E.J. DIONNE: Religion challenges left and right

[cbayer]

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x1533292166/E-J-DIONNE-Religion-challenges-left-and-right

By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Washington Post Columnist
Posted Aug 04, 2013 @ 08:19 PM

Whenever I write sympathetically about religion, I get bombarded by tweets and notes from readers who normally agree with me but cannot abide the idea that religious belief should be seen as intellectually serious.

And because I have written favorably about Pope Francis, I get more than my share of angry comments about the Catholic pedophilia scandal, which continues to haunt the church and troubles even its most loyal members.

Getting lambasted doesn’t bother me. On the contrary, citizens talking back to the purveyors of opinion is a glorious aspect of free speech. But my correspondents underscore the existence of a strong anti-religious current within a segment of the liberal community that is both an important political fact and a potential problem for progressives.

Here’s the challenge: Americans who are left-of-center are far more religiously diverse than their opponents on the conservative side. When it comes to matters of faith, liberals and Democrats have a far more complicated task of coalition management — although religion also raises some serious difficulties for the right.
Consider the findings of a survey (in which I was involved) released last month by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution. Using the answers to a wide variety of questions, we created a scale that broke our respondents into four groups: Religious conservatives, moderates, progressives and the non-religious.


Read more: http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x1533292166/E-J-DIONNE-Religion-challenges-left-and-right#ixzz2b1LlO82f

[rug]

1. Contemporay conservative and liberal politics are a poor prism to examine religious thought.

It's fine for examining actions but they are two different things.

[ZombieHorde]

2. In the US, politics trumps religion.

Most of our politicians identify as Christian, but how many have said we should love Osama bin Laden and his ilk? How many have said our poor treatment of prisoners is unacceptable? How many have spoken out against violent or legal self defense?

You usually have to be both Christian and anti-Christ to get anywhere in US politics.

[cbayer]

3. I think that's changing, albeit slowly.

I think more people who identify with other religions are making their way into politics, as are some who identify as atheist.

Will the resurgence of the religious left make a difference in politics? I'm not sure, but every time they unseat someone from the religious right, that's a victory, imo.