Religious Liberals Gain New Visibility

[cal04]

A Different List Of Moral Issues
The religious left is back. Long overshadowed by the Christian right, religious liberals across a wide swath of denominations are engaged today in their most intensive bout of political organizing and alliance-building since the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements of the 1960s, according to scholars, politicians and clergy members.

In large part, the revival of the religious left is a reaction against conservatives' success in the 2004 elections in equating moral values with opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Religious liberals say their faith compels them to emphasize such issues as poverty, affordable health care and global warming. Disillusionment with the war in Iraq and opposition to Bush administration policies on secret prisons and torture have also fueled the movement.

"The wind is changing. Folks -- not just leaders -- are fed up with what is being portrayed as Christian values," said the Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior minister of First Congregational Church of Columbus, Ohio, and a founder of We Believe Ohio, a statewide clergy group established to ensure that the religious right is "not the only one holding a megaphone" in the public square.

"As religious people we're offended by the idea that if you're not with the religious right, you're not moral, you're not religious," said Linda Gustitus, who attends Bethesda's River Road Unitarian Church and is a founder of the new Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture. "I mean there's a whole universe out there different from the religious right. . . . People closer to the middle of the political spectrum who are religious want their voices heard."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901813.html

[johnnypneumatic]

1. it's about time

every time one of those evil religious right gasbags says anything, the 'other side' should say how immoral and unchristian he is being

[regnaD kciN]

2. The title is appropriate...

...it's not "Religious Liberals Become Active Once More," but "Religious Liberals Gain New Visibility." As I find myself having to point out over and over on DU, we've been around all along, and working to counter the "religious right" ever since Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority emerged circa 1980, but we've been largely ignored by a media uninterested in religious issues and always ready to take the easiest path and reprint quotes from Pat Robertson or flip on Trinity Broadcasting Network to "find out what Christians think" about a given issue. :eyes:

Now, the tide has turned against conservatism, and that same media has decided that maybe, just maybe, they should try to cover the activities of religious liberals, for once. Oh, well, better late than never, I suppose...

[mim]

3. I hope this is just the beginning

It'll be good to see religious liberals (and by that I mean religious believers who are politically liberal, whether or not they are theologically liberal) challenge people on both sides who equate "Christian" with "right-wing." I say, give them a run for their money.