Me talk Jesus one day
Crossposted from jesselava.com.
Of course Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush did. So did Bill Clinton. Why is that surprising?
Sure, Bush burnished his Christian credentials at key moments -- like when he said in a presidential debate that Jesus was his favorite philosopher -- but he didn't publicly brand himself strongly with the religious right very often. And even behind the scenes, his overtures to social conservatives were more exploitative than genuine.
Nevertheless, all but the most die-hard observers of faith and politics would be surprised to find out that Democratic presidents display their religion more prominently than Republican ones do. It seems that when Democrats talk Jesus, barely anyone notices or cares. When Republicans do it, it's evidence of their profound faith.
Why? Partly it's because many people -- liberals and conservatives alike -- assume that faith-talking Democrats couldn't possibly be being genuine about it. That's been changing lately, but the basic assumption is still out there.
Another reason, closely related, is that the religious right has dominated the public conception of what it means to be a Christian. Liberal Christians have to explain and defend their faith both to secularists and to conservatives. ("Yes, I'm really a Christian.") Indeed, a lot of people don't even know that the category of "liberal Christian" exists. Never mind that the greatest social movements of the last century (labor and civil rights) were driven in large measure by the religious left. And never mind that the greatest Christian theologians in recent memory (Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr) were both on the liberal end of things. It's just unfathomable to many people that Christianity and liberal views could have anything other than an inverse relationship.
Progressive Christians have an obligation to get the word out about our faith -- and to do it not just in the academy, but also in the popular mind. To be reticent about it is to do an injustice both to ourselves and to our God.
Of course Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush did. So did Bill Clinton. Why is that surprising?
Sure, Bush burnished his Christian credentials at key moments -- like when he said in a presidential debate that Jesus was his favorite philosopher -- but he didn't publicly brand himself strongly with the religious right very often. And even behind the scenes, his overtures to social conservatives were more exploitative than genuine.
Nevertheless, all but the most die-hard observers of faith and politics would be surprised to find out that Democratic presidents display their religion more prominently than Republican ones do. It seems that when Democrats talk Jesus, barely anyone notices or cares. When Republicans do it, it's evidence of their profound faith.
Why? Partly it's because many people -- liberals and conservatives alike -- assume that faith-talking Democrats couldn't possibly be being genuine about it. That's been changing lately, but the basic assumption is still out there.
Another reason, closely related, is that the religious right has dominated the public conception of what it means to be a Christian. Liberal Christians have to explain and defend their faith both to secularists and to conservatives. ("Yes, I'm really a Christian.") Indeed, a lot of people don't even know that the category of "liberal Christian" exists. Never mind that the greatest social movements of the last century (labor and civil rights) were driven in large measure by the religious left. And never mind that the greatest Christian theologians in recent memory (Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr) were both on the liberal end of things. It's just unfathomable to many people that Christianity and liberal views could have anything other than an inverse relationship.
Progressive Christians have an obligation to get the word out about our faith -- and to do it not just in the academy, but also in the popular mind. To be reticent about it is to do an injustice both to ourselves and to our God.
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There is of course, a lesson of Jesus', considered so important, it was mirrored three times in The Gospels:
It's hard to square the religious right's assertion that capitalism is Christianly, using words attributed to Christ:June 10, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is why I appreciated Stillidealistic's recent blog. And Zip's was astounding.
One conservative fascist just wrote that Obama is a secret Muslim. I mean this fathead actually is allowed to appear on MSNBC from time to time.
Oh I get so angry sometimes at all of this.
But thank you for a thoughtful post.
June 10, 2009 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink