Posted on 02/17/2007 6:23:04 AM PST by NYer
As I have traveled around the country, one line in my speeches always draws cheers: "The monologue of the Religious Right is over, and a new dialogue has now begun." We have now entered the post-Religious Right era. Though religion has had a negative image in the last few decades, the years ahead may be shaped by a dynamic and more progressive faith that will make needed social change more possible.
In the churches, a combination of deeper compassion and better theology has moved many pastors and congregations away from the partisan politics of the Religious Right. In politics, we are beginning to see a leveling of the playing field between the two parties on religion and "moral values," and the media are finally beginning to cover the many and diverse voices of faith. These are all big changes in American life, and the rest of the world is taking notice.
Evangelicals — especially the new generation of pastors and young people — are deserting the Religious Right in droves. The evangelical social agenda is now much broader and deeper, engaging issues like poverty and economic justice, global warming, HIV/AIDS, sex trafficking, genocide in Darfur and the ethics of the war in Iraq. Catholics are returning to their social teaching; mainline Protestants are asserting their faith more aggressively; a new generation of young black and Latino pastors are putting the focus on social justice; a Jewish renewal movement and more moderate Islam are also growing; and a whole new denomination has emerged, which might be called the "spiritual but not religious."
Even more amazing, the Left is starting to get it. Progressive politics is remembering its own religious history and recovering the language of faith. Democrats are learning to connect issues with values and are now engaging with the faith community. They are running more candidates who have been emboldened to come out of the closet as believers themselves. Meanwhile, many Republicans have had it with the Religious Right. Both sides are asking how to connect faith and values with politics. People know now that God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, and we are all learning that religion should not be in the pocket of any political party; it calls all of us to moral accountability.
Most people I talk to think that politics isn't working in America and believe that the misuse of religion has been part of the problem. Politics is failing to resolve the big moral issues of our time, or even to seriously address them. And religion has too often been used as a wedge to divide people, rather than as a bridge to bring us together on those most critical questions. I believe (and many people I talk with agree) that politics could and should begin to really deal with the many crises we face. Whenever that happens, social movements often begin to emerge, usually focused on key moral issues. The best social movements always have spiritual foundations, because real change comes with the energy, commitment and hope that powerful faith and spirituality can bring.
It's time to remember the spiritual revivals that helped lead to the abolition of slavery in Britain and the United States; the black church's leadership during the American civil rights movement; the deeply Catholic roots of the Solidarity movement in Poland that led the overthrow of communism; the way liberation theology in Latin America helped pave the way for new democracies; how Desmond Tutu and the South African churches served to inspire victory over apartheid; how "People Power" joined with the priests and bishops to bring down down Philippine strongman Ferdinand Marcos; how the Dalai Lama keeps hope alive for millions of Tibetans; and, today, how the growing Evangelical and Pentecostal churches of the global South are mobilizing to addresse the injustices of globalization.
I believe we are seeing the beginning of movements like that again, right here in America, and that we are poised on the edge of what might become a revival that will bring about big changes in the world. Historically, social reform often requires spiritual revival. And that's what church historians always say about real revival — that it changes things in the society, not just in people's inner lives. I believe that what we are seeing now may be the beginning of a new revival — a revival for justice.
The era of the Religious Right is now past, and it's up to all of us to create a new day.
Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.
Then why is the religious right so afraid of the 14th Amendment? Why do they fear letting states exercise their powers under the 10th Amendment? A moral and just people do not require religion to guide them. Nor does our Constitution dependent on the RR to define its greatness. God is mentioned in it nowhere, but the people are.
So true...
But what do you think about Jesus??
"moral and religious".
Why??
They're sitting on an ocean of oil!
Then from WHERE do they get their 'morals' and their 'justness'?
A statement that explains better than the author why America is rejecting fundamentalist thought as a basis for political decisions.
Be glad they ARE yanking so hard on the reins, for without them the 'conservatives' would be indistinguishable from the 'liberals'!
"Jim Wallis is part of the "Religious Left", an oxymoron if ever there was one."
There was a religious left but it goes way back to the twenties and thirties and was referred to as "The Social Gospelers" (Redemption Through Social Action). It began to disappear rapidly in the 50s and is now fairly rare, despite what Wallis claims.
It is very unlikely that any significant number of Evangelicals will go to the left. The support for abortion is a very big problem that the left cannot decide in their favor. Gun control is another as Evangelicals tend to be 2nd amendment types.
Do I think some pastors will attempt move their churches to the left? Yes. Will they prosper? No. They will lose their congregations, just as the Protestant left has over the last 30 or so years. And the congregations will move to the scriptural churches as is continuing to happen as I write.
This is old, bad wine (Thunderbird) in new bottles and it will be unpalatable.
So hopes Religious Left!
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.
Excuse me, but do you have a reference for this statement?
"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."
John Adams
Second President Of
The United States
Gee, I just realized I'd forgotten the quotation marks and attribution!
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports."
George Washington
A surveyor who looked
really cool on his
white horse
Please, MACVSOG68, keep flailing. It's hilarious.
"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."
"Then why is the religious right so afraid of the 14th Amendment? Why do they fear letting states exercise their powers under the 10th Amendment?"
I'm not aware of these amendments being issues to Christians.
" A moral and just people do not require religion to guide them. Nor does our Constitution dependent on the RR to define its greatness. God is mentioned in it nowhere, but the people are."
The assumption of the Constitution is that NO ONE is moral or trustworthy--hence the separation of powers and even the people are represented, not directly voting for every law.
The assumption of the Constitution is the nation's people are Christians, although the freedom of others is tolerated. The assumption of equality of all people comes directly from Christianity. Check out Galatians, where Paul says in Galatians 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
"Religious right" is a rather vague term; I prefer to use Christian because our various denominations oppose abortion and homosexuality from a religious doctrinal view point. I have no problem with the states handling these issues--that's what the Constitution says anyway. It's the Supreme court that took that away in Roe v. Wade, and the Massachusetts court that found the right to homosexual marriage in their 200 year old constitution.
Don't worry, the world will go on without me, nobody listens to a damn thing I have to say anyway
>> The Religious Right's Era Is Over
Wishful thinking. What the Left continues to ignore or not understand is that integrity of Faith is not the product of a headline in a periodical or a fleeting sense of Spirituality.
The good news is, that through their desire to artificially capitalize on Faith and Spirituality, the Left is normalizing the practices of the "Religious Right" albeit in divisive form. After a period of adjustment, subscribers to pop culture will walk away and a portion of those with true Faith will remain only to build upon the foundation sustained by the "Religious Right".
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Notice the sublimity of the steeple against the background of the American Flag at the publisher's web site. Given the article is joke, the publisher feels it necessary to inflect some momentum using good ol' American symbolism.
Back to God. We have put our trust to much in Princes, and not in Christ. And, I fear, we will soon be going into the catacombs.
***Well said. But my fear is that this time around there will be no real good catacombs to hide in. The beast will be "given power to wage war against the saints."
rev 13:10 If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. .... all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
There are criminal mentalities and traitors in both the DemocRAT and Republican Parties, but only DemocRATS (professing "Christians" included) will knowingly and deliberately vote to put such dregs of society into power.
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