The Religious Left

The religious community, specifically the Christian community, like its political counterpart has both a Right and a Left. We're used to hearing about conservative evangelicals like Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition, or the late Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, and in general the voice of the political religious Right. But over the last four years or so the religious Left has made its presence known.

My position has been that having strong religious beliefs are fine, and strong political views are also fine. The trouble occurs when one begins to use strong religious beliefs as the moral force behind crafting political policy. For too long, the religious Right has mistakenly believed that getting the "right" person elected or the "right" legislation enacted will yield a more moral society. And now that the religious Left is come to the fore, it is traveling swiftly down the same dead end road.

Both Religious Right and Left are guilty of the same mistake of mixing the functions of Church and State. I don't mean separation. I mean distinction. There is a distinction of function served by both Church and State that, when blurred, ruin the effectiveness of both. It is the job of the Church to proclaim the forgiveness of sins, not to jail and punish criminal behavior. It is the job of the State to enforce the Law and not to legislate conscience.

As an example of this line-blurring, I heard a new radio ad today from Catholics United, a Catholic lay-person's organization that brands itself as a uniting of Catholics for the common good, using activism to influence public perception of political debate and public policy.

The following is read by a dour and somewhat melodramatic male announcer in that quiet tone of hushed importance tinged in worry:

What are you praying for? What's on your heart? I'm praying for my family during this economic crisis. Too many of us are asking, "How long will I be able to keep my job?" "How am I going to pay rent this month?" "Are my kids going to have a better future?" As Christians, we can do better. In Acts Chapter 4:34, Luke states that in the early Christian communities, there was no needy person among them. President Obama has a plan to help struggling families by creating jobs. And we need it now more than ever. Help make it happen. Call Senator (insert name) and ask him/her to do the right thing. Support the President's job program. Will you join us today? Call Senator (insert name) at (phone). Paid for by Catholics United.

Anytime I hear the words "As Christians..." followed by chapter and verse, I immediately begin to tense up in expectation of the arm-twisting. What Catholics United is doing is creating a moral imperative for a stimulus plan. And one that, the more people find out about it, is becoming less and less popular, as there is great doubt as to the immediate impact it would bring.

Catholics United fails to understand that the words of Luke are directed at the Church which was motivated by the Holy Spirit to freely and without compulsion care for those in their midst. The text is not directed to a national government that uses the Treasury Department to extract by force of Law funds for a program that may not be the best solution to the problem, and which might make it even worse. Is it morally responsible to "kick the can" down the road for our children to pay for?

The ad leaves one with the feeling that it is morally inappropriate to oppose this particular bill, as if those who oppose it are all heartless individuals who don't care about the less fortunate or those without work. Strangely, it has that same "if you're not with us you're against us" kind of feel that the Left has complained about the Right doing for so long. And you'll notice that the driving emotion is Fear. "There will be drastic unknown catastrophic consequences if we don't do this NOW."

Those on the Religious Left would do well to learn from the mistakes of the Right rather than be destined to repeat them.