The Progressive Christian Case for Obama



Perhaps
the most endearing thing about the Democratic Party is its unique
ability to represent the beliefs of such a wide range of American
citizens. Within our ranks, we have environmentalists and trade
unionists, peace activists and feminists,  small business owners and
trial lawyers and even our fair share of business executives. Though
its a cliche in American politics, a cliche that often seems far from
the truth in an era of increasing partisan polarization, the Democratic
Party is truly a "big tent." It is because of this big tent philosophy
that I've come out of blogosphere hiding to write to you today.



The Problem

I am, as are many of my fellow Democrats, a devout Christian. For
years, in the eyes of many Democrats, the word "Christian" has been
dragged through the mud by the growing volume of the Christian
fundamentalist voice in this country. As a result, many in the left
have come to distrust people of faith. As a result, Progressive
Christians have very much been driven underground. To use another tired
political cliche, Progressive Christians have become the "silent
majority" in America. Within the Mainline Protestant denominations
especially (Not to say there aren't Progressive Christians of all
stripes. I only cite this as an example because of my own experience as
a cradle Episcopalian.), there are Progressive Christians abound, but
how are we supposed to communicate OUR faith and values to our fellow
Democrats when they've become accustomed to a country where the
newsmedia talks about Christians like we're some sort of reliable
Republican voting bloc? Christian Democrats fear that by wearing their
faith on their sleeves, they will be be painted by their fellow
progressives with the same brush as the James Dobsons and Pat
Robertsons of the world. This is, I believe, the real shame of our "big
tent" of a party.

Though this has changed for the better in the past couple of years,
we, as a party, are a long way from truly bringing the voices of
Progressive Christians into the fold. Here in Virginia, we are
 fortunate to have a governor in Tim Kaine who proudly spoke of his
Catholic faith during his campaign. As someone who's progressive
beliefs are ENTIRELY guided by my faith, I was so proud to see Governor
Kaine take a stand for Progressive Christians everywhere by reminding
us that its perfectly acceptable to be a Christian Democrat.  

What We Should Do About It

As a party, we need to stand up and say, once and for all, that its
not only acceptable, but ADMIRABLE for a politician to let his or her
faith guide them in their ideology and decision making. When I go to
church, when I read the Gospels, I don't see anything about tax cuts
for the wealthiest Americans. I don't see anything about preemptive
war. I don't see anything about discriminating against someone for
their sexual orientation. What I see is an underlying message, the
story of someone who I believe to be both God and man. Someone who set
an example for us all to live by. Blessed are the poor and the meek and
the peacemakers. Love your neighbor as yourself. These, as most
moderate to progressive Christians would tell you, are the key values
of Christianity. And they are the values of progressives everywhere.
When will we move past divisive hot-button social issues, embrace our
common ideals, and work together to eliminate the horrible violence of
poverty and injustice in our country? I believe St. John Chrysostom, an
early patriarch of Constantinople and a master of the art of
homeletics, said it best:

"This is the rule of the most perfect Christianity,
its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of
the common good. For nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ
as caring for his neighbors."

This ideal, CARING FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, is our common goal as
Christians and Progressives. I await the day that we truly can work
together for the common good of this nation.

A Progressive Christian's Endorsement

That brings me to the purpose of this post. Until a couple days ago
I was very much on board with John Edwards campaign for President. In
Senator Edwards I saw someone whos ideology reflected the ideals of my
faith. First and foremost Senator Edwards stood for fighting poverty
and extending health coverage to all. Also, he was never afraid to
discuss how his faith as a Christian inspired him, a multimillionaire
lawyer, to take up the cause of the other America of those living in
poverty. With Senator Edwards out of the race, it seems to me that only
one of the remaining candidates in this Democratic primary is truly the
kind of leader that embodies these ideals: Senator Barack Obama.

Policywise, there are a number of reasons for my support of
Senator Obama. For example, a Clinton White House would likely continue
to support NAFTA, a trade policy enacted during Bill Clinton's
Presidency that has been disasterous to American working families.
Also, while Senator Obama has remained consistant in his opposition to
the unjust and immoral war in Iraq, Senator Clinton has continually
refused to apologize for her vote to authorize President Bush to use
force or adequately explain why she failed to vote for the Levin
amendment which would have provided some valuable checks on President
Bush's power to wage war.

In reality, my support of Senator Obama boils down to much
more than policy distinctions which, admittedly, aren't by any means
extreme. The real reason is this: After eight years of horrible
division and partisan polarization in the United States under two Bush
administrations, only Senator Obama offers the possibility of an
America which can put aside ideological differences from time to time
and work for the common good. Most importantly, as a Progressive
Christian, I believe Senator Obama, who is a devout member of the
United Church of Christ, will be a President who has the ability and
inspirational leadership to create an America where people of all
faiths will really and truly be welcomed with open arms into the
Democratic Party. That is just something I don't see happening under
the continued polarization of a Clinton White House. When we remain so
divided, many Democrats misguided mistrust of Christians cannot and
will not be fixed.

In an America with a President Obama, I see the possibility
that we can all, Black, White, Hispanic, or Asian, pro-choice or
pro-life, gay or straight, Christian, Muslim, Jew, or atheist, finally
set aside our relatively small differences and work together to, as St.
Chrysostom said so many years ago, put our emphasis first and foremost
on caring for our neighbors.