Enough about the Christian Right - here comes the Christian Left.
Friday will mark the formal announcement of the formation of the Clergy Leadership Network, a nonprofit religious organization members are dedicated to both motivating "religious" voters against the Bush administration and countering politically conservative religious groups such as the Christian Coalition and the Family Research Council.
More power to 'em. As long as they stay within their IRS guidelines for tax exemption by not having any official ties to the Democratic Party and not endorsing a particular presidential candidate, let them speak their minds. They have every right to let their voices be heard and make their own mistakes.
Of course, my first reaction was something more akin to what scientifically is described as "the raspberry," and it may or may not have been accompanied by a not-insignificant amount of eye-rolling.
To start with the obvious: Most people who would legitimately classify themselves as Christians cannot also describe themselves as Democrats or liberals. Or at least if they do, they're neglecting their duties as one or the other.
Please, before you go firing off those angry e-mails, keep in mind that these are not my judgments - the Bible, particularly the New Testament, has no shortage of very strong and specific instructions on matters of morality and behavior. The Democratic Party and the modern liberal mindset do not, in general, match up with these guidelines. Don't believe me? Look it up yourself, or ask your local religious leader for advice.
Well, not just any religious leader - steer clear of the Rev. Albert Pennybacker, chief executive of the CLN. Although Pennybacker's rhetoric largely is indistinguishable from your typical anti-war protester, he stresses that his organization is not actually some "Christian Left" group, since all it actually cares about is "mainstream issues and truth."
The reverend added, "Our key issues are people without jobs, people who are hungry, people burying children killed in Iraq." To make these three the apparent "key issues" of the CLN implies that the other, conservative, Christian groups didn't care about them in the first place - and that is insulting.
Traditional religious groups and churches are renowned for nothing if not their charity work with the homeless and hungry. And as for children killed in Iraq, well, Iraq's No. 1 child-killer has been conspicuously absent from that country for some time now, courtesy of "Christian Right" poster boy George W. Bush and his posse.
What makes the case of the CLN truly fascinating is the strange dichotomy it illustrates within the liberal mindset. For years, liberals have engaged in "identity politics," the implication or expectation that a certain racial or ethnic group - black, Latino, Inuit, whatever - simply MUST hold to a certain set of (liberal) beliefs. This has led to such nonsense as conservative judicial nominee Miguel Estrada getting accused of being "not Hispanic enough," or Harry Belafonte referring to Gen. Colin Powell as a "house Negro."
But it's the opposite with religion. The CLN would make it seem that being a Christian doesn't, apparently, preclude you from supporting a party that is often diametrically opposed to Christian values.
So to recap: A belief system shouldn't be an arbiter of belief, but genetic heritage should. What? Hey, maybe this Religious Left isn't such a bad idea after all, since only God could have the patience for these people.
Eric Spratling is a journalism senior. Reach him at eric.spratling@asu.edu.
