By
Rudy Barnes, Jr.
Religious
and political diversity can be either an asset or liability. Diversity brings new ideas, strength and
energy to a nation, but it can also breed fear, hate and hostility and invite
demagoguery. That is especially true when
fundamentalist believers assert their religion to be the one true faith and condemn
all others. Such exclusivity breeds an us versus them mentality that is often
exploited by political demagogues to identify and motivate their
constituencies.
The
exploitation of religious and political differences is evident in the bigotry and
nativism of both Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. In their campaigns to be the GOP nominee for
President, they have exploited fear and anger among religious fundamentalists
who claim to be evangelical Christians, and in so doing they have undermined the legitimacy of the Republican
Party and exposed a dangerous weakness in American democracy.
The
U.S. has experienced populist demagogues in the past, like “Pitchfork” Ben
Tillman in S.C. and “Kingfish” Huey Long in Louisiana. While we have not yet experienced a populist
demagogue as President, Kathleen Parker has pointed out that Trump looks a lot
like the fictional Senator Berzilius “Buzz” Windrip who became President in Sinclair
Lewis’ 1935 novel, It Can’t Happen Here.
So does Cruz. Their popularity is
based on fear, anger and hatred—the us
versus them mentality. The fabric of
American democracy depends upon rejecting such demagoguery.
The
American democracy includes a diversity of religious and cultural groups, so
that its stability depends upon a majority sharing common ideological beliefs;
and since most Americans are religious, they must share a common word of faith. The greatest commandment to love God and
our neighbors as ourselves—including those who have different religious and
political beliefs—is such a common word
of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
The
threat of diversity and demagoguery to democracy is not unique to the U.S. Israel is experiencing a similar threat based
on fear among Israeli Jews that Palestinians may become a political
majority. Fundamentalist Jews and
Palestinian Muslims are exacerbating that fear with violence. The challenge for the U.S., Israel and other
libertarian democracies in a globalized world is to reconcile growing political
and religious diversity with common ideals.
Religion
is a big part of the problem and must also be part of the solution. Political and religious leaders must
acknowledge the interwoven relationship between religion and politics and seek
to reconcile the two. It is a widely held
misconception in America that the First Amendment to the Constitution requires the
separation of religion and politics; while it prohibits government from
promoting or establishing any religion, it does not prohibit religion in
politics.
In
fact, any religion that divorces itself from politics in a democracy is impotent. If the greatest commandment to love our
neighbors as ourselves is to have any meaning, it must be applied to our
politics, where all of our decisions relate to our neighbors; and for
Christians those decisions should be based on love. Love is not just about being nice to others;
it requires that we use the powers of government to protect ourselves and
others from those who would do us harm.
Religion
can and should play a positive and constructive role in politics. America is a religious nation, and its
diverse religions shape our politics, despite the fact that many Americans
consider the discussion of religion and politics taboo. Unprincipled politicians often exploit
religious differences to motivate their constituents, creating negative public
attitudes that poison politics as well as social relationships. That is the nature of political demagoguery.
Our
religious beliefs shape our moral and legal standards of legitimacy—that is, our
concepts of right and wrong. In a democracy
of diverse religions, there is a need for consensus on fundamental standards of
legitimacy. The purpose of politics is
to make and enforce laws consistent with prevailing moral standards of
legitimacy, protect fundamental civil rights, and provide for the common good—and
religion is relevant to all of those political objectives.
The greatest commandment to love God and
our neighbors as ourselves—even our unbelieving neighbors—is a common word of faith for Jews,
Christians and Muslims alike. If most
Jews, Christians and Muslims were to embrace that moral imperative of faith,
our religious differences would no longer threaten the stability of our
democracy, and would-be political demagogues would have little fuel for their
destructive fires. Let’s make our
politics reflect our religious belief that we love our neighbors—all of them—as we love ourselves.
Notes
and References to Resources:
Previous blogs on related topics are:
Religion and Reason, December 8,
2015; Faith and Freedom, December 15,
2014; The Greatest Commandment,
January 11, 2015; Love Over Law: A
Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy, January 18, 2015; Is Religion Good or Evil?, February 15,
2015; Religion and Human Rights,
February 22, 2015; Religion, Human Rights
and National Security, The Kingdom of
God, Politics and the Church, March 15, 2015; May 10, 2015; Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The
Heart of Legitimacy, April 12, 2015; Religion,
Human Rights and National Security, May 10, 2015; De Oppresso Liber: Where Religion and Politics Intersect, May 24,
2015; Liberation from Economic Oppression,
May 31, 2015; Reconciliation in Race and
Religion: The Need for Compatibility, not Conformity, July 12, 2015; Fear and Fundamentalism, July 26, 2015; Freedom and Fundamentalism, August 2,
2015; Balancing Individual Rights with
Collective Responsibilities, August 9, 2015; How Religious Fundamentalism and Secularism Shape Politics and Human
Rights, August 16, 2015; The Power of
Freedom over Fear, September 12, 2015; Politics
and Religious Polarization, September 20, 2015; Who Is
My Neighbor?, January 23, 2016; The
Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves, January 30, 2016; The American Religion and Politics in 2016,
March 5, 2016; Religion, Race and the
Deterioration of Democracy in America, March 12, 2016; and Religion, Democracy and Human Depravity,
March 19, 2016.
On Kathleen Parker’s comparison of
Trump with Sinclair Lewis’ fictional “Buzz’ Windrip, see
On how Cruz’s irresponsible rhetoric on Muslims in America is threatening
democracy, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-cruz-invites-muslim-radicalization-in-america/2016/03/25/145c16e6-f29f-11e5-89c3-a647fcce95e0_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines.
See also https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-anti-muslim-rhetoric-of-trump-and-cruz-only-helps-terrorists/2016/03/24/9440114c-f1ea-11e5-89c3-a647fcce95e0_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines;
and https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/03/23/ted-cruzs-harebrained-harmful-policy-towards-american-muslims/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_opinions.
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