A Massachusetts Catholic moves to Texas

Duncan McCrann was in an uncomfortable spot. 

College classmate Duncan McCrann wrote an autobiographical comment in a the college's 50th reunion report that he was "a failure as an atheist.” That might make him seem right at home in Bible-belt Texas. Not quite. 

He had a long career as an educator in public tuition-free charter schools that service educationally underserved communities. He wrote classmates saying he had formerly believed that "top-notch education was the magical path to equality and success for disadvantaged black and brown children.” He said he now realized it was necessary, but insufficient. Injustice persisted because prejudice persisted. He said “ending structural racial injustice requires that White people fundamentally change.”  

His neighbors didn’t want to hear it. He didn't want to hear them, especially when they argued that God preferred Republicans. That sends him on a path reflecting on how a Christian practices loving one's neighbors, even when you disagree with them.

Guest Post by Duncan McCrann

Having spent most of my life in the Northeast, I now live in Texas. I like living here in Houston but had to learn the hard way not to talk about politics and religion. 

Early in my Texas experience, we got to know our neighbors. The friendliest ones grew up in Louisiana and we were fortunate to be invited to casual dinners, cookouts, and pool parties. Life was good until I made the blunder of bringing up a book, I had just read named The Death of Character. I had met the author, a professor at University of Virginia, at a small meeting Wisconsin hosted by a philanthropist who, incidentally, was a practicing, Christian. With the encouragement of my Christian-philanthropist friend, I got the book and read it as soon as it arrived. 

The theme was that character in America began to erode, in part, with the merger of Christianity and politics via the creation of the Moral Majority in the 80s. Nationally, the organization encouraged its members to use registration drives to recruit churchgoers to vote for Moral Majority-endorsed candidates who were all Republican. So, the marriage of politics and the Republican party was begun. 

One dilemma in this merger is that the Republicans became the party presumably endorsed by God and Democrats became the enemy of Christianity. Though the Moral Majority as an entity was short-lived, the concept of preaching politics from the pulpit lives on. Prior to that time, there was a belief that good character was informed by religious belief. The Bible and Torah were seen as guidance for the development of good character. Religion wasn't about identity on a team. It shaped ethics. I was deeply interested in this because I had spent the past decade helping private and public charter schools develop character programs. 

The blunder I made was to bring up The Death of Character at a neighborhood cookout. Oops. The topic did not go over well and friendly attempts to change the subject failed. Folks began to take offense. The crescendo was when our host put her foot down and told me pointedly, “If God could vote, He would vote Republican.” She said what the other guests were thinking. Luckily, we dropped the subject, the party went on. I wrote an apology for spoiling things. Fortunately, we never returned to the topic, and via my wife’s loving personality we stayed on the invitation list.

I remain very concerned about the idea of politics co-opting religion. Recently, I attended a very well developed, year-long Bible study that has a lecture and small group discussion. I could not help noticing the little barbs and jokes about Democrats and Catholics. Concerned about the resentment I was feeling, I went to confession to share my negative feelings toward my study mates. The priest was silent for a while, and regarding my study mates he said, “Why don’t you look for goodness in the lives of the men. Try to love them even if you don’t agree with them. God wants us to love our neighbors, our enemies, and those that do not believe as we do. Drop the subject and look to do good in your community.” Good concept.

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