Op-Ed by Cal Thomas
Here's the full text of what I found to be an interesting op-ed piece by syndicated conservative columnist Cal Thomas. I'll post a few of my own thoughts at the end.
Closing one door, opening another
May 4, 2007
One of the major players in what came to be known as the "Religious Right" in the 1980s has shut its doors. The Center for Reclaiming America, based in Ft. Lauderdale, part of Dr. D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, has decided to close. It will also shut its Washington, D.C., office known as the Center for Christian Statesmanship.
Kennedy, who is 76 years old and recovering from a heart attack he suffered in December, is one of the best educated and most compelling of all the cultural conservatives who sought to use the political process to reverse the "moral slide" in America. Most of Kennedy's televised messages in recent years have strayed from traditional preaching and focused primarily on politics and social issues.
Brian Fisher, executive vice president of Coral Ridge Ministries, told the Miami Herald, "We believe that by streamlining the operations we will be able to return to our core focus." One hopes that will be preaching the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ, unencumbered by the allures of the political kingdoms of this world, because that is where the greatest power lies to transform lives and ultimately nations. It does not lie in the Republican Party, with which Kennedy's organization was almost exclusively associated.
Politics is about compromise. The message of the church is about Truth. One has to look no further than the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons - who long ago gave up speaking of another kingdom and another King (if they ever did) in favor of faith in the Democratic Party - to see how quickly the church and its primary message can be blurred when it enters into a shotgun marriage with politics. Jim Naugle, the mayor of Ft. Lauderdale, told the Herald that the last election persuaded candidates to package themselves "in the middle, rather than to the right."
Nearly 30 years after religious conservatives decided to re-enter the political arena - after abandoning it as "dirty" and leading to compromise - what do they have to show for it? The country remains sharply divided and the reconciling message they used to preach has been obscured by the crass pursuit of the golden ring of political power. In the end, they got neither the power, nor the Kingdom; only the glory and even that is now fading, as these older leaders pass from the scene.
This is not to say there is no role for conservative Christians in the civic life of their nation. There is. But Christians must first understand that the issues they most care about - abortion, same-sex marriage and cultural rot - are not caused by bad politics, but are matters of the heart and soul. Some evangelicals wish to broaden the political agenda beyond these issues to poverty, social justice and the environment. Politics can never completely cure the ills of any of these, but the message Christians bring about salvation and redemption can. Besides, they can never "convert" people to their point of view.
Too many conservative Christians have focused on the "seen" rather than the "unseen," thinking appearances at the White House, or on "Meet the Press," is evidence that they are making a difference. And too much attention has been paid to individual personalities, rather than to the One these preachers had originally been called to exalt.
Nothing in the Bible commands believers to reform or redeem society through government and politics alone, or even mainly. Neither is there any expectation that non-Christians will be converted to the Christian point of view, which can vary on some topics, through politics.
Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., told the Herald that evangelical groups that are built around a single charismatic leader often struggle when the leader is gone. "These televangelists are able to generate a fair amount of money," he said, "but in terms of their institutional longevity, it's really at risk."
To paraphrase a verse familiar to most Christians, what shall it profit a man if he gains the White House, but loses his own soul?
Christians are also fond of saying God never closes one door without opening another door. The "door" of the Center for Reclaiming America has closed. The new doors can produce a more effective politics, if what's on the other side is based on a message that has less to do with partisanship and more to do with the One who transcends all politics and Who lends His power only to those who will use it as He instructed.
Back to Bob:
Closing one door, opening another
May 4, 2007
One of the major players in what came to be known as the "Religious Right" in the 1980s has shut its doors. The Center for Reclaiming America, based in Ft. Lauderdale, part of Dr. D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, has decided to close. It will also shut its Washington, D.C., office known as the Center for Christian Statesmanship.
Kennedy, who is 76 years old and recovering from a heart attack he suffered in December, is one of the best educated and most compelling of all the cultural conservatives who sought to use the political process to reverse the "moral slide" in America. Most of Kennedy's televised messages in recent years have strayed from traditional preaching and focused primarily on politics and social issues.
Brian Fisher, executive vice president of Coral Ridge Ministries, told the Miami Herald, "We believe that by streamlining the operations we will be able to return to our core focus." One hopes that will be preaching the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ, unencumbered by the allures of the political kingdoms of this world, because that is where the greatest power lies to transform lives and ultimately nations. It does not lie in the Republican Party, with which Kennedy's organization was almost exclusively associated.
Politics is about compromise. The message of the church is about Truth. One has to look no further than the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons - who long ago gave up speaking of another kingdom and another King (if they ever did) in favor of faith in the Democratic Party - to see how quickly the church and its primary message can be blurred when it enters into a shotgun marriage with politics. Jim Naugle, the mayor of Ft. Lauderdale, told the Herald that the last election persuaded candidates to package themselves "in the middle, rather than to the right."
