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Public Christian voices in this country are not only misrepresenting the history and meaning of our faith, but are also out of touch with the majority of Christians. Surveys show that the majority of lay Christians are way ahead of their leaders on issues related to sex, healthcare, abortion, homosexuality, and other religions. Houston voters just elected a lesbian woman as their mayor. The majority of Americans want a public option in health care reform. Most also support some limits on abortion rights, but support a woman’s basic right to choose. Pre-marital sex is the standard, not the exception, and the use of birth control is believed to be responsible rather than immoral. On top of all of this, 70 percent of all Christians reject the church’s teaching that Jesus is the only way.
What covers up this progressive religious reality is the public face of extremist Christians the news media loves to cover. On a regular basis we are subjected to stories about political right wingers like Michele Bachmann, Jim Demit, and Tom Coburn who claim their Christian faith demands they pray for the defeat of healthcare reform. Even the Obama administration gave credence to Christian extremism by inviting Rick Warren to pray at last year’s inauguration. But at the street level, Christians are far more reasonable and tolerant than these public figures would lead us to believe. That is one of the reasons most of them don’t go to church anymore. They cannot take the moralistic and theologically rigid message preachers and priests continue to spew forth as if they alone know the mind of God.
The news media wants us to believe churches are packed to the brim, what with reports about mega-churches attracting thousands. Yet the reality is that at most 25 percent of those claiming to be Christian actually attend church. It is true that the larger percentage of this number attends conservative mega-churches, but that does not change the fact that most Christians have not only stopped going to church, and they have stopped believing most of what the church says they should believe.
One of the significant factors of this story is that the nation’s public policies are being influenced by a Christian minority that represents itself rather than the Christian faith. The now infamous group in Washington called “The Family” is an example of this. The Senators and Representatives who make up “The Family” have a skewed understanding of what Christianity is about. Their views are much closer to the Republican Party platform (including the Democrats who are in the group) than the teachings of Jesus, yet they baptize their positions as if God sent them a memo detailing how they should think.
There is no politician in the country more guilty of this kind of religious travesty than Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann. Other Christians cut her and those like her too much slack on the basis that she has a right to believe what she wants to. Well, yes, she does, but at the same time, No, she doesn’t! When she claims the Bible supports her views or that God is directing her to action, what she has a right to is severe criticism for speaking out of ignorance. The Bible doesn’t say what anyone says it says, nor does the Christian tradition condone political views couched in moralistic claims. It is time those of us who have spent years studying theology are bold enough to say publicly that most politicians – not to mention some religious leaders - who claim to know the will of God are simply unqualified to make such statements.
Here’s the deal. The silence of too many Christians in the face of outrageous comments by people like Michele Bachmann, Bart Stupak, Ben Nelson, Jim Demint, Tom Coburn, Tony Perkins, and the like makes matters worse rather than better. No one can stop another person from believing what they want to, but the rest of us can speak out against their extremist views and reject the notion that they represent the faith tradition of which we are a part. They don’t because they simply don’t know enough to deserve such credit.
The retort that this is being elitist is an example of how far our nation has fallen from its days when facts and reasons mattered. I used to tell my seminary students that while everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, that doesn’t change the fact that there are a lot of stupid opinions around. The last few years in America have done nothing to disprove this fact of life, and have offered more than a little evidence of its continuing truth. One of the responsibilities reasonable Christians have at this point in history is to challenge stupid opinions being spouted by public figures who claim their views are based on Christian principles.
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I get irked when certain politicians will tell us how Christians are supposed to think (and vote). One gets the impression that being Christian means being a member of a Republican auxiliary organization.
Well, I am a Christian, and I am a Democrat. I don't think all Christians have to be Democrats nor do all Democrats have to be Christian. I just happen to be both.