Evangelicals and Democrats

10/21/2007

Paul Munnis


I don’t think that Evangelicals understand Democrats very well. They seem to assume that we are agnostic because we support things like Separation of Church and State, or that we are all pro-abortion because we favor a “Woman’s Right to Choose.” Maybe I’m wrong and the media propaganda machines have just painted us that way. Even so -- we are painted the wrong color.

We are not anti-religious and many Democrats are staunch Catholics and strong Christians and Jews who serve as Ministers, Priests, Rabbi’s, Directors, or Deacons, Elders, and sub-deacons in their Churches. Many are members of the Knights of Columbus. Some are religious leaders and ordained ministers in their own right. There are many Baptists among us too. We have Jews and Islamists, and even Buddhists and agnostics among us. We are the “Rainbow Coalition” and we are as American as Apple Pie.

Look carefully at past Democratic Presidents and I dare say you will find many that were Free-Masons. These are hardly a bunch of agnostics; hardly a group who ignores God; hardly a people that lack knowledge of religion. These are not a people who are indifferent to a spiritual life of prayer, fasting penance, and atonement. Sorry, that is the reality even though it blows away the stereotype of Democrats as portrayed by the GOP attack machine.

In fact what you will find among Democrats is a group that are quite sensitive to people and their inherent Godliness; yet Democrats are people who understand that America is a pluralistic nation and that there is no way that you can include religious precepts into government without discriminating against others. Democrats are comfortable with the Biblical admonition: “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto God that which is God’s.”

When a John Kerry or a John Kennedy or a Bill Clinton comes along and says that privately he opposes abortion but would not remove a Woman’s Right of Choice he is saying bluntly that he will not force his religious beliefs upon others. Note that he is not saying he is pro-abortion, rather he asserts that he is pro-choice -- there is a big difference.

What is more “a free people need to take responsibility for their own decisions,” says Kerry and other Democrats too. That is a very grown-up view of responsibility. None of this stuff about how “the Church is the Shepherd and we are the Sheep” stuff for such a strong well educated leader that Kerry is. He is more direct in his advice like: “get educated on your responsibilities and take responsibility for your actions.” That is called moral leadership where I come from. It encourages people to do their own thinking and not to let someone else do it for you.

Thus Kerry and other like him support choice and he prays that people will make the choice that his family would make but he will not force his choice on others. A guy like Kerry, say what you will about him, he understands the key precepts of governing a free people and his theology is very sound (very Jesuit) and so are his politics.

Many Democrats are just like Kerry – they want religion to act grown up and adult and they certainly reject the “sheep” analogy.

So according to the stereotype Evangelicals think the Democratic Party is a hopeless case for them.

Down deep there are those who advocate forcing their will and their interpretations of the Bible upon all of the people of the land by legislating these interpretations into law.

They would do this by crafting law that includes their religious notions and then slap anyone who disobeys that new law into jail. To guard against this the idea of Separation of Church and State has been crafted to build a wall of separation that is needed to prevent just such abuse.

Democrats will not take narrow precepts that are matters of faith and culture and make them the law of our land. Ours is not a religious State, ours is a land where: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” If you want a land different than that you might look to Afghanistan or Iraq where religious rule is the law of the land. Democrats want no religious Taliban style of zealot government ruling America.

Thus Democrats will not put people into jail because they teach evolution theory. We will not shut down all commerce on Sunday because people should attend Christian Church service. We will not allow one religious group to celebrate their holy holidays by decorating public property while we deny the same right to minority religions. We will not slap people in jail because they chose to worship God according to the precepts of Islam even as we note that Islam does not teach terrorism.

Sorry but Democrats are far more sophisticated than that.

The latest stuff from the one Evangelical movement is that “we must attack Iran and bomb them because they hate Israel the fountain of all Biblical enlightenment.” They have all sorts of biblical rationale for doing that and they are as crazy as The Mad Hatter in Alice Through The Looking Glass.

They would have us annihilate Iran to protect Israel? Maybe we should try something else and instead try to do the Christ-like thing and work to achieve peace and understanding among enemies.

That’s what this Democrat believes and it is not heresy.

Many Democrats when you speak to them about these things believe that Christ calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and to promote peace. These are among the beatitudes that Democrats can see political application for and thus believe that a caring form of political action can be implemented in order to achieve those as goals. These are surely pro-family values too. We have been mocked by religious figures because we seek world peace. We are not ashamed of our beliefs and we advocate them each and every day. I hate to say it but that is a form of Evangelical behavior for we are preaching a gospel of Peace.

Thus you see Democrats advocating for policies, funding, and for agencies that help the poor and help to accomplish the enactment of the beatitudes through government. These are not anti-religious nor pro-religious programs. They are programs that all people of all cultures can support. They threaten no religion. Some of our our goals like good roads, bridges, clean water and sanitation are very secular and yet they benefit all of us. Others like working to salvage drug addicts, alcoholics, and to provide police and fire protection are designed to create a safer society. Still other like Social Security and Universal health-care are designed to provide social dignity and financial security.

For Democrats it’s frustrating because we get programs in place and then an election happens and they are swept away and we have to start all over again. We do so willingly. The ying -- yang of public policy towards the poor seems to come from tax anxiety. Those who cannot afford added taxes themselves want to sweep away the very support programs that they could soon need for themselves. The beneficiaries are the rich who are not made impoverished by the existence of the programs but who benefit by lower taxes.

Democrats have many people of the Jewish faith among us -- we are not all white Anglo Saxon Protestants demanding white supremacy. We are so diverse that Jesse Jackson coined a phrase to describe us – we are the “Rainbow Coalition.” That is a good description of today’s Democratic Party. A rainbow coalition can only survive if there is respect for the individual at the very core of its principles. Respect for the individual implies respect for religion, respect for culture, and respect for ideals. That means not forcing ones personal beliefs down the throats of others.

In crafting the anti-God portrait of Democrats the propagandists have created the wrong stereotype -- one useful for dividing people but not one that is accurate.

Among some Democrats there is an emerging backlash -- a stereotype being created of Evangelicals as bigots. This is also wrong. The association of the Evangelical movement with bigotry has been easy to make because some misguided ministers have used the pulpit to preach segregation and discrimination not only among races but among other Christians. Their thesis is that anybody that worships God in any other way than what they are preaching is evil. Wrong! In fact most people are pilgrims seeking God and there are many paths to His doorstep.

This strife between Religions and Parties is part of the crafty art of dividing people in order to get votes. It is the craft of people like Karl Rove and the politics of hate and divisiveness that came from former Governor George Wallace in his anti-civil rights crusade. We know this ugly form of politics and reject it.

In closing I would speak to fellow Democrats who have expressed disgust with Churches and support of war, killing, and the claim that these are God’s will for mankind. Please observe that none of these who are doing the preaching are infallible people. They are not without sin themselves. Their politics are often biased. Some Democrats are leaving the Christian Churches for they see the practices and preaching as anti-Christ. However, running away from the issues permits them to exist. It is far better to stay with the Church and to work to reform those misusing the pulpit to retract their nonsense and to admit their misuse of God’s word. Running away isn’t the answer. Helping to clean house is a much better solution.

I hope this essay relieves some of the stereotypes and invites further evaluation of Democrats and Evangelicals to resolve their conflicts in order to produce positive forces for society that can work together and not be as conflicted as some people have falsely claimed. We need to work together to build a better society. Religion and politics are not incompatible. The precepts of religion and politics can be vectored to produce good outcomes for people even as we respect the wall of separation between Church and State. After all we did this for 200 years and things have gone pretty well.