"There is now set before us life and death, good and evil, in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in His ways. . . that we may live and be multiplied. . . . Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may live, by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity."
John Winthrop, sermon on ship to Boston, 1630 (The "City on a Hill" sermon.)
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| Joe Biden, on Ash Wednesday |
The political left has become secular. It seeks social justice. That's good. For some that isn't enough.
It leaves out something important to them. Religion.
It is hard to notice things that aren't there. Democrats have replaced Republicans as the Party of asserted moral virtue. The Jerry Falwell "Moral Majority" has dissolved, and Republican calls that "Presidential character counts" have ended. Meanwhile, Democrats are woke. They call out micro-aggressions and micro-aggressors. Check your privilege, dude. They observe that Republicans cling to guns and religion, but are deplorable and don't even realize it.
The language of left political thought is filled with aspirations of a better, more just world. There is no shortage of outrage over wrong or aspirations to do good. The Sanders-based progressive critique of Joe Biden and Democratic centrism is that it has not strived and aspired enough. A platform of reform--not revolution--is on its face proof that one patiently tolerates the intolerable.
Left-oriented political speeches and commentary after the killing of George Floyd have echoes of the Civil Rights era of the 1960's, but it is missing the note that we are fulfilling a spiritual obligation and America's God-inspired destiny. Left spokesman speak of "racism" and "income redistribution," not care for one another or love our neighbor.
This isn't Martin Luther King.
I heard speeches by every Democratic candidate for president--scores of hours of observation--but only one, Cory Booker, cited God or a religious-basis for social change. Maybe Cory Booker was the wrong messenger, or had the wrong message. His campaign went nowhere.
Left-oriented Christianity exists, but not visibly in the political sphere. The left has a diversity and respect dilemma: it doesn't want to presume, or offend, or advantage one group over another, so, in default, it avoids making an awkward choice. All are equal and equivalent and come from a individual's moral autonomy: Christians, Jews, Muslims, the "spiritual but not religious," atheists, the people who sleep in on Sundays. It is a reasonable approach, given a requirement, above all, never to offend. But it leaves an unspoken message, that religion is not welcome.
It's absence seems like an affront--maybe even an attack-- by many people of faith, and so they seek a defender. Trump steps up. He isn't religious, God knows, but he is their warrior, saying religion is very special and the Bible is his very favorite book.
Joe Biden is a practicing Catholic. Possibly he will dare to reveal it in the campaign ahead. It isn't fake, it is authentic Joe Biden. It may not make him more popular among Democrats, but it may reassure Republicans that he respects people of faith, because he is one.
John Coster is a left-oriented evangelical Christian. He is not a spokesperson for it, but he practices it. He has volunteered on missions on relief projects in some of the world's poorest countries, and worked alongside Black community leaders in the US, rebuilding after church burnings. He has a 40-year career as a construction electrician, engineer, and manager, leading teams on billion dollar projects for Microsoft and Amazon.
He wrote to remind me that religion has been a political motivator throughout American history.
Guest Post by John Coster
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| Coster, and granddaughter |
Frazer cites that one of the ways the revolutionary ideology took hold, was that many church clergies used the power of their oratory platforms and implied biblical authority to preach that freedom from British tyranny was ordained by God. Their sermons were filled with claims that the colonies were a chosen people and they were destined to be God’s light to the world. Their message was that rebellion was not just a God-ordained right, but a moral imperative, a command, and a destiny.
But not all clergy agreed. Many preached that while the Crown government was far from perfect, Jesus’ teaching was clear about submission to those God has placed over them. People who opposed rebellion were labeled Tories and Loyalists, even if it was simply non-dissent based on their understanding of Christian teaching. The Treaty of Paris that officially ended the war afforded protections to the Loyalists, which included these pastors and their congregations. Nevertheless, many were tarred and feathered, their properties were seized, their papers were destroyed and they were driven out of their communities. Many fled for their lives to Canada and England.
The Patriot victors claimed the moral high ground, and their writings preserved the doctrine of God-ordained American exceptionalism that persists to this day. America’s global hegemony seems to be used to reinforce these beliefs held by the Evangelical Right, notwithstanding biblical teaching (e.g. book of Amos in the Old Testament) that prosperity is not necessarily a sign of God’s approval."
4 comments:
The persistence of religion is mostly due to young people being conditioned to believe in one ideology so strongly that it utterly resists any narrative arising from education or critical thought. Because spiritual concepts are by their very nature unprovable, religious mythology intrudes on the science of philosophy, continually clouding the exploration of morality and the nature of consciousness.
Islam is growing faster than Christianity in the world, however:
"The American Religious Identification Survey gives Wicca an average annual growth of 143% for the period 1990 to 2001 (from 8,000 to 134,000 – U.S. data / similar for Canada & Australia)....According to The Statesman Anne Elizabeth Wynn claims "The two most recent American Religious Identification Surveys declare Wicca, one form of paganism, as the fastest growing spiritual identification in America"...Mary Jones claims Wicca is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States as well....Wicca, which is largely a "Pagan" religion primarily attracts followers of nature-based religions in, as an example, the Southeast Valley region of the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area." - Wikipedia
The political problem with religion is that it's somewhat easy for opportunistic charlatans to take advantage of congregations for personal gain, from fake TV evangelists to the overly pious self-righteous that have taken over many statehouses, and we find America riddled with them, in both parties. I would take issue with the assertion that the Democratic party is secular, I often cringe when certain elected officials invoke the deity as being in favor of Progressive policies.
Rick, could you expand a bit on what you mean by the "science of philosophy"? It seems incongruous to me -at least how I understand the definitions.
Seems to me that new discoveries in science are uncovering the consciousness of other species...trees communicating with each other via root systems, plants sensing the color of their gardener's clothes, etc. We need to lose our anthropocentrism and evolve an all-life affirming spirituality as practiced by our indigenous brethren.
I can't help but notice the prevalence of online mindfulness offerings during Covid at the same time that people are in the streets protesting racial injustice; as MLK noted (particularly in his Riverside Church speech), spirituality and protesting against racial, economic and social injustice (and, now environmental justice) are not only mutually exclusive causes, they are inextricably intertwined. Religion and its inevitable dogma is frequently divisive and a useful tool for opportunists.
Andy Seles
Andy,
whenever I hear or read "we need to", I find myself asking a what assumptions are behind it. reflecting your statements for example:
1. How have cultures who practice paganism or animism (as you seem to favor) lived among each other throughout history? There seems to be a myth that indigenous cultures live in peaceful, harmonious lives.
2. Does the word "anthropocentricsm" sufficiently describe the varying philosophies of how people see themselves in the world, or is it just a handy label that limits that discussion?
3. Does being a sentient being qualify as morally equal to being human? What about AI?
4. What exactly is "environmental justice"?
I debated even bringing these up as this is a blog about politics, but it's also about getting people to think differently. I don't expect you to respond, but you seem thoughtful and engaged and I would welcome a deeper conversation in another forum.
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