OPINION & EDITORIAL
American policy not very ‘Christ-like’
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Also by Adam Lichtenheld:
- American policy not very 'Christ-like' (November 26, 2007)
- Media martyrdom plagues shootings (November 14, 2007)
- Discussing Middle East? Go there first (October 31, 2007)
- 'Awareness' weak on Islamic reality (October 17, 2007)
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by Adam Lichtenheld
Monday, November 26, 2007
Napoleon Bonaparte once declared that religion is "what
keeps the poor from murdering the rich." For the French imperialist, God served
as a sanctuary for the weak and the imperiled, a means of giving power to the
powerless.
In America, this has been evident throughout our history.
The black church helped blacks withstand 246 years of slavery and the decades
of segregation, lynching and second-class citizenship that followed. Faith has
empowered poor parents as they nickel and dime their way through our bootstrap
capitalist system to provide for their families. Even in the military, God is
crucial — helping soldiers fighting overseas cope with the ugly realities of
battle, and bringing solace to the families praying for their safe return back
home. Religion's potency lies in its ability to give meaning to tragedy and
suffering, to sustain people's purpose in life as they endure its hardships.
We may live under a secular government separating church
and state, but religion has a broad and deeply rooted presence in U.S. politics
— from the global "War on Terror" to the local "War on Christmas" — emanating
from our religiously devoted founding fathers and enshrined in the Declaration
of Independence, which asserts that the "Creator" endowed men with certain
unalienable rights. The use of God in political strategies peaked during the
Cold War, when Congress adopted "In God We Trust" as the national motto in a
calculated attempt to ward off atheistic communism. Meanwhile, the presidential
frontrunners for 2008 seize every opportunity to remind us that their personal
ideologies rest on fervent Christian convictions.
But the results of the U.S. being a Christian nation
differs significantly today from years past, when Woodrow Wilson's idealistic
faith conceptualized a forum of "global interests" that would become the United
Nations, when FDR used the Christian precept of charity as the basis for the
New Deal; when religious figures led the charge for equality and civil rights
in the 1960s. Religion was once a source of unity in America.
But today, it's a divisive force. Now when we discuss faith
in politics, we refer to the "religious right" and topics of gay marriage and
abortion — issues that are neither central to Christian teachings nor central
to the problems facing this country. Jesus has been hijacked, exploited by
people who cherry-pick lines of Biblical text to promote division and
intolerance, instead of standing on the general, unifying principles taught by
Christ: compassion for the poor, affection for our neighbors, empathy for the
needy.
While "Christian" has become synonymous with "Republican,"
the supposed party of faith has approached social issues in very un-Christian
ways. Built on the mindset that the poor are responsible for being poor, these
"good Christians" continue to seek tax breaks for the wealthy to "spur economic
growth," but reject raising the minimum wage to a living standard, shun any
attempt at meaningful health care reform and balk at the "willful poverty" of
those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. They fail to see that
trickle-down economics will only benefit the greater good if these policies are
backed by a consistent moral justification.
President George W. Bush came to office claiming to possess
these morals, classifying himself as a "compassionate conservative." Since
then, his administration has turned the label into an oxymoron, something the
city of New Orleans knows all too well.
But compassion was central to the teachings of Jesus.
According to him, the clearest path to heaven was a working life tending to
others. It was the test by which he decided who would come into his reign: "Whenever
you did these things to the lowliest of my brothers, you were doing it to me"
(Matthew 25:40).
Within the church, both Christians and non-Christians have
pursued causes that emulate Jesus as being a champion of the less fortunate.
Missions to New Orleans have done more for Hurricane Katrina relief than FEMA
and "Brownie" ever did. Church-run soup kitchens, pantries and shelters feed
thousands of people each day. Some churches are beginning to provide medical
care by trained professionals or offer financial assistance to help people pay
for their health care bills. But for all their humanitarian successes, these
missions lack the power and resources to instigate blanket change and challenge
the interests of colossal industries.
It is mind-boggling that certain views of the Christian church
permeate this country's politics, but their compassionate causes do not. A
Christian nation should demand that we reform health care to cover the less
fortunate. A Christian nation should demand that we revamp Social Security to
provide for aging citizens. A Christian nation should demand that we maintain a
strong social safety net for all Americans.
For these policies — not bans on gay marriage — are the
true embodiment of Christian values.
Adam Lichtenheld (alichtenheld@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in political science and African studies.
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 1:36am):
profound, well-written and well-argued. As a liberal Christian in Madison, my mind and my soul are happy with what you have written Adam. Thank you.
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 11:29am):
word.
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 12:01pm):
I would not say the values of being kind to others are uniquely Christian.
This is not a Christian nation, Adam - this is a secular nation that has been unfortunately overrun with religious rhetoric, and whether it is used for good or bad, it alienates those who are not Christian.
Acting for the good of humanity and a sense of support for the oppressed, whether they are gay, black, female, or even atheist (fun fact: more people would elect a gay president than an atheist president) are also central, I think, to the tenets of secular humanism, which I as an atheist strongly support.
Think about your own biases and consider whether you could have written this article from a more secular standpoint.
Katharine Dickson
Member, Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics at UW-Madison
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 2:25pm):
puritans were secularists.
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 3:03pm):
"The whole of 'altruism' reveals itself as the prudence of the private man: societies are not 'altruistic' towards one another."
-- Nietzsche --
Anonymous (November 26, 2007 @ 3:56pm):
"Religion's potency lies in its ability to give meaning to tragedy and suffering,"
This is true, but in a rather diabolical manner that I'm sure you didn't intend. Tragedy and suffering are given meaning because religion makes them the province of an omnipotent and omniscient God, who is ultimately responsible for anything that occurs. But they are significative only in referring to this deity's willing them to happen--they've no profounder meaning, certainly none which matters positively to human interests. In fact, the hurt is compounded when we realize that we *could* have been saved all this suffering, and the only reason we are not saved from it is because God wants us to suffer, in the most literal sense of wanting. But I suppose deriving solace from this ugly state of affairs is characteristic of the irrationality constitutive of religious belief the world over.
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