Saturday, November 24, 2018

Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and the Legitimacy of Democracy

 By Rudy Barnes, Jr.


Following the recent elections, several losing candidates complained that the results were not democratic.  They challenged the legitimacy of democracy in elections that reflected the values and moral standards of the American civil religion.  Apparently they forgot that those election results were shaped by the faith of the majority of voters.

Democracy in America has always been divisive and often ugly, but with the exception of the Civil War years it has held together.  Today conflicting concepts of legitimacy promoted by a polarized partisan duopoly threaten to unravel the fabric of American democracy; and at the heart of those conflicting concepts of legitimacy are conflicting moral beliefs within Christianity.

The viability of any democracy depends upon balancing individual wants and rights with providing for the common good.  That balance can be promoted by the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors, including those of other races and religions, as we love ourselves--and it’s a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

Over 70% of Americans consider themselves Christians, but they have fundamental differences on concepts of political legitimacy.  Most emphasize the special interests of partisan identity groups over providing for the common good. Unless they reverse those priorities and put common interests over partisan interests, the fabric of democracy will unravel.

Most Christian evangelicals actively support radical right Republican politics with distorted doctrines of family values and a materialistic prosperity gospel.  Most white Christians avoid discussing faith and politics in church and support Republicans.  Conversely, most black Christians support leftist Democrats. The result is partisan politics polarized along racial lines.

American democracy needs a moral reformation of its politics and religion, and so long as Christians represent a majority of Americans that reformation must begin within the church.  It will require pastors to promote the stewardship of democracy based on the altruistic moral imperative of the greatest commandment to love all of our neighbors--even those we don’t like.

We have a long way to go.  The success of a church is measured by its popularity, and loving the unlovable is not popular in any democracy.  Career-minded pastors are reluctant to preach an unpopular gospel. While scriptures mandate helping the poor and weak as the common good, they don’t mention democracy since it was irrelevant in those ancient times.

There is a world-wide demise of democracy.  Unprincipled populist politicians like Donald Trump are exploiting public fears to promote their popularity and power.  Most people in the world are religious, and increasing religious diversity will require making the altruistic moral imperative of the greatest commandment a universal priority of political legitimacy in democracy.

Christianity and politics come together in the American civil religion.  It has been described “as a cohesive force, a common set of values that foster social and cultural integration.”  It reflects the standards of political legitimacy in America, and its tenets are a non-sectarian composite of Christian doctrinal beliefs that were challenged by evangelicals in the 2016 election.

The legitimacy of democracy in America is threatened by radical right politics that exploit racial and partisan polarization.  To preserve democracy Christians must assume the moral stewardship of democracy and promote the relevance of the altruistic and universalist teachings of Jesus to politics, and they should abandon exclusivist beliefs to improve interfaith relations.


Notes:

Legitimacy is a norm of values, morality and law derived from religion and shaped by changing cultural standards.  Standards of legitimacy are not absolute and vary based on time and place. This is evident in the requirements of military legitimacy, a component of political legitimacy, that are defined and discussed in Barnes, Military Legitimacy: Might and Right in the New Millennium (Frank Cass, 1996), pages 48-53, posted in Resources at  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/.

On how the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad relate to legitimacy, see The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, an interfaith study guide posted in Resources at  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/.   

Anthony Squiers has identified fourteen principal tenets of the American civil religion (ACR) that reflect the kinship of American values and moral standards to Christian beliefs:
1. Filial Piety
2. Reference to certain sacred texts and symbols of the ACR (The Constitution, The Declaration of independence, the flag, etc.)
3. The sanctity of American institutions
4. The belief in God or a deity
5. The idea that rights are divinely given
6. The notion that freedom comes from God through government
7. Governmental authority comes from God or a higher transcendent authority
8. The conviction that God can be known through the American experience
9. God is the supreme judge
10. God is sovereign
11. America’s prosperity results from God’s providence
12. America is a ‘city on a hill’ or a beacon of hope and righteousness
13. The principle of sacrificial death and rebirth
14. America serves a higher purpose than self interests
See the American civil religion in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_civil_religion.

Max Boot has attributed the world-wide demise of democracy to increased economic disparities, an information revolution that has destabilized economies and politics, and xenophobia caused by “the largest refugee crisis in history.”  See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/democracy-is-in-crisis-around-the-world-why/2018/11/21/ccb6423c-ecf4-11e8-8679-934a2b33be52_story.html?utm_term=.3cf84c93e541&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1.

