Yeah you read that right, everyone on this blog needs to
COME TO GOD NOW.
With all the talk about "moral values" in the past election and how it cost us, it's is clear that this is the only answer.
hehehehe......sorry about that, just trying to rouse you a little. :-) Now that I have your attention, let's talk about what I really mean here. Forgive me for the length of this.
There is clearly some discomfort on the part of many secular progressives with the notion of religion in general -- which at times is understandable since it's Falwell and Robertson et al that are most closely associated with religion in this country -- and definitely with religious liberals in particular. (mind you, not everyone)
I watched the election returns with folks from my church, a small United Church of Christ congregation in Seattle which is more liberal than this blog. It was as awful a night for us as it was for everyone else here. What is key, though, is that the progressive values come from religious beliefs. There are 3 points I want to start with:
First, if you are a person with Christian beliefs of some form but feel alienated, have been a victim of "church-abuse" (us queerfolk particularly know what that means!), or just in general don't feel welcome at most churches, there is a place for you in a faith community. We don't sing oh come, SOME of ye faithful at Christmas. :-)
Particularly if you are queer as well, many UCC congregations have declared themselves Open and Affirming churches, where you are welcomed and affirmed as you are, and you can even be married in church. Yep. That's part of our belief too. It's the lack of marriage equality that's a sin.
Second, if you are a secular liberal, please understand that your most natural allies are to be found in places like UCC congregations, Unitarian congregations, and others where people of faith who have come to their political views because of their faith gather. Think MLK. How did he come to his views? Yep, faith. Seek these folks out. And by the way, we don't agree with prayer in schools or anything like that, same as you. Whether it is fighting for marriage equality, universal healthcare, etc, you'll find folks like us there. Our faith is every bit as fervent as the right's, but we don't believe in shoving it down your throat like Bush does, and it guides us to social justice rather than hate & discrimination & selfishness. Our religion may be 2000 years old, but our thinking is not.
Third, if you are a person of a faith other than Christianity, we do not believe we are superior because of our beliefs. We do not believe that any other faith is of less worth. We do not believe anyone is going to hell because they are Jewish or Muslim or what not. Such ideas are absolutely contrary to our beliefs, and really quite repulsive, to be blunt.
Many months ago, I thought it would be a good strategy to talk about Christian issues and beliefs in the campaign, as I thought it really would not be all that difficult to show precisely how un-Christian Bush and his policies are. Sadly, hardly anyone did. I thought Dean might have done so had he been nominated, and Clinton made one attempt talking about how Bush always bore false witness against his neighbor, but that was it.
I still believe this can be, and I want to give everyone some examples. These are from a UCC piece which is part of our Still Speaking campaign which is now taking place. Many of you will see a really cool TV ad between Dec 1 and Dec 25 -- it's actually on that website though. Pretty much everyone has heard of the 10 Commandments, so I'm going to paraphrase some of these from the piece:
OUR CULTURE believes thou shall not commit adultery unless you know you won't get caught.....POSSIBLY GOD says you should be faithful to the one you love no matter your sexual orientation.
Thou shall not covet your neighbor's property includes another culture's land or tax benefits obtained on the backs of the poor or global trade advantages.....water.....air.....women....or immigrants.....as personal property.
Thou shall not kill includes endangering the lives of millions of Americans by failing to provide health insurance or food or AIDS meds. Exceptions are not given for the death penalty, or those who look different/talk different/think different, lethal injection, surgical air strikes, etc.
You get the picture, but there is one last one I want to share:
OUR CULTURE thinks thou shall not steal unless you really, really want something and a) don't have it, b) don't want to pay the money, c) it's a natural resource we need and another nation has, or d) it's for the protection of our national security. POSSIBLY GOD SAYS you should not siphon oil from the Middle East, Africa, or Latin American to satisfy our industrial need for fossil fuels. You should not bankrupt small family farmers by disproportionately supporting corporate farms. You shall not mouth "high" academic expectations for our nation's children and then steal money from schools to pay for war and huge tax cuts.
Don't be afraid to use these basic tenets of Christian belief in discussions of politics, and don't be afraid of progressives who do. Bush, Falwell, Robertson, and all them who are so skilled at doing immoral things in the name of God do not represent Christianity, they are Pharisees. (you'll have to look that up if you don't know, but rest assured the religious right knows that word)
Have these folks loved one neighbor? Helped one poor person? Nope. Nada. They are the kings of greed and selfishness, using Jesus as an excuse.
So hit them hard with this. For Pete's sake, if Jesus can go into a temple and overturn all the moneychangers' tables and cleanse the place, I think it's the least we can do with the moneychangers currently running the country.