By Rudy
Barnes, Jr.
There
has been little effective opposition in Congress to a tax bill that favors the
rich and burdens future generations with a trillion dollar national debt. That’s hard to understand in a democracy
where 95% of the people aren’t rich and conventional wisdom tells us that
economic issues dominate in politics. Fareed
Zakaria has asked: “What if people are motivated far more deeply by issues
surrounding religion, race and culture than they are by economics?”
Zakaria’s
“what if” seems to be true. Those
cultural and social standards of legitimacy that are largely shaped by religion
can outweigh economic interests. What’s
peculiar is that most Americans consider themselves Christians, and the GOP tax
bills conflict with altruistic Christian moral standards. In their politics most Christians have either
ignored or rejected the standards of legitimacy taught by Jesus, and that has corrupted
the American civil religion.
Donald
Trump and his Republican minions have made a mockery of politics and the
Christian religion. They were elected by
white Christian voters, but have passed tax bills that favor the rich at the
expense of the middle class voters who elected them. It reflects a polarized two-party duopoly
that no longer has a place for political moderates or common sense.
The
tax bills are bad, but it gets worse.
President Trump “retweeted” videos of dubious authenticity from a
radical right group in Britain that purportedly show Muslims attacking
Christians and desecrating Christian holy symbols. It’s not the first time that Trump has sought
to incite racial and religious hatred among his followers; and it’s reminiscent
of how another populist demagogue in Germany primed Christian hatred to support
genocide in the 1930s.
The
American civil religion has been corrupted by distorted doctrines of
Christianity promoted by evangelical Christians and by the unwillingