Kerry criticised over failure to link faith and politics
-4/11/04
Following the defeat o
Kerry criticised over failure to link faith and politics
-4/11/04
Following the defeat of John Kerry in the US presidential election, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community in Washington DC has welcomed the start of a ‘real debate’ concerning what the most important “relligious issues” are in politics, but criticised John Kerry for not being progressive enough in making links between Christian faith and politics.
Highlighting that Kerry did not champion the poor as a “moral value,” or make the war in Iraq a clearly religious matter, he suggested too that religion could play a part in healing the divided nation.
The comments from the editor of Sojourners magazine, came in an editorial for the community’s weekly ezine.
They follow exit polls which suggested that religion was a big factor indeciding the outcome of the presidential election, with “moral values” were named as a key issue.
On the Republican side, George W. Bush talked comfortably and frequently about his personal faith and ran on what his conservative religious base called the “moral issues.”
On the Democratic side, Senator John Kerry invoked the New Testament story of the Good Samaritan, talked about the importance of loving our neighbors, and said that faith without works is dead – although, according to Wallis, he only began talking that way at the very end of his campaign.
“We’ve now begun a real debate in this country over what the most important ‘religious issues’ are in politics, and that discussion will continue far beyond this election”, said Jim Wallis.
“The Religious Right fought to keep the focus on gay marriage and abortion and even said that good Christians and Jews could only vote for the president. But many moderate and progressive Christians disagreed. We insisted that poverty is also a religious issue, pointing to thousands of verses in the Bible on the poor. The environment – protection of God’s creation – is also one of our religious concerns. And millions of Christians in America believe the war in Iraq was not a ‘just war'”.
“So in this election, one side talked about the number of unborn lives lost each year, while the other pointed to the 100,000 civilian casualties in Iraq. But both are life issues” said the editor of Sojourners Magazine.
Wallis also pointed to signs of hope. “Some church leaders challenged both candidates on whether just killing terrorists would really end terrorism and called for a deeper approach. And 200 theologians, many from leading evangelical institutions, warned that a ‘theology of war emanating from the highest circles of government is also seeping into our churches.'”
“Clearly, God is not a Republican or a Democrat, as we sought to point out, and the best contribution of religion is precisely not to be ideologically predictable or loyally partisan but to maintain the moral independence to critique both the left and the right.”
The strongest criticism however was directed toward the Democrat candidate.
“Kerry did not strongly champion the poor as a religious issue and ‘moral value,’ or make the war in Iraq a clearly religious matter. In his debates with George Bush, Kerry should have challenged the war in Iraq as an unjust war, as many religious leaders did – including Evangelicals and Catholics. And John Kerry certainly did not advocate a consistent ethic of human life as we do – opposing all the ways that life is threatened in our violent world.
“We didn’t lose the election, John Kerry did, and the ways in which both his vision and the Democratic Party’s are morally and politically incomplete should continue to be taken up by progressive people of faith.”
“In a deeply polarized country, commentators reported that either political outcome would ‘crush’ the hopes of almost half the population. So perhaps the most important role for the religious community will come now, when the need for some kind of political healing and reconciliation has become painfully clear. In the spirit of America’s greatest religious leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the religious community could help a divided nation find common ground by moving to higher ground. And we should hold ourselves and both political parties accountable to the challenge of the biblical prophet Micah to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”
Kerry criticised over failure to link faith and politics
-4/11/04
Following the defeat of John Kerry in the US presidential election, Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community in Washington DC has welcomed the start of a ‘real debate’ concerning what the most important “relligious issues” are in politics, but criticised John Kerry for not being progressive enough in making links between Christian faith and politics.
Highlighting that Kerry did not champion the poor as a “moral value,” or make the war in Iraq a clearly religious matter, he suggested too that religion could play a part in healing the divided nation.
The comments from the editor of Sojourners magazine, came in an editorial for the community’s weekly ezine.
They follow exit polls which suggested that religion was a big factor indeciding the outcome of the presidential election, with “moral values” were named as a key issue.
On the Republican side, George W. Bush talked comfortably and frequently about his personal faith and ran on what his conservative religious base called the “moral issues.”
On the Democratic side, Senator John Kerry invoked the New Testament story of the Good Samaritan, talked about the importance of loving our neighbors, and said that faith without works is dead – although, according to Wallis, he only began talking that way at the very end of his campaign.
“We’ve now begun a real debate in this country over what the most important ‘religious issues’ are in politics, and that discussion will continue far beyond this election”, said Jim Wallis.
“The Religious Right fought to keep the focus on gay marriage and abortion and even said that good Christians and Jews could only vote for the president. But many moderate and progressive Christians disagreed. We insisted that poverty is also a religious issue, pointing to thousands of verses in the Bible on the poor. The environment – protection of God’s creation – is also one of our religious concerns. And millions of Christians in America believe the war in Iraq was not a ‘just war'”.
“So in this election, one side talked about the number of unborn lives lost each year, while the other pointed to the 100,000 civilian casualties in Iraq. But both are life issues” said the editor of Sojourners Magazine.
Wallis also pointed to signs of hope. “Some church leaders challenged both candidates on whether just killing terrorists would really end terrorism and called for a deeper approach. And 200 theologians, many from leading evangelical institutions, warned that a ‘theology of war emanating from the highest circles of government is also seeping into our churches.'”
“Clearly, God is not a Republican or a Democrat, as we sought to point out, and the best contribution of religion is precisely not to be ideologically predictable or loyally partisan but to maintain the moral independence to critique both the left and the right.”
The strongest criticism however was directed toward the Democrat candidate.
“Kerry did not strongly champion the poor as a religious issue and ‘moral value,’ or make the war in Iraq a clearly religious matter. In his debates with George Bush, Kerry should have challenged the war in Iraq as an unjust war, as many religious leaders did – including Evangelicals and Catholics. And John Kerry certainly did not advocate a consistent ethic of human life as we do – opposing all the ways that life is threatened in our violent world.
“We didn’t lose the election, John Kerry did, and the ways in which both his vision and the Democratic Party’s are morally and politically incomplete should continue to be taken up by progressive people of faith.”
“In a deeply polarized country, commentators reported that either political outcome would ‘crush’ the hopes of almost half the population. So perhaps the most important role for the religious community will come now, when the need for some kind of political healing and reconciliation has become painfully clear. In the spirit of America’s greatest religious leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., the religious community could help a divided nation find common ground by moving to higher ground. And we should hold ourselves and both political parties accountable to the challenge of the biblical prophet Micah to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.”