MoveOn… Past Religion

Over in the Skilled Political Debate group on BlogCatalog.com, MadameX started an interesting thread on Religion and Politics in which she points out that a politicians religious beliefs play a large role in the formation of his socio-political beliefs.  She went on to ask: “Does religion have a place in politics? And if so, how do we find the line between being true to our consciences and infringing the decisions of people of other (or no) faith? And if not, how do we separate out consciences from religion, when so many basic moral principles are tied up in one’s religion?”

Unlike most other threads, this one has resulted in several comments that are long enough to be blog posts on their own.   My own comments, so far, contain over 850 words.  These comments are longer than many Comp I essays I wrote in college.  The thing I love about this discussion group compared to many others is that I have have a conversation with a devout Catholic and never once let things devolve into a “because God said so”.

After much consideration, the answer comes down to separating religious values from religious tenets.  Many religions, Christianity included, promote values that I can endorse wholeheartedly despite my rejection of the tenets of the religion itself.  If you look at a value such as protection and support for the poor, it does not matter how or why someone came to hold that belief.  Many of my views about respect for women are informed by reading Robert Heinlein.  If someone else comes to share my views as a result of a different path, thats a wonderful thing.  By focusing on goals and desired results we should be able to move past religious issues in the public sphere.

From an interesting webpage called What does the Bible say about Christian Values and Christian Living ten key items are listed, and who doesn’t love a top ten list?

1. Worship only God (Mark 12:28-30)
2. Respect all people/’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Mark 12:31)
3. Be humble (Matthew 5:5-9, 20:25-28, Mark 9:35, 1 Corinthians 10:24, Ephesians 4:1-6, Philippians 2:2-8, 2 Timothy 2:22-25)
4. Be honest (Mark 10:19, Luke 3:12-14, 16:10-12, 2 Corinthians 4:1-2, 2 Corinthians 7:2, 2 Corinthians 8:21, Ephesians 4:25, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:9, Hebrews 13:18, 1 Peter 2:12, 3:10)
5. Live a moral life (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
6. Be generous with time and money (Matthew 5:42, 6:1-2, 25:31-46, Luke 6:38, 12:33, 21:1-4, Acts 20:35, Romans 12:6-8, 2 Corinthians 9:5-7, Hebrews 13:1-3, 13:15-16, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, 1 John 3:17)
7. Practice what you preach; don’t be a hypocrite (Matthew 6:1-7, 7:1-5, 7:21-23, 15:7-9, 23:1-33, Luke 20:46-47, Romans 2:21-24, James 1:22-27, 2:14-24, 1 John 1:5-7, 2:3-6, 2:9, 4:19-21)
8. Don’t be self-righteous (Matthew 7:1-5, 9:10-13, 18:10, Luke 6:32-42, 7:36-50, 18:9-14, John 8:1-8, Romans 2:1-4, 3:23, 14:1, 14:10-12, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 13:1-7, 16:14, Galatians 6:1-3, James 2:12-13, 4:11-12, 1 John 1:8)
9. Don’t hold a grudge (Matthew 5:21-26, 5:43-48, Romans 12:17-21, 1 Corinthians 6:7-8, Ephesians 4:26, 4:31-32, Colossians 3:7-8, James 1:19-20, 1 Thessalonians 5:15, 1 Peter 3:9, 1 John 2:9-11, 4:19-21)
10. Forgive others (Matthew 6:14-15)

With the exception of the first item, I can get behind all of those principles. 

 After reading "What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America" by Thomas Frank, I have a lot of sympathy for Christians who get involved with politics and political campaigns.  From the Reagan Revolution until the Republic control of Congress through 2006, Christians who have voted based on their religious views have been cheated of any real change.  While I have sympathy for these folks as individuals, I see it as a condition they brought upon themselves by making elections about a single issue like abortion or gay marriage.

When sincere and well-meaning Christians started joining political groups like now defunct Moral Majority or Rev. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family group they began surrendering control of their own platform for change.  Too many people, my own mother among them, surrender control of their votes to organizations like this and become just a small cog in a big machine this is theoretically driving social change.   You may doubt this, but just look at how many candidates court the leadership of these groups in order to win an endorsement.   By taking part in this system, individuals give up their individuality and willingly convert themselves into a simple demographic unit. 

Liberals do the same thing by jumping on petitions and other methods that try to present a mass unified front in communication with politicians, but it tends to be on a “retail” basis where a lot of people get behind a single issue and then move back into their own smaller groups after the moment passes.  From my point of view, it feels like less of a commitment when I am asked to endorse a policy or write to my congressional representatives to advance an agenda.  The behavior that I observe in some political Christians, particularly social conservatives, comes across as a very black and white, all or nothing, kind of political lifestyle.  The social liberals I know tend to have many more differences of opinion between each other.  I would be willing to bet that this is true among Christian conservatives as well, but the culture of political activism on the political right seems to discourage any vocal divergence from the main platform message.