Presidential candidates were urged to resist divisive religious rhetoric and respect religious freedom while on the campaign trail by a group of Christian leaders Tuesday.
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(Photo: AP Images / LM Otero)Republican presidential hopeful former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney watches Republican presidential hopeful former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the television on Michigan primary day in Southfield, Mich., Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008.
More than two dozen Evangelical, mainline Protestant and Catholic leaders signed the statement titled, “Keeping Faith: Principles to Protect Religion on the Campaign Trail,” which affirmed three principles to protect religion during the presidential race.
The principles are: avoid using religious or doctrinal differences to marginalize or disparage each other; acknowledge that no single faith has an exclusive claim to moral values; and recognize that policy positions should reflect the best interests of all citizens regardless of religious belief.
“In this year’s presidential campaign, we are troubled to see candidates pressed to pronounce the nature of their religious beliefs,” wrote leaders in the statement, “asked if they believe every word of the Bible, forced to fend off warnings by a few religious authorities about reception of sacraments, compelled to confront derogatory and false allegations of radical Muslim childhood education, and faced with prejudicial analyses of their denominational doctrines.”
In the race so far, arguably the two candidates whose faith has been scrutinized the most are former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a Mormon, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a former ordained Baptist preacher. The former has been criticized for not explaining his Mormon faith and the influence it will have on his presidency, while the latter has been criticized for talking too much about his faith.
On the Democratic side, religious talk has been unusually high with frontrunners citing Bible verses and Sen. Barack Obama even throwing a star-studded Gospel concert in South Carolina.
But with all the religious talk, there has also been judgment of candidates’ faith in both parties.
In response, the Christian leaders denounced “exclusionary religious rhetoric” by candidates as well as “constant scrutiny” of the contenders’ faiths for undermining religion’s role in public life.
Signers of the statement include Brian McLaren, author and founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church; the Rev. Dr. Paul de Vries, president of New York Divinity School and board member of the National Association of Evangelicals; and Dr. Glen Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Religious voters will play a key factor in the South Carolina primary in both the Republican, Jan. 19, and the Democratic, Jan. 26, Parties.
Comments
How was it silly? God regenerated the hearts of those pagans due to the living witness of Christ in His children. They did not pick and choose which laws to modify. The laws were modified when the empire came to Christ. The Christian witness in this nation is tainted by the same idol-worshipping (look at all our mega-wealthy Superstars!) materialistic covetous selfishness that stains the secular pagans. Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Romans 2:1. Through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. Galatians 5:4. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod. And remember that judgement begins in the house of God. We are not to judge those outside--how much less so considering the considerable sin in the church of our day.
NOTW-
Yes, you are correct that the law’s purpose is to tell us right from wrong and that we are not justified by the law. However, it doesn’t follow that there should be no law! God has told us how we ought to live (through his Law) and Christians should be concerned that our society has moral laws that are in accord with God’s ways. Your pagan Roman example is silly. Christianity changed many immoral aspects of the Roman law, such as getting rid of infanticide. Likewise today, Christians should be working to remove the unjust law of abortion from our land.
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emporer. 1Peter 2:15-17. And remember--Peter wrote this while the brothers and sisters were being coated with tar, nailed to posts, and burned as streetlights. Law did not win the day; love for God and man did.
How about legislation against self-righteousness, or selfishness, or covetousness--from these spring all sins against both God and man. Has law condemning murder put an end to hate, or law against rape ended lust, or law against theft ended covetousness? Yes, we must love God in all areas of our lives, and that is in the living of that love and forgiveness (Jesus called it our fruit), not in legislating it. No one is justified by the law.
Didn't Paul say something about the law being for those who break the law? Didn't the first Christians live under the harsh rule of the pagan Roman empire, and, without trying to enforce legislation, win over their communities with joy, love, and selfless sacrificial giving? And what about our brothers and sisters doing the same in nations controlled by ruthless communist and muslim regimes? There may be moral or immoral legislation, but morality will not come by the law. Christ said it all begins with the attitude of the heart.
BobCu-
Saying that morality is not rocket science is just another assertion; it is not an argument for where morality comes from, what a moral life looks like, or why I should believe you. I take no comfort in learning that atheists get their morality from chimpanzees.
“Then why are many Christians so immoral?”
This is a fair question. I previously wrote that Christians ground morality in the immutable character of God. This is where the absolute standard of morality comes from. In practice, all people fall short of it, including Christians. If you want to see the ideal lived out, then look at Jesus. He was the only human who never sinned. The rest of us are a work in progress.
“I'm not accountable to your god fantasy. If you want to be a slave of your mythical god, that's fine with me, but please leave people who are not insane out of it.”