Michael Gerson has noted that universal human rights that are essential to political legitimacy in a libertarian democracy have become the cost of historical amnesia.  He cites “...the election of an American president who is both ignorant of and indifferent toward the lessons of the last century, or any century. A president who always turns, by feral instinct, to an organizing message of bigotry and exclusion. A president who is throwing away an inheritance he does not value and unleashing forces that can easily move beyond control. with the rise of radical right political movements.”  See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/one-of-the-worst-things-about-our-awful-political-moment/2018/11/19/b75d6a28-ec2c-11e8-8679-934a2b33be52_story.html?utm_term=.8fcb29754d59&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
      

Related Commentary:
      
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
(6/28/15): Confronting the Evil Among Us
(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities
(8/23/15): Legitimacy as a Context and Paradigm to Resolve Religious Conflict
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/7/16): Jesus Meets Muhammad on Issues of Religion and Politics
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(7/2/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in the Wake of Globalization
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(10/22/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in a Polarized Democracy
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of Democracy
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  
(8/19/17): Hate, History and the Need for a Politics of Reconciliation
(8/26/17): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Politics and War
(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion  
(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(12/16/17): Can Democracy Survive the Trump Era?
(12/23/17): If Democracy Survives the Trump Era, Can the Church Survive Democracy? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/if-democracy-survives-trump-era-can.html.
(1/6/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Diversity in Democracy
(1/13/18): Nationalist Politics and Exclusivist Religion: Obstacles to Reconciliation and Peace
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
(2/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Freedom and Legitimacy
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation
(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality
(5/12/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again
(6/15/18): The Prosperity Gospel: Where Culture Trumps Religion in Legitimacy and Politics
(7/7/18): Whose America Is This? Musings on Conflicting Standards of Legitimacy in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/07/whose-america-is-this-musings-on.html.
(7/14/18): Musings on Why Christians Should Put Moral Standards Over Mystical Beliefs
(7/21/18): Musings on America’s Moral and Political Mess and Who Should Clean It Up
(8/4/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Problems and Solutions in Politics
(8/11/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Changing Morality in Religion and Politics
(8/18/18): Musings on Religion and the Morality of Socialist and Libertarian Politics
(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism
(10/13/18): Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims
(10/20/18): Lamentations of an Old White Male Maverick Methodist in a Tribal Culture
(10/27/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Migrant Tidal Wave
(11/3/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist: Has God Blessed Us or Damned Us?
(11/17/18): Christianity and Clashing Identities in Politics and Religion



Saturday, November 17, 2018

Christianity and Clashing Identities in Politics and Religion

 By Rudy Barnes, Jr.


Clashing identities in politics and religion are nothing new in America.  Over 150 years ago a clash of cultural identities within America gave rise to a terrible and cataclysmic Civil War.  It seems to be happening again. Identity politics in America have once again polarized partisan politics and religion, and our competing identities are getting worse, not better.

Clashing identities are the result of conflicting standards of legitimacy that define what is right, and religious beliefs are a primary source of our standards of legitimacy.  Over 70% of Americans claim to be Christians, but their beliefs are as divided today as they have ever been. Today white Christian evangelicals support a man who is the antithesis of Christian morality.

Those evangelicals who support Donald Trump and his radical right politics represent a large percentage of Christians.  Their distorted family values and prosperity gospel conflict with the moral teachings of Jesus summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors, including those of other races and religions, as we love ourselves.   .

Christianity in America, like its politics, has an identity crisis.  There is a pervasive ambiguity in Christian moral standards. The United Methodist Church is currently struggling with whether homosexuality should be a disqualifying factor in the ordination of pastors and bishops, while U.S. law prohibits any discrimination based on sexual preference.      

Most UMC congregations avoid discussing the issue of homosexuality in the church, just as they avoid other controversial political issues.  The church has become a popular social institution that supports traditional values. By way of contrast, Jesus was a Jew who challenged the status quo, emphasizing love over law when Mosaic Law was the standard of righteousness.

Christians need to define the moral standards of their faith, and distinguish the altruistic teachings of Jesus on sacrificial love from popular moral standards of legitimacy  That will not be easy since the church measures its success by its popularity, and the moral teachings of Jesus are not popular in a materialistic and hedonistic culture.

Conflicting standards of legitimacy are not unique to Christianity.  Islam is also plagued with clashing identities between moderate Muslims who wish to live in peace with their neighbors of other religions and Islamists dedicated to purifying their religion of all infidels who do not share their fundamentalist beliefs, which include the imposition of Islamic Law (Shari’a).             

While most Americans claim to be Christians, the myriad variations of morality between them will continue to cause religious and political division.  Like Jews and Muslims, Christians will always have diverse beliefs, but if Christians could find consensus in the altruistic moral teachings of Jesus as summarized in the greatest commandment, they could promote a politics of reconciliation that would minimize America's clashing religious and political identities.

The greatest commandment is a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims.  It’s from the Hebrew Bible, was taught by Jesus, and has been acknowledged by Muslim scholars to be at the heart of Islam.  If followers of those Abrahamic religions were to follow the moral imperatives of that common word of faith and love those of other races and religions as they love themselves, our political and religious identity crisis could be resolved.


