Left, right and religion: A double standard

From USA Today: Left, right and religion: A double standard (HT Presbyweb)

In our political tradition, most evangelicals and other conservative Christians today are really moderates. They want a government that is non-sectarian without being hostile to organized religion and people of faith. That's a whole lot closer to what the Founders had in mind than the officially godless public square advocated by the American Civil Liberties Union.

What's more, the creation of the religious right was largely a function of the courts and politicians pushing the boundaries the other way. Evangelicals were moved to civic activism because the IRS threatened to revoke the tax-exempt status of private Christian schools; because the U.S. Supreme Court removed abortion from the political process; because mentions of the Almighty began to be scrubbed from valedictory addresses for fear that someone, somewhere might take offense. Today, the term "goddamn" is treated as protected speech, but remove the "damn" and watch the lawsuits roll in.

So evangelicals did the only responsible thing they could in a democracy. They organized and reached out. They found allies in churchgoing Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, Jews and even some agnostics who believed that religion plays a vital role in holding society together. In this they were not so different from the civil rights leaders of the past, whose rallying cry was the God-given dignity of every American. The new coalition grew over time to the point that the religious right (or "values voters," if you prefer) became the single largest voting bloc in American politics.

That fact is intolerable to many intellectuals.

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What's interesting is that leaders of the religious left have not been hit with a similar and constant charge of "theocracy." This despite the fact that religious lefties articulate public policy positions in the context of the Bible and frame their political entreaties in the moral "values" language we are accustomed to hearing from Christian conservatives.

Think back to 2002, when the Evangelical Environmental Network launched the "What Would Jesus Drive?" campaign. It wasn't a joke. It was an attempt by the religious left to convince Christian voters that "transportation is a moral issue" and that they should therefore "advocate for government policies," including higher fuel economy standards and more public transportation. As with cars, so with a whole lot of other things. This small but loud minority wants to remake America with its own interpretation of Christ's teachings.

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In fact, one initiative that was championed by Wallis and his fellow (oh, let's call them) Leftwing Theocrats might help to explain how misunderstood and close to the mainstream the religious right actually is. In 2003, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley decided his state's tax and education systems were decidedly un-Christian. He wanted to cut income taxes for the poor, hike the top marginal rates for the well-off, raise property and luxury taxes, and use the estimated $1.2 billion in additional revenue to boost teacher salaries and scholarships to state schools. Riley tried to convince voters to go along with these changes by saying Jesus would vote for "the least among us." He campaigned for his plan by appealing to churches and church leaders, many of whom decided to campaign for the governor's initiative. The people who normally fret about mixing church and state were beside themselves … with glee. Maybe Riley could finally draft the Bible Belt into the service of enlightened public policy. Then-New Republic editor Peter Beinart called him "that rarest of creatures: A genuinely inspiring politician."

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The religious left is usually given a respectful hearing. That's a good thing. After all, this is a democracy in which people can make up their own minds about such things. But the same deference should be given to the arguments and ideas of religious conservatives.