How the Religious Right Has Failed Itself

Published: Friday, March 12, 2010

Updated: Friday, March 12, 2010 10:03

This week's Equality Ride visit went amazingly well. The months of planning, panels, and (let's be honest) panic are over, and now we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. This is not to say that the conversation that the Equality Ride sparked should end; far from it.

I think everyone involved with the visit is glad that nothing terribly objectionable happened, and that neither the Equality Riders nor the representatives of Houghton College did anything that they will come to regret. The main complaint I have heard is that the day was too restricted.

To my mind, the Equality Ride visit proved that politically conservative Christians have the ability to handle disagreements, even deeply-rooted and hotly debated ones, with grace, love, and humility. This is no small thing.

Despite all of this, however, I still can't seem to shake my fear of the so-called "religious right." Part of my fear is rooted in a general suspicion of people who make a habit of mixing power and piety, especially in politics. But it goes beyond that.

When I think of the "religious right," I don't think of events such as this week's Equality Ride, where large groups of politically conservative Christians extend a gracious hand to people they disagree with and engage in thoughtful dialogue.

Instead, I think about the gun-sight manufacturer Trijicon, which covertly inscribed "2COR4:6" on the scopes it was selling to the U.S. Military.

Or I think of Todd Akin, GOP Congressman from Missouri, who recently said on the floor of the House of Representatives, "I believe as we stand on the abyss tonight, for those Americans who are wont to turn to God for answers, that this is a time to be doing that, to ask for his help, supernaturally, so that we don't make this fatal step, pushing our nation into socialized medicine."

Or I think of the Christian Science Monitor article in November, which reported that a group of politically conservative Christians started distributing bumper stickers which read: "A Prayer for Obama, Psalm 109:8." The verse reads, "Let his days be few; and let another take his office" and is immediately followed by "let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

Most of all, I think about the shrill and heavy-handed "dialogue" that dominates the Fox News Network. More than their liberal counterparts, many pundits on Fox make a habit of poisoning the well by applying overblown religious language to issues which are never addressed in the Bible, to the point where believing that some social services should be funded by taxpayer dollars becomes a case of "religious" heresy.

I am not ignorant of the fact that my fear of the "religious right" is colored by politically-motivated media sources that seek to exploit every example of ignorance they find, and I don't want to ignore the same type of shrill and heavy-handed dialogue that occurs on CNN and MSNBC. It also may be important to note that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defended the Psalm 109:8 bumper stickers as a legal form of free speech.

But this is not enough. Just because the means by which the self-appointed spokespeople of the "religious right" communicate their beliefs is technically legal, does not mean we are succeeding. Similarly, the fact that the secular/liberal (often read "Godless") media often falls prey to the same shrillness that politically conservative Christians do, does not mean politically conservative Christians ought to be pleased with themselves. Whatever their political convictions, Christians are called to be salt and light to the world. In that way, the religious right has seriously failed itself.

More specifically, the spokespeople of the "religious right," official and unofficial, have failed to represent their constituency to the detriment of the entire group. If a large group of young and energetic conservative Christians can handle something like the Equality Ride as well as Houghton students did, why can't the spokespeople who are supposed to represent this demographic learn from them? Why can't the public face of the religious right exhibit the same grace, love, and humility shown on campus this week?

I have a feeling that many Christian conservatives want to prove that they will not be swayed by wishy-washy liberalism, and so they "call it like it is" and call those who disagree with them overly-sensitive, saying things like "If you think this is scandalous, read the Bible." But it is not appropriate to respond to your critics by giving every political issue near-salvific importance, so that everything they say is not only wrong, but a sign of the Devil's work in their life.

How do you make your so-called representatives reform without simply shouting louder than them? It's a difficult question. But it must start with open ears, open minds, and, most of all grace.