values - and the rewards can be great. The World Council of Churches has developed programs with these goals in mind. Visit interreligious relations & dialogue to learn more.
Can the religious “left” find common ground with the religious “right?”
Any thoughts?
