Religious Left Seeks Its Place As A Political Force

[Richard Tafoya]

CBS News:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/09/eveningnews/main1786860.shtml
"Jesus called us to love our neighbor, love our enemy, care for the poor, care for the outcast, and that's really the moral core of where we think the nation ought to go," Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches told CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell.

The National Council of Churches represents about 50 million Christians in America — the majority of them mainline Protestants.

"Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, never said one word about civil marriage or abortion," Edgar said.

He calls this movement the "center-left" — and it's seeking the same political muscle as the conservative Christians, a group with a strong power base in the huge Evangelical churches of the South.

But the left has its own Evangelical leaders, such as the Rev. Tony Campolo.

"We are furious that the religious right has made Jesus into a Republican. That's idolatry," Campolo said. "To recreate Jesus in your own image rather than allowing yourself to be created in Jesus' image is what's wrong with politics."

[pinky]

I love Bob Edgar! He actually won a congressional race as a Democrat in the district where I grew up, which, at the time, was about 4-1 Republican at the time (and had been a Republican seat for over 100 years!) and was re-elected several times. His integrity was obvious to everyone. The seat is currently held by Curt Weldon, who has recently been in the news for his planned secret trip to Iraq to personally find WMDs and his claim that bin Laden is dead. :rolleyes:

[princessKT]

I was about to say that it's "GD" time, but I thought that would really make myself look like an idiot. haha

But it is about time. This article makes me happy.

[db44]

"We are furious that the religious right has made Jesus into a Republican. That's idolatry," Campolo said. "To recreate Jesus in your own image rather than allowing yourself to be created in Jesus' image is what's wrong with politics."

Interesting comparison... True though, I think.

[pinky]

"No one comes to the Father except through me" certainly didn't mean to remake Jesus so he's closer to us.

It's not just the politics that's wrong with that; it's life in general.

[shining star]

I wish both sides would leave Jesus (and other religions) out of politics. Not all of us are religious and we don't enjoy having it dictate our lives.

[princessKT]

I think the whole point is that religious lefties are sick of being called not religious because they're a Democrat. There are plenty of non-religious people in both parties, that's the funny thing.

[db44]

True, but when has anybody felt it was an atheist, agnostic, or a less-religious lobby that won an election?

Or, do you think an atheist could win the presidency here in the U.S. in the next 50 years?

[Richard Tafoya]

If atheists could ramp up a ground plan to mobilize voters, then maybe. That's probably generations away, if ever.

In the meantime, there is a massive population of Christians in the country who are feeling disenfranchised by a religion-politics apparatus that paints them as profit-chasing war hawks. And they believe that those ends are the very opposite of Jesus' examples and teachings.

[pinky]

I wish both sides would leave Jesus (and other religions) out of politics. Not all of us are religious and we don't enjoy having it dictate our lives.
The point is not that we should have religion in our politics. It's actually the exact opposite. The Christian right has commandeered the very idea of religion and "morality" despite the fact that, often (see Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps for example) those who are most vocal are the very antithesis of what they preach.

Many of us believe that religious values are important to us personally, but should be left in the private sector. And we resent being considered unChristian, ungodly, and immoral.

Our values can shape our political attitudes without making it necessary to ram religion down anyone else's throat.

[Regis Philbin]

What do lefties know about Jesus and religion??? It's not the GOP that goes around criticising Christians every chance they get... *cough* Howard Dean *cough*...

[Richard Tafoya]

You've certainly proven your expertise, Regis, with your claim that Jesus told his disciples to take up swords (http://talk.livedaily.com/showpost.php?p=8473400&postcount=31) against their enemies. The people using clubs and swords were the ones that killed Jesus, not the ones that followed him.

Real Christians that know what Jesus actually said in the Bible carry a lot more credibility than some on the right, like Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, who sponsored a bill striking the church-state hurdles that currently disallow shrines to the Ten Commandments in courthouses.

When asked by Stephen Colbert to name them, he responded, "You mean all of them?--Um... Don't murder. Don't lie. Don't steal Um... I can't name them all."

Jesus was the original liberal. The original pacifist and defender of the poor. If you were to actually read the New Testament, you'd realize that. And then you'd probably call him a socialist.

[Annoyedlistner]

Jesus was the original liberal. The original pacifist and defender of the poor. If you were to actually read the New Testament, you'd realize that. And then you'd probably call him a socialist.

i dont think i could agree with you anymore here....you said it perfectly.

[db44]

What do lefties know about Jesus and religion??? It's not the GOP that goes around criticising Christians every chance they get... *cough* Howard Dean *cough*...

As Richard said, Dean isn't the one who rallied the troops around Jesus. Tha motive is very Crusades-like. Ain't it grand how some would call the Crusades a mistake, then act the same way? And remember when this all started, Bush called this a Crusade. :rolleyes:

[pinky]

What do lefties know about Jesus and religion??? It's not the GOP that goes around criticising Christians every chance they get... *cough* Howard Dean *cough*...
Well, Jesus took care of the all of sick, regardless of their social position (Luke 5:17-25, Matthew 4:23-24, Mark 5:21-42 among many others), lived among the poor and outcast members of his society (Matthew 9:9-13), provided free food (John 6:1-13), taught that we should love our enemies (Luke 10:25-37), castigated the rich (Mark 10:17-25). In fact, a careful reading of the Gospels indicates that Jesus advocated a form of communism.....the rich giving all they had to the poor, caring for the needy in society, treating others as you want to be treated (Luke 6:27-31).


Wow, that was like shooting fish in a barrel!

[~Aquarian86~]

Interesting article. A Christian group actually following Jesus's teachings? Falwell didn't expect that, he's going to be furious.