Friday, August 6, 2010

Politicized religion

James Bowman notes an interesting juxtaposition.
On the same day that The New York Times reports on, analyzes and strongly editorializes ("Marriage Is a Constitutional Right") in favor of a U.S. district judge’s decision that a democratically-passed (state) constitutional amendment in favor of traditional marriage is (federally) unconstitutional, the paper is also running an op ed column by one Amy Greene, a novelist, lamenting the politicization of religion. I wonder if it occurred to anybody at the Times that there might be some connection between these two things? Somehow I doubt it. ....

Ms Greene’s piece is by-lined "Russellville, Tennessee," and is designed to establish her bona fides as a church-going Southern lady.
As the daughter and granddaughter of preachers, and as someone who has lived in the hills of East Tennessee all my life, I know what a driving force faith is here, as necessary as food and water. Appalachia, don’t forget, is a land where homes were once miles apart and church was the only gathering place. Some of my first memories are of sitting in my grandfather’s church, a little cinder-block building tucked in a thicket, listening to his voice ringing in the rafters. After my grandfather died, my dad took over as pastor. I never heard either of them mention politics from the pulpit, even though at home, in a family that has been divided between Democrats and Republicans going all the way back to the Civil War, there were some heated discussions. My dad always said that it was biblical to pray for our leaders, but not to campaign for them in a house of worship.
Those were the days! I wonder what happened to them? ....
One is inclined to wonder whether those marvelously apolitical Southern pastors ever had anything to say about the morality of racism or the legitimacy of legal segregation. Bowman again:
Gee, Amy, can you think of any reason why things might have changed since the days of your father and grandfather? If they never mentioned politics from the pulpit, could that have been connected in any way with the fact that political leaders of the day and the judges they appointed never tried to tell them that the moral and religious teachings that they proclaimed from the pulpit every Sunday were unconstitutional? .... Judge Walker’s airy dismissal of "moral disapproval alone," said the Times editorial "could someday help change history." But history has already changed in ways that require traditional moralists who are under political and legal assault to fight back with the same weapons. If religion has been politicized, it’s the politicians — nearly all of them Democrats, by the way — who have done it.
Give Me That Old-Time Religion by James Bowman - The New Criterion

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated. I will gladly approve any comment that responds directly and politely to what has been posted.