I think you have continually misunderstood what I’m claiming. I’m not saying Christians have figured all this out and now we’re forcing it on everyone else. I’m saying that God has revealed himself to humanity and has shown us how we should live. Therefore, when Christians proclaim this, it is not our own ideas. We are simply repeating what God has said. It should be viewed more as informing a terminally ill person that a cure has been discovered for their disease. If you were that sick person, would you accuse the messenger of forcing his cure on you?
NOTW: From your comments I think you understand the importance the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment. I think a majority of Christians agree with you. Unfortunately a minority of Christians don't respect the Establishment Clause and they harm the reputation of all Christians
tgender, morality is not rocket science. You don't need a god to tell you what's right and wrong. Our closest living non-human relatives, the chimpanzees, are altruistic. They take care of each other. That's what morality is, helping other members of the same species. If the chimps can figure it out, then I bet even you can figure it out.
tgender: "For Christians, we ground morality in the immutable character of God. In other words, we know what's good from God's very nature and we know that evil is anything that departs from that."
Then why are many Christians so immoral? Why do they lie to their children about science? There can be no crime greater than lying to gullible children, but Christians do this everyday. Also, there's a large number of Christians who show their disrespect for non-Christians when they try to illegally force their religion into our government and our public schools.
tgender: "Furthermore, we are all ultimately accountable to God for our actions."
I'm not accountable to your god fantasy. If you want to be a slave of your mythical god, that's fine with me, but please leave people who are not insane out of it.
NOTW: “We cannot legislate morality.”
Many people are confused about legislation and morality. For example, slavery and abortion are both considered immoral. Slavery was abolished do to moral legislation. Murder is also considered immoral. The reason why abortion is second guessed in the courts is due to the issue as to whether or not a pre-born baby is a human being (a moral imposed as a result of evolutionary thought influencing the Justice Department). Legislation is the imposition of morals. So when secular humanists decry Christian morality, what they are really saying is that they want it their way. Unfortunately without God there is no standard for justice and morality.
I wrote this post before I read yours tg. Please allow me to echo your thoughts regarding the sheer absurdity of secular humanism.
NOTW-
You wrote "Churchianity needs to humble itself, and return to the Bible. Time to come out of all other arenas."
I agree Christians should be humble. I also agree that we need to read our Bibles for all they're worth. Where in your Bible does it say that "we need to come out of all other arenas"? This entire universe is God's and He hasn't abdicated one square inch of it. He has told us to love him with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength; not just in one or two small areas of our life.
NOTW-
You wrote "We cannot legislate morality." All laws legislate morality in some way or another. An obvious example is that we shouldn't murder. If we cannot legislate morality, then we need to remove this law. Same for rape, stealing, lying, etc. The question is not whether or not we can legislate morality, but which morality we will legislate.
BobCu-
You wrote "It's too bad an atheist has to explain morality to a Christian."
As an atheist, I think you have great difficulty in saying anything is moral or immoral because you can't ground it in anything that makes sense. If you say morality comes from individuals or cultures, then morality will always be changing and be different for different groups of people. If you say morality comes from some impersonal "fact" of the universe, then 1) we can't tell what it is and 2) nobody has any real duty to obey it.
For Christians, we ground morality in the immutable character of God. In other words, we know what's good from God's very nature and we know that evil is anything that departs from that. Furthermore, we are all ultimately accountable to God for our actions.
BobCu--
Thank you. I am a Christian. And I do agree--some who call themselves Christians do not seem to understand that we are to humbly serve God and man, not attempt to set up dominion for ourselves under the guise of doing so for Christ--who will handle that for Himself. Thank God I can worship openly and freely in this nation--and if I am mocked and hated, well He said I would be. Churchianity needs to humble itself, and return to the Bible. Time to come out of all other arenas. We cannot legislate morality.
Secular humanism is the religion du jour. Intolerant of any other views, its adherents arrogantly point their finger and cry out "Intolerance!"
seedplanter, I was talking about people who try to stick their religion into America's state and federal governments. It's immoral and the federal courts won't allow it because of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment. To help you understand why it's immoral, how would you like it if a Jewish president or a Muslim president tried to make America a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation? You probably wouldn't like that at all. Neither would I. Now you know what minority religions and the non-religious think about immoral Christians who try to force their religion into a government that belongs to everyone, not just Christians.
It's too bad an atheist has to explain morality to a Christian. Fortunately most Christians know it's in everyone's best interest, including Christians, to keep religions and governments completely separate. It's only a minority of Christians who are doing a good job of ruining the reputation of all Christians.
My sister-in-law, a Democrat, really hopes Huckabee wins the Republican primary. That's not a good sign.