{"id":1088,"date":"2012-07-18T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/2012\/07\/proud-and-faithful-democrats\/"},"modified":"2012-12-08T20:21:11","modified_gmt":"2012-12-09T03:21:11","slug":"proud-and-faithful-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithfuldemocrats\/2012\/07\/proud-and-faithful-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"Proud and Faithful Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This past weekend, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by their resident conservative religion columnist, Ross Douthat. In the title Douthat asks,\u00a0\u201cCan Liberal Christianity Be Saved?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0He then proceeds to criticize liberal Christian denominations, Episcopalians in particular, for lacking a religious reason for their own existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ouch. A Church<\/em> lacking a religious reason for its own existence?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Douthat, and I enjoyed the experience very much.\u00a0 No, I didn\u2019t agree with every claim he made, but I enjoyed his lecture, given in the Dome Room of the University of Virginia\u2019s Rotunda; and if given the opportunity I would attend another one.\u00a0 If I recall correctly, he read a chapter from his most recent book\u00a0\u201cBad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0which was released in April of this year.\u00a0 In his text, Douthat managed to walk that narrow line of funny and thought provoking, with just the right amount of self-deprecating humor, perfect for a college crowd. \u00a0The next morning, I, along with a handful of other undergrads, grad students, and professors, sat down at the dining room table of one of my favorite professors\u2019 and enjoyed some bagels and conversation.\u00a0 There, I told Douthat that I had entered the room the night before thinking I would vehemently disagree with every word he said, but it turned out that I didn\u2019t. He made some valid points, most notably that shirking your familial responsibilities to \u201cfind your inner God\u201d isn\u2019t quite what Jesus had in mind when he instructed his followers to ask, seek, and knock (Matthew 7:7-11). \u00a0<\/p>\n

This is all to say that I don\u2019t think Douthat is unequivocally wrong, in his recent book or <\/em>in his NYT op-ed.\u00a0 When it comes to religion, he generally presents his views in a rational and thoughtful way. So when he claims that, \u201cleaders of the Episcopal Church and similar bodies often don\u2019t seem to be offering anything you can\u2019t already get from a purely secular liberalism,\u201d I had to pause and think for a second.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A similar question was raised at a recent conference I attended. Back in June, I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for a Future Leaders in Ministry Conference hosted by the Fund for Theological Education.\u00a0 As I sat amongst peers in one of the most progressive faith communities I\u2019ve ever experienced, someone asked, \u201cWhat is the difference between social justice ministry<\/em> and a secular non-profit that works for the common good?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oh, dang. Good question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It can be a hard question to answer; at least it was for many of the bright, spiritual, devoted fellows sitting in my small group.\u00a0 \u201cI think the answer is supposed to be Salvation,\u201d I ventured\u2026 Facial expressions on the other young adults ranged from contemplative concentration to empty stares. \u201cI know that as ministers and administers of social justice, we\u2019re probably supposed to be proselytizing while we care for the needy or advocated for the oppressed, but I can\u2019t bring myself to say \u2018you only get these services if<\/em> you accept Christ.\u2019 That\u2019s an ultimatum, and God doesn\u2019t work in ultimatums.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conversation continued for about an hour and though opinions differed, the one thing upon which everyone could agree was that the two most important commandments are: Love God and Love Thy Neighbor.\u00a0\u00a0It is in those two commandments that many Christian social justice advocates find their source of spirit and energy. \u00a0Not only is this told to us in Scripture (Matthew 22:36-40), it resonates strongly with me in my daily experiences as the best guide for living out my Christian life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our motivation is not just to \u201cmake the world a better place,\u201d but to advance the realization of the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 As a faithful democrat, I want this<\/em> world to look more like God\u2019s Kingdom of Heaven where everyone is invited to sit at the table and feast, where the last shall be first, where the marginalized and oppressed are respected with full dignity as persons created by and in the image of God.\u00a0 If this isn\u2019t \u201crooted\u201d enough in Christianity for Mr. Douthat, I\u2019m not going to apologize.<\/p>\n

It may be true that Democrats are, on the whole, much shyer than Republicans about invoking their faith as justification for a political cause; but that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t there and that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019ve abandoned it entirely for a purely secular liberal agenda. Our apprehension is due, in part, to our fear of alienating secular democrats\u2026 you know, those people who strive for social justice because they believe it\u2019s \u201cjust the right thing to do.\u201d\u00a0 And given that we religious democrats want (mostly) the same things as secular democrats, it makes the most sense to be united, not divided.\u00a0 Moreover, from my experience, left-wing Christians have something many right-wingers don\u2019t \u2013 tolerance of other faiths \u2013 and we don\u2019t want to lose that either.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the end, here\u2019s where I stand: I am a Christian. I am a democrat. I believe they are mutually compatible, and that the principles of each reinforce the other. I vow to be less shy about my faith and what I believe.\u00a0 But in the end, I don\u2019t believe the Episcopal Church is \u201ceager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes.\u201d\u00a0 They see their theology and those causes as one in the same. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by their resident conservative religion columnist, Ross Douthat. In the title Douthat asks,\u00a0\u201cCan Liberal Christianity Be Saved?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He then proceeds to criticize liberal Christian denominations, Episcopalians in particular, for lacking a religious reason for their own existence.\u00a0 Ouch. A Church lacking a religious reason for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[139,293,301,300,302],"class_list":["post-1088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c17-featured-writers","tag-christianity","tag-jessica-church","tag-liberal","tag-ross-douthat","tag-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nProud and Faithful Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This past weekend, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by their resident conservative religion columnist, Ross Douthat. 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