In yesterday’s Sojourners:
An attempt to hijack Christianity
by Jim Wallis
Last week, I wrote about the “Justice Sunday” event held at a Louisville, Kentucky, mega-church. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Prison Fellowship’s Chuck Colson, and Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler were joined by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on video in the event titled “Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith.” Of course, I have no objection to Christian leaders expressing their faith in the public arena – it’s a good thing that I do all the time. The question is not whether to do so, but how. As I heard more and more about “Justice Sunday,” it felt to me like it was crossing an important line – saying that a political issue was a test of faith.
With all due respect, we don’t care how it felt to you; give us facts.
So, when I was invited to speak at an interfaith “Freedom and Faith” service at Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville, I agreed.
The use of “so” implies Wallis wouldn’t have accepted the invitation if it weren’t for “Justice Sunday.” I find that hard to believe, seeing as how he’s been traveling around the country on his book tour.
On Sunday morning, I flew to Louisville, and that afternoon addressed more than 1,000 people who attended the rally. I didn’t go to say that these leaders shouldn’t bring their faith into politics; the issues concerning them – abortion and family values – are also important to me. But the way they were doing it was wrong. The clear implication of their message was that those who opposed them are not people of faith.
It “felt” to Wallis like Justice Sunday crossed an “important line” and that the “clear implication” was that they were questioning the faith of other people. Could he possibly present a single quote or a single fact to support this?
Perhaps he’s like me and he hasn’t actually heard or read what they had to say. If the presenters said something like what Wallis claims to have heard, he should be able to point to something. The full text of each speech is available here (click and keep scrolling down). Maybe there is something there he could point to — I don’t know, I haven’t read it all yet. But you’d think Wallis would have done his research before writing a criticism.
We can get some historical perspective by looking at how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did it – and he was the church leader who did it best. Once after he was arrested, he wrote a very famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” addressed to the white clergy who were opposing him on the issues of racial segregation and violence against black people. Never once did he say that they were not people of faith.
The Justice Sunday speakers say Bush’s judicial nominees have been blocked because of their religious faith, but I am unaware of any instance in which they said the other party is not a people of faith. Some of the people blocking and attacking the judges indeed are not people of faith, while others are, Wallis included. But Wallis has yet to provide any evidence to back up his “feeling” that the speakers said anything of the sort.
He appealed to their faith, challenged their faith, asked them to go deeper with their faith, but he never said they were not real Christians. If Dr. King refused to attack the integrity and faith of his opponents over such a clear gospel issue, how can the Religious Right do it over presidential nominees and a Senate procedural issue known as the filibuster?
I don’t know, have they done that?
After the “Justice Sunday” event, and the controversy surrounding it, some of the sponsors are denying they ever claimed that those who oppose them are hostile to people of faith.
Question: can you be both a person of faith and hostile to other people of faith?
I think the answer is yes — and you don’t need to look any further than Jim Wallis himself. Wallis’ hostility toward the conservative brand of religious faith is quite clear in this article, along with most everything else he’s written.
It’s almost ironic that he chose to write about this subject.
Yet their words stand for themselves. In the letter announcing the event on the Family Research Council Web site, Tony Perkins wrote: “Many of these nominees to the all-important appellate court level are being blocked…because they are people of faith and moral convictions…. We must stop this unprecedented filibuster of people of faith.”
I agree — Perkin’s words stand for themselves. Not once did he question someone else’s faith in that statement.
So, I told the Louisville rally that when someone has stolen our faith in the public arena, it is time to take our faith back. “Justice Sunday” was an attempt to hijack Christianity for a partisan and ideological agenda. Those on the Religious Right are declaring a religious war to give their version of faith religious supremacy in America. And some members of the Republican Party seem ready almost to declare a Christian theocracy in America. It is time to take back both our faith and our Constitution.
The religious Right is declaring a war and declaring a Christian theocracy? Wallis gets this from the fact that they are outraged that some judicial nominees have been blocked because of their religious faith?
By the way, Wallis wouldn’t happen to have any supporting evidence for that statement, would he?
It is now clear there are some who will fight this religious war by any means necessary. So we will fight, but not the way they do. We must never lie or misrepresent the facts or the truth.
Right… Wallis would never think to, say, accuse them of attacking someone else’s faith, if that isn’t the truth, now would he?
Wallis would never misrepresent the facts surrounding a Republican nomination, now would he?
Wallis would never bend the facts to support his socialist political agenda, now would he?
Wallis would never pervert the central truth of the gospel in order to advance his view of an issue such as poverty, now would he?
Surely Wallis is above such outlandish tactics. He would never stoop that low.
We must not demonize or vilify those who are our opponents.
You know, like we did with Negroponte. Or like we’re doing now with the Justice Sunday speakers.
We must claim that those who disagree with our judgments are still real people of faith.
We must, but we won’t.
We must not fight the way they do, but fight we must.
Translation: we won’t fight fair.
A great deal is at stake in this battle for the heart and soul of faith in America and for the nation’s future itself. We will not allow faith to be put into the service of one political agenda.
You know, how Wallis himself does.
This is a call for the rest of the churches to wake up. This is a call for people of faith everywhere to stand up and let their faith be heard.
But only if you’re a liberal.
This is not a call to be just concerned, or just a little worried, or even just alarmed. This is a call for clear speech and courageous action. This is a call to take back our faith, and in the words of the prophet Micah, “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.”
What utter rubbish.
***
Related links:
Stanley Kurtz:
Yesterday, I suggested that the Harper’s cover story could signal the start of a larger campaign against conservative Christians. Well, take a look at plans for this upcoming conference at City University of New York, “Examining the Real Agenda of the Religious Far Right,”? which features luminaries like Karen Armstrong and one of the Harper’s authors, Jeff Sharlet. Notice that the conference is supported by People for the American Way, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, The Nation, The Village Voice, and the National Council of Churches. After the election, there was some talk of Democrats reaching out to Christians and toning down their language of attack. This conference shows that the Democratic left is determined to go the opposite route. The strategy seems to be to tar the Republicans as captive of Dominionist Christians–folks who want to force every American to pay church tithes and bring back capital punishment for blasphemy and witchcraft. Looks like it’s going to be an interesting election.
David Limbaugh:
Oh, yes, they deny it and attempt to turn the tables, saying it’s Christians who are the belligerent ones, trying to take over the country and establish a theocracy. If it’s not the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, it’s her colleague Paul Krugman. It it’s not them, it’s John Kerry. They are all up in arms about Christianity and its influence in politics, governance and the public square.
Also: Rich Lowery, Ramesh Ponnuru
Some related Fishkite posts:
a war on Christians?
Al Gore
Crisis of Faith
faith and politics
Sojourners: quote of the week
Soros clone seeks a more religious left
the anti-religious nation
Antonin Scalia
Without a Doubt
God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat…
undivine double standard