Nearly 30 years after religious conservatives decided to re-enter the political arena - after abandoning it as "dirty" and leading to compromise - what do they have to show for it? The country remains sharply divided and the reconciling message they used to preach has been obscured by the crass pursuit of the golden ring of political power. In the end, they got neither the power, nor the Kingdom; only the glory and even that is now fading, as these older leaders pass from the scene.
This is not to say there is no role for conservative Christians in the civic life of their nation. There is. But Christians must first understand that the issues they most care about - abortion, same-sex marriage and cultural rot - are not caused by bad politics, but are matters of the heart and soul. Some evangelicals wish to broaden the political agenda beyond these issues to poverty, social justice and the environment. Politics can never completely cure the ills of any of these, but the message Christians bring about salvation and redemption can. Besides, they can never "convert" people to their point of view.
Too many conservative Christians have focused on the "seen" rather than the "unseen," thinking appearances at the White House, or on "Meet the Press," is evidence that they are making a difference. And too much attention has been paid to individual personalities, rather than to the One these preachers had originally been called to exalt.
Nothing in the Bible commands believers to reform or redeem society through government and politics alone, or even mainly. Neither is there any expectation that non-Christians will be converted to the Christian point of view, which can vary on some topics, through politics.
Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., told the Herald that evangelical groups that are built around a single charismatic leader often struggle when the leader is gone. "These televangelists are able to generate a fair amount of money," he said, "but in terms of their institutional longevity, it's really at risk."
To paraphrase a verse familiar to most Christians, what shall it profit a man if he gains the White House, but loses his own soul?
Christians are also fond of saying God never closes one door without opening another door. The "door" of the Center for Reclaiming America has closed. The new doors can produce a more effective politics, if what's on the other side is based on a message that has less to do with partisanship and more to do with the One who transcends all politics and Who lends His power only to those who will use it as He instructed.
Back to Bob:
- First of all, I am really tempted to cheer out loud with Kennedy closing some of his doors. My Mom has been a devout follower of this guy for years, and in fact, just a couple hours ago I was forced (by the TV being in the same room as my computer) to watch Kennedy's Memorial Day sermon. Of course, it had little to do with Jesus as found in the Gospels or Christianity, and it had everything to do with America as a Christian nation and how everybody and their brother wants you not to be able to be a Christian in this country anymore. I have problems with a sermon that quotes John Jay and Patrick Henry more than Jesus. I have a million other objections to what he said in my head, but those aren't for now. But anytime a guy like that seems to lose even the slightest ground, I rejoice. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near the place of proclaiming any death knells of the Religious Right, even thought my boss has been so bold as to do so. In time, I can only hope...
- Thank goodness Cal recognizes that salvation does not lie with the Republican Party. If only some others of his ilk would come to the same realization. I find it so comical and frustrating (more frustrating given what's at stake) to watch many conservative Christians try to fit square pegs into round holes as they sort through all the Republicans running in '08. It's no secret that I am partial to many of the Democratic candidates, but it bugs me that - for many Christians - looking across the aisle to the Dems for a Christian candidate is anathema, akin to voting for satan or something. Instead of trying to see if Barack or Hillary or Edwards might actually have something good and Christian to say, more time is spent forwarding emails that Barack is a closet radical Muslim because he spent a couple elementary school years in Indonesia. I know lots has been written about it, but the co-option of the Republican Party by the Religious Right over the last 30 years has got to be one of the most diabolical and successful political maneuvers ever since it has us at a place where the evangelical base is so loyal to the GOP instead of loyal to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Cal makes some interesting critiques of the wisdom of Christians getting involved in politics at all, something I certainly think a lot about given my present employer. In the end, I still see a place for faith in politics (Jim's "personal but never private"), but I guess I'd like to think we have an agenda that holds more promise (and is more biblical). Still, some of his assessments of the dangers are as equally true for the left as they have been for the right, and let's hope that in 30 years - if the "Religious Left" can be as successful in wielding influence as the Right has been - we'll have more to show for it than they do. It is easy in a town like Washington to equate access with power. It is also easy to let access blunt one's prophetic voice for fear of losing that very access. There are many pitfalls along this tightrope. And many times, I wonder if a truly Christian agenda - one that is guided by the Beatitudes and Jesus as found in the Gospels - will ALWAYS be marginal if articulated without apology.
- However, after Cal's wise observations about faith and politics, he then makes some classic conservative blunders in my mind by picking the wrong core issues (the usual suspect of abortion, gay marriage and cultural rot) and then by only offering individual, moral explanations for our societal problems (omitting structural and institutional causes). Come on, Cal... a bunch of "good" people will not a good society make...
posted by Bob at 7:32 PM
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