THE RISE OF the religious right (and in particular the noisy and well-advertised outbursts of the so-called Christian Coalition founded by Pat Roberison) raises the question of who speaks for Christianity in this country and what kind of Christianity is being espoused.
Robertson and others believe that ‘America’s 40 million Christians have a chance and an obligation to reclaim ‘America and rescue it from an entrenched and self-satisfied secularism. Roberson has called Jews “spiritually deaf” and He and his allies constantly refer to the ULS, as a Christian nation; coalition director Ralph Reed has said that his organization intends to have Christians take their ‘country back one precinct at a time. I am Christian, but I certainly want Reed and his allies to stay out of my precinct.
But the Christian right is surely accurate in identifying many of the problems and issues facing us. Is American a moral and spiritual decline? There are many signs that it is. But the Christian right is surely in error in identifying the solutions with a particular social and political agenda— focused in one political party. The Christian Coalition kept moral and Christian scorecards on the candidates running for office in as November’s elections. The engine of their revolution is moral outrage, but as Gil Bailie writes, “Righteous indignation is often the first symptom of the metastasis of the cancer of violence, It tends to provide the indignant ones with & license to commit or condone acts structurally indistinguishable from those that aroused the indignation.
God, at this point, in history, seems definitely a Republican! At other times in history he (it’s always a “He”) has been a Democrat The trouble is that many confuse being an American with being Christian—which is not only insulting if you don’t happen to be a Christian, but also maddening if you don’t subscribe to that particular brand. If an uncritical patriotism blended with an intolerant and manipulative spirituality continues to get the upper hand in this country it will mean danger, hurt and pain for more and more people. There is no greater religious pathology than that of confusing God’s will With one’s own. Can we be stire that God is in favor of limiting congressional terms ‘and lowering taxes?
Why do I object to the Christian Coalition’s agenda as outlined in its “Contract With the American Family”? Surely it’s on the side of the angels? It invokes the wholesomeness and stability of a Norman Rockwell picture. It is as Ameri‘ean.as apple pie. It will also widen the gap between rich and poor and add to the misery which already exists, Language is being abused and must be carefully examined. Ask “What are the actual) results of such policies as arc advocated?” What ‘arc your prospects if you are poor, sick, ‘old, black, Latino, gay, and not in the mainstream of this peculiar brand of religion? Who’s included in their commonwealth? Don’t listen to the rhetoric, Follow the money, and Follow the guns. Ask, ‘Who benefits? Who gets hurt Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, San Francesco.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 4, 1995