Notes:

Robert J. Samuelson has argued against conventional political wisdom that it’s not the economy, stupid.  Citing Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America by John Sides, Michael Tesler and Lynn Vavreck, a new book that argues “that the most recent presidential campaign was a clash of identities.  ...People saw their adversaries as threats to their way of life — and, of course, were often urged to do so. Donald Trump was proud of his ability to incite partisan crowds; Clinton was not totally blameless either, with her condescending reference to “deplorables.”  ...Trump’s victory ... relied on activating people’s preexisting views of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. . . . Democrats reacted against Trump’s agenda. Thus, the alignment between partisanship and attitudes about issues like race and immigration only increased, and with it the likelihood of even more divisive politics. The resulting partisan polarization is the linchpin of America’s identity crisis.”

Adam Rothman has argued that tribalism doesn’t explain our political conflicts.  “Complaints about tribalism typically fall into two distinct, if overlapping, categories. On one hand are the well-worn laments about identity politics. This is the idea that Americans have divided into hard-shell groups (or “tribes”) based on racial, religious and sexual identities; people who possess those identities, the argument goes, then organize their politics around the belief that they are victims.  ...On the other hand, the anti-tribalists warn against escalating tension between Democrats and Republicans, America’s supposed mega-tribes. It is true each party demonizes the other with rhetorically vicious language that embitters politics and sometimes flares into violence. The two parts of this anti-tribalist argument fit together through the notion that identity politics has fueled intense partisanship. Organizing politics around claims to identity makes it harder to compromise, since every core issue seems existential.
...Concerns about political tribalism also neglect an important trend in American politics. It may be true the parties are becoming more ideologically polarized, but a smaller proportion of Americans identify as Republicans or Democrats than they used to, and more people identify as independents than with either party. The 40 percent of Americans who now consider themselves independents do not fit into tribalist scaremongering, yet the parties spend a great deal of money and energy in every election trying to get them to vote.
...Those who fear tribalism have gone so far as to conjure up nightmare scenarios of descent into civil war. Of course, once upon a time the United States did endure a terrible civil war, but no historian today argues tribalism was at its root, because “tribalism” is a vacuous concept with no explanatory power. A more plausible answer is that rival nationalism arose within the United States in the mid-19th century. One was built upon an antislavery vision of the Union, the other upon the cornerstone of slavery. These coalesced geographically, split the country, and the two sides fought it out with a horrific fervor.
If we are to avoid repeating that disaster, we might pay closer attention to another important, and more hopeful, strand of U.S. history: the tradition of religious pluralism.
Despite the pundits’ overwrought complaints about tribalism, local communities across America are showing that diverse people can come together across our differences to support each other.
Americans are in for a long struggle over the kind of nation we want to be, but all the talk of tribalism misses a crucial point. Diversity, when combined with equality, makes us stronger.

Tim Dixon has expanded on how research shows how partisan extremes are masked by an exhausted majority of approximately 40% of voters, as mentioned by Adam Rothman (above). But he warned: “Some say we are entering a new “Cold Civil War”: not a cold war between America and an external enemy, but a war between Americans. And with so many flashpoints ahead in national politics, there are real dangers that this war heats up. In this time of polarization, we need to mobilize churches and faith leaders inspired by the peacemaking vision of the prophet Isaiah: a vision to turn the swords and spears now being used against each other, on social media and in public debate, into the plowshares and pruning hooks so that all can flourish in a peaceful and secure future. That vision may seem far away today, but it is only with such a vision that we can overcome that the forces of unity can overcome the forces of division.” https://sojo.net/articles/research-shows-how-partisan-extremes-mask-exhausted-majority
 

Related Commentary:
      
(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
(6/28/15): Confronting the Evil Among Us
(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities
(8/23/15): Legitimacy as a Context and Paradigm to Resolve Religious Conflict
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
(1/16/16): Religion, Politics and Public Expectations
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/7/16): Jesus Meets Muhammad on Issues of Religion and Politics
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(4/30/16): The Relevance of Religion to Politics
(5/7/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(7/2/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in the Wake of Globalization
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(10/22/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in a Polarized Democracy
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
(1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(7/15/17): Religion and Progressive Politics
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  
(8/19/17): Hate, History and the Need for a Politics of Reconciliation
(8/26/17): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Politics and War
(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion  
(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(12/9/17): Religion, Race and Identity Politics
(12/23/17): If Democracy Survives the Trump Era, Can the Church Survive Democracy? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/if-democracy-survives-trump-era-can.html.
(1/6/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Diversity in Democracy
(1/13/18): Nationalist Politics and Exclusivist Religion: Obstacles to Reconciliation and Peace
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
(2/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion, Freedom and Legitimacy
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation
(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality
(5/12/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again
(7/14/18): Musings on Why Christians Should Put Moral Standards Over Mystical Beliefs
(7/21/18): Musings on America’s Moral and Political Mess and Who Should Clean It Up
(8/4/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Problems and Solutions in Politics
(8/18/18): Musings on Religion and the Morality of Socialist and Libertarian Politics
(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism
(10/13/18): Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims
(10/20/18): Lamentations of an Old White Male Maverick Methodist in a Tribal Culture
(10/27/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Migrant Tidal Wave
(11/3/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist: Has God Blessed Us or Damned Us?