David Gushee Sez “Christian Leaders: Stay Out of Politics”

From my liberal Baptist pastor preacher-dude friend and buddy, Tripp comes 17 rules from David Gushee about Christian leader political involvement. Keep in mind, Baptists derive historically from the Anabaptist movements. They’ve got some legitimate beef with the government.

My reactions and comments intersperse.

1. Christian leaders must not officially or unofficially endorse political candidates or a political party.

Not if they want to keep their tax exempt status–though if they can get away with it unofficially (as do those churches hosting Democrat candidates), more power to ‘em. But I think tax exempt status should be separated out from political endorsement. Political endorsement is a matter of free speech rights. And churches should have as much free speech rights as do other entities (like, oh, say, the press). But until they do, get it in under the radar.

Of course, if churches don’t need to be concerned about tax exemption, so much the better. Let freedom ring.

I’ll say more about the necessity of ecclesial guidance in political realms below.

2. Christian leaders must not distribute essentially partisan or single-issue voter guides that purport to be apolitical or nonpartisan.

Poppycock. If religious organizations are not endorsing specific candidates, then they have the right of free speech to make their views known on single, or, for that matter, multiple issues. Let’s see a lot more of those single-issue abortion guides.

Though, truth be told, I’d like to see a lot more single issue guides on taxation, holding government fiscally responsible, freedom of religion, religious practices in schools, and so forth.

3. Christian leaders must not publicly handicap or comment upon the political horse race.

Eanh, maybe. If this passes into endorsement, it will impact tax exemption, sure. But again, this boils down to free speech. If newspapers can do it, so can churches. I don’t think tax exemption should be tied to free speech issues.

4. Christian leaders must not provide private or public advice to particular politicians, parties, or campaigns concerning how they can strategize in order to win evangelical or Christian votes.

Bovine scatology. Is it “strategizing” to say to a candidate: if you want an Orthodox Christian vote, you’ll have to oppose abortion? Isn’t that simply saying: “Here are our values. If you want us to listen, here is what we want from you?”

Again, free speech.

5. Christian leaders must not calibrate their public teachings or writings in order to affect the outcome of political elections or to gain and hold the support of politicians.

Essentially David Gushee wants to muzzle the free speech rights of all Christians. Crap, I say. Of course, given the current legal climate, religious leaders who represent their congregations are going to have to weight their actions over against their congregations’ tax exempt status. But again, I say Christian leaders should communicate publicly so that the views of the Christian community can be made known. That’s free speech. Is it “calibrating” to write in such a way as to persuade politicians to agree with or promote their own political views? Isn’t that what free speech is about? To persuade others, including and especially our elected officials, toward our own views. Gushee apparently wants to keep Christians completely out of politics. Isn’t this article “calibrating”? Couldn’t it affect political candidates’ views regarding a portion of the citizenry?

6. Christian leaders must not attend political rallies or campaign events of one candidate or party unless they are prepared to attend rallies and events of all candidates and parties.

Tell you what, if Obama, Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other political figures will quit using churches for Democratic stump speeches and recruitment, maybe the rest of the pack can, too.

But then, I would never suggest that they stop. Only that the double standard be eliminated and let other political candidates do their stumping in those large evangelical megachurches.

Free speech (if I may so continue to bang that drum).

7. Christian leaders must not invite political candidates to speak in church pulpits or on church grounds unless they are prepared to invite all political candidates of all parties to do so.

Yeah, right. Free market of ideas. But, that said, let’s make some distinctions.

For prudential reasons, I would not encourage any church to have any candidate speak during its worship time, or during it’s “Bible study” meetings, or what ever. If a candidate is going to be invited to speak at a church, they can come to a specially arranged meeting, in a time slot in which the church doesn’t otherwise have any other activities scheduled. Inviting political candidates into pulpits and to speak during worship times is very, very unwise. That’s not what worship is for.

