{"id":24893,"date":"2016-08-17T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=24893"},"modified":"2016-08-16T22:00:23","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T02:00:23","slug":"morality-as-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Morality as politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \u201cpolitical issues\u201d included abortion, homosexuality, religious liberty, the environment, and economic inequality.<\/p>\n

Now those are mostly moral\u2013not political\u2013<\/em>issues. \u00a0Churches have always taught about sexual morality and respect for human life. \u00a0They have also\u00a0addressed issues of\u00a0social\u00a0morality. \u00a0That is not being political.<\/em> \u00a0The Pew study found that only 14% heard political candidates being promoted or criticized.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s interesting here is that the researchers consider moral beliefs\u00a0to be nothing more than political positions. \u00a0To be sure, government dictates about morality gives them a political dimension they normally would not have. \u00a0This is especially true when the government requirements run counter to the church\u2019s traditional moral teachings. \u00a0Of course the church must push back against that.<\/p>\n

\n

But the problem isn\u2019t churches meddling into\u00a0politics. \u00a0It is the government meddling into morality.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From\u00a0Many Americans Hear About Politics at Church | Pew Research Center<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

As the calendar turned from spring to summer and the political season transitioned from the primaries to the general election campaign, many American churchgoers were hearing at least some discussion of social and political issues from the pulpits at their houses of worship, a new Pew Research Center survey finds. Religious liberty and homosexuality were chief among the issues they were hearing about, with four-in-ten saying they heard from clergy on each of these topics during the spring and early summer. Roughly three-in-ten say their clergy talked about abortion, similar to the share who heard about immigration. And one-in-five churchgoers reported hearing about the environment and economic inequality.<\/p>\n

In the new survey, conducted online and by mail June 5-July 7 among a nationally representative sample of 4,602 adults, 40% of Americans reported attending religious services at least once or twice in the few months before the poll was conducted. Within this group, about two-thirds (64%) say they heard clergy at their church or other place of worship speak about at least one of the six social and political issues mentioned in the survey, with nearly half (46%) indicating that religious leaders had spoken out on multiple issues.<\/p>\n

Fewer recent churchgoers (14%) say they heard their clergy speak directly in support of or against a specific\u00a0presidential candidate in the months leading up to the survey.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

HT: \u00a0Bobby Ross<\/a>\u2013read what he says about this.<\/p>\n

But let me add this: \u00a0Churches teach morality as part of their province. \u00a0But they should not only<\/em> preach morality. Morality is not politics, but it is not religion either. \u00a0That is to say, Christian churches should not just<\/em> preach\u00a0the Law; they must also\u00a0preach the Gospel, the good news of forgiveness through Christ for those who have broken that Law (which includes everyone). \u00a0And, as C. F. W. Walther has said, the Gospel must predominate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \u201cpolitical issues\u201d included abortion, homosexuality, religious liberty, the environment, and economic inequality. Now those are mostly moral\u2013not political\u2013issues. \u00a0Churches have always taught about sexual morality and respect for human life. \u00a0They have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,15,36,40,42],"tags":[455,1263,4741],"class_list":["post-24893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-ethics","category-politics","category-science","category-social-science","tag-christianity-politics","tag-law-gospel","tag-morality-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMorality as politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those "political\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Morality as politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those "political\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T09:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T02:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/\",\"name\":\"Morality as politics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-17T09:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-17T02:00:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \\\"political\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Morality as politics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Morality as politics","description":"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \"political","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Morality as politics","og_description":"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \"political","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2016-08-17T09:45:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-17T02:00:23+00:00","author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/","name":"Morality as politics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-17T09:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-17T02:00:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"The Pew Research Center has conducted a study finding that 64% of church goers heard political issues being preached from the pulpit. \u00a0Those \"political","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/08\/morality-as-politics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Morality as politics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}