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September 19, 2006

Red Letter Christians Push Blue Voting

I'm a bit flummoxed by the political push of the left-leaning Red Letter Christians. Like many people, I've been deeply concerned about the religious right's growing influence on government for some time (though I disagree with Rosie O'Donnell's view that radical Christianity is as threatening as radical Islam, at least it's not yet). So at first glance it seems refreshing to see the religious left poke its head up and say, "Hey, we're here, too!" But is a leftward push back via religiously driven political activisim really the answer?

A new group representing values voters on the religious left castigated the religious right yesterday, announcing plans to counter conservatives with a series of candidate fairs, voters guides and Web logs.

One weblog is called GodPolitics.com, and 200,000 voter guides entitled "Voting God's Politics" will be distributed before the election.

"The monologue of the religious right is finally over, and a new dialogue has just begun," Mr. Wallis said. "That's good news for churches, for politics and really, for both parties. We believe the debate on values should be central in American politics. The question is: Which values, whose values and how should we define moral values?"

The right has concentrated on opposition to same-sex "marriage" and abortion, he said, adding that the war in Iraq, poverty and the environment should equally concern evangelicals.

While I like the general message of these so-called "Red Letter Christians" – basing actions and philosophy on the words of Jesus (which are printed in red in many Bibles, hence their name) – how is religious left government influence any better than religious right government influence? Will the religious left take its cues from the aggressive political moves of the religious right, and simply perpetuate the problem, only this time with the political left keeping quiet because they're pulling in Democratic votes? Why can't religion stay in the churches, homes and communities and out of government?

Posted by Becky at September 19, 2006 09:39 AM