8. Christian leaders must not identify the potential or actual victory of any politician as a victory for God or God’s kingdom.

Well, except when it’s obvious that it’s the morally right thing to have happen (like not aborting babies). But sure, identifying any political sphere with the Kingdom of God does become problematic.

9. Christian leaders must limit their direct contact with politicians or staff in order to avoid even the appearance of undue loyalty or involvement.

Why? So that Christians can be under the impression that since we can’t be seen with any politicians, then we can vote for any politicians? If Christian leaders do not make clear what is and isn’t acceptable for Christian involvement and endorsement in the politicial sphere, aren’t we just simply reinforcing the moral relativism that runs rampant in our culture? If an Orthodox cannot get up and criticize Orthodox Christian and politician, Olympia Snowe for her endorsement of abortion, from the grounds of Orthodox belief, and cannot concomitantly endorse an opposing candidate who fights abortion, then isn’t that saying to Orthodox although the Orthodox Church opposes abortion, you can vote for candidates, even Orthodox candidates, who support it?

Free speech, my friend.

10. Christian leaders must not engage in voter registration campaigns or get out the vote efforts aimed at mobilizing the voters of one political party rather than another.

So, let’s leave such campaigns to anti-Christian and anti-religious groups that endorse all sorts of values Christians are to oppose? That great sucking noise is all the anti-Christian and anti-religious groups filling the great vacuum left by Christian departure from the political sphere.

11. Christian leaders must not direct the funds of their organizations toward direct or indirect support for a particular political candidate or party.

Money is free speech. Christians and their congregations should be free to direct their money wherever they want. Of course, the government wields the choke-collar of tax exemption over those congregations, but that may be worth the price of freedom.

12. Christian leaders may not sidestep these rules by drawing a distinction between their activities as a “private individual” over against their service in their public role.

.

Baloney. Christianity is so privatized in our country that it is the great hobby of all and none. No, Christianity is a lived religion, and therefore a public one. If Christians willingly allow themselves to be pushed out of the public arena, then they need to choose another religion. The ancient Christian martyrs would have had a wonderfully blissful life keeping their private lives filled with their Christian faith, and in their public lives throwing a pinch of incense to Caesar. They didn’t. And neither should we.

13. Christian leaders must offer Christian proclamation related to the large number of public issues clearly addressed by biblical principles or direct biblical teaching.

Duh. But to follow through on 13, they will have to violate 1-12.

14. Christian leaders must encourage Christian people toward active citizenship, including studying the issues and the candidates and testing policy stances and candidates according to biblical criteria.

Except that they should dissuade Christians from the sort of active citizenship described in 1-13 above.

15. Christian leaders must model and encourage respectful and civil discourse related to significant public issues as well as political candidates.

Duh redux.

16. Christian leaders must model and encourage prayer for God-ordained government, its leaders and their policies.

But doing 16 would violate several of 1-15.

17. Christian leaders must teach and model respect for the constitutional relationship between religion and the state as spelled out in the First Amendment.

Except when it comes to free speech. According to Gushee, Christian leaders should do all in their power to both muzzle free speech and model such muzzling.

Let me reiterate yet again, what I am endorsing would endanger if not invalidate tax exempt status. But maybe some brave churches should step out and challenge such laws and how they muzzle free speech. (Just like McCain-Feingold does, but it’s been upheld so, it’s not looking pretty.)

Look, churches and leaders need to speak out forcefully on the issues, teaching and preaching what is the Christian voice and conscience on these matters. To do so, they may need to name names. Well and good. Christianity is not a platonism of ideas but is the sharp reality of the daily and political moments in our lives. It needs to be particularized.

That said, much of what Gushee says could be encourage in terms of prudential principles, but not from the standpoint of moral absolutes. What Gushee wants is a privatized Christianity that has not overt influence on the public sphere. Baloney. What his imperatives will result in is the complete absence of the Christian voice from the political sphere.

Just what the god of this world wants.