Re: [pf] where I am coming from

by Sharon Flesher

19 December 2000 19:24 UTC

Betsy wrote:
> There has never been, as you point out, Priscilla, a well-organized "left"
> religious movement, for many reasons, I'm sure. It would be interesting to
analyze
> those reasons. Why is it that Evangelicals for Social Justice, Bread for
the
> World, Sojourners and the other organizations of Christians concerned
about
> poverty, hunger and justice have not become a nucleus of a faith-based
political
> movement, like the religious right has done around their issues?

That's an excellent question. I don't know the answer, but I have a hunch or
two. One possibility is that left-leaning Christians have felt uncomfortable
with bringing their faith into the political arena, even when their faith is
the basis of their politics. Part of this is due to the different
interpretation Christians have of the call to evangelism. I was at a Quaker
meeting once when we discussed the last verses of Mark, where Jesus exhorts
his disciples to go out into the world and preach his message. Many Biblical
scholars believe that passage was added to the Mark many years (can't
remember how many) after the rest, by someone other than Mark. The
discussion turned to how much trouble this passage has created through
history. Some liberal Christians are not comfortable with evangelism and
view their faith as a private matter, taking to heart Jesus' advice to go
into the closet to pray. Their faith may compel them to work for peace,
justice and environmental stewardship, but they don't wear a badge of faith
in their work. Unlike the religious right.

Also, secular left-wing activist groups are not always tolerant of Christian
views, perhaps because they tend to associate Christianity with the
right-wing. I'm a member of a mainstream Christian church, and I have not
always felt comfortable making this known among my activist friends, some of
whom I've heard make derisive comments about Christians. So here we could
have a failure of left-wing secular groups and left-wing religious groups to
build partnerships, whereas the secular right has been willing to use the
religious right to advance its agenda, and vice versa.

A third factor could be the diversity of individual congregations. Liberal
Christians are more likely to feel isolated within their congregations. I
can think of quite a few congregations that are 100% conservative, but I
can't think of any (not even our local Unitarian Universalist fellowship)
that are 100% liberal. The mainstream Methodist church I attend is
progressive-leaning and has a few left-wing activists, but it also attracts
conservative members. Therefore, politics pretty much stays out of the
church. We do have some animated discussions in Sunday School class, but our
pastor shies away from anything too controversial.

> But what I see happening now, as I work with a number of different
churches who
> are becoming interested in voluntary simplicity and in more Earth-centered
> understanding of their faith, is that many churches and many people
sitting in the
> pews are becoming concerned enough about the ecological crisis to want to
act.
> Maybe it is that the cognitive dissonance is finally becoming too loud for
them to
> ignore.

Whole Earth devoted an issue a year or two ago to faith-based
environmentalism. Did you see it?

> In any case, it seems to me that the mainstream faith community is a
"sleeping
> giant" that is beginning to stir, and that I think can and will be a
significant
> force in the battle for sustainability.

It certainly should be!

Sharon Flesher
CarSharing Traverse, Inc.
Traverse City, Mich.
sflesher@traverse.net

"Be the change you wish to see." M.K. Gandhi