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Several religious leaders here in the U.S. wrote President Obama a letter urging him to end the war in Afghanistan and to bring the troops home. It was an important statement for peace and justice. Unfortunately it won’t do any good. Obama has made up his mind about his war policy and moral and political pleas will not change it.
More important, though, is the fact that genuine influence of religious communities on politicians and policies doesn’t come from leaders, but from the people. This means congregations have to get involved in the issues that face us as a nation for their faith communities to have any significant influence. The reason the leaders of the Christian Right have had such an impact on the Republican Party is because politicians know these leaders represent large blocs of voters. Mainline religions leaders don’t carry the same clout because they speak for themselves rather than their congregations and supporters. Christian Right leaders can produce large numbers of rank ‘n file church members at the voting booth and politicians know it. This is not the case with mainliner leaders. They speak in a vacuum, sometimes without much awareness among ordinary church members that they have even done so. There is no risk for Obama in ignoring what the writers of the letter on Afghanistan said. He doesn’t have to listen because he knows most of the people in the denominations these leaders lead don’t either.
A change is pre-requisite for progressive Christians to have a voice that counts. The need is for pastors to take the lead on the important issues we face as a people. They have got to start helping their church members learn the facts on these issues. Facts are not only stubborn, but a powerful tool in the face of uninformed and sometimes stupid opinions. I know some people believe Americans don’t care about facts, but I refuse to accept that premise. I do so on the basis of the regular and consistent reports by polling agencies that show people are in general more reasonable about issues than popular opinion believes. One after another survey shows that the majority of the members of all religious traditions don’t accept the authority of their leaders when it comes to what they should think. They instead think for themselves. A majority of Catholics, for example, reject the church’s teaching on both birth control and abortion. Further, they don’t believe they have to follow what the church says to be a good Catholic.
Times have changes within Christianity and other faiths. Authority no longer goes with position. The church’s stand on issues has to make sense to people before they will accept it. This is an opportunity for congregational pastors to lead the way in educating people on matters peace, justice, and social morality. There is risk in this kind of ministry, but the church’s prophetic witness depends on pastors being willing to stand up and be counted. Christian Right pastors do it all the time. It is time for mainline ministers to do the same thing. Yet the risk involved is reduced by the facts ministers can use. Appealing to people’s moral consciousness is supported by them. The rich are in fact getting richer in the U.S. while the poor are getting poorer. The gap is widening at an alarming rate. This is not opinion. It is fact.
Using facts in sermons and teachings is the hope that progressive Christianity can begin to be a beacon of hope for peace and justice. I am glad religious leaders across the spectrum wrote to President Obama. When he knows their views reflect those of millions of people in the pew, he and others like him just might begin to listen. But not until that time arrives.
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