The No Kool Aid Zone

My Beefs with the Religious Right

Posted by Byron February 15, 2005 at 9:43 pm
Filed Under Life as a Jesus-follower | 4 Comments |

As a graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Seminary, it almost goes without saying that I am sympathetic to Dr. Falwell’s theology, for the most part, as well as a good many of the political stances that he takes. I don’t mind calling myself a conservative, a constitutionalist, a “right-winger” even, I suppose. That said, just as I have my share of concerns regarding the Evangelical Left, I have some about the “Religious Right” as well. Just a few thoughts on the subject:

Putting too many eggs in the basket of political change
Drs. Falwell and Dobson had no good words to say about Blinded by Might, the tremendous book by Cal Thomas and Eddie Dobson, written a few years ago detailing their concerns about the dangers of substituting political action for gospel proclamation. Thomas and Dobson, both former Falwell lieutenants, know whereof they speak, having witnessed the building of the “Moral Majority” from an insider’s view. And they rightly warn of the temptation to put such a strong focus upon the political to the exclusion of the need to point people to Christ. Certainly, I don’t mean to imply that all of the folks on the Religious Right have forsaken evangelism; this is categorically not the case. At the same time, it concerns me greatly when I hear Dr. Falwell lauding the 2004 election returns as evidence that revival is effectively right around the corner. I referred to this in an earlier post, arguing that some of the things he points to as evidence of advance strike me as very possibly evidence of decline instead! The fact that we’ve re-elected George W. Bush says very little, if anything, about the spiritual state of our country.
Is it important that we concern ourselves with the election of candidates who will promote the general welfare, govern this country with integrity, and use the Constitution as their compass? Certainly; there is of course a place in our society for exercising the rights and privileges of citizenship. And there is nothing wrong with backing our candidates, cheering their victories, and expecting them to legislate in the ways that we have elected them to govern. It is also true that government can be an instrument for good—but only in a limited way, accomplishing limited goals, most often effective when getting out of the way to allow freedom to ring from shore to shore, instead of trying to overreach. But we need to get a firm grip on the limits of “getting our candidates elected”. I’m not sure that some of my Religious Right brethren do a good job of recognizing that.

Unwillingness to tolerate differing opinions
I’m opposed to the proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning. In the eyes of some, this makes me some kind of leftist commie pinko at worst, and a lily-livered weenie at best. Some would imagine that I probably have a closet urge to torch Old Glory. So let me tell you where I do stand. I believe that the flag is the symbol of the dream that is America. I honor the flag, am proud to see it wave, get misty-eyed on the Fourth of July, and display it on my car. I think that any jerk who would burn the American flag is a pretty sorry individual, one who desecrates the very symbol of the freedom he enjoys. It is despicable to burn the flag.
Why, then, do I oppose the “Flag-Burning Amendment”? Because I don’t use a howitzer to kill flies, that’s why. Now…I’m not interested in arguing the point, nor in arguing the “School Prayer Amendment” (I oppose that as well), nor in arguing about other issues that many in the Religious Right deem sacred cows. My point is that there seems little room for dissent on any of these matters; if you don’t agree with the fine point/approach of the Religious Right, you’re probably a member of the other team.
But I will not accept and then parrot the party line; I won’t drink the Kool-Aid for Dr. Falwell or Jim Dobson, though I certainly agree with a lot of their positions and admire their courage.

Kool-Aid drinking for the Republican Party
I don’t want to overstate this case; I have certainly seen some among the Religious Right who have been very willing to criticize Republicans. Perhaps, a better way to put this would be “Kool-Aid drinking for conservatives”. What I mean by this is that it seems to me that those who label themselves “conservative” are judged by a different standard than are “liberals” or “Democrats”. Bill Clinton could do no right in the eyes of the Religious Right, while the praises of conservatives are sung—and their own foibles brushed aside. Newt Gingrich’s moral peccadilloes rival those of Mr. Clinton’s—and yet scarce mention is made of such subjects, when the person in question toes the conservative line. “Kool-Aid Jim Carville” has nothing on some of the Religious Right when it comes to stickin’ with their boys—even when their boys step over moral and ethical lines, it seems to me.

I’m sure I could think of a few others given time, but my mind isn’t totally here…see the next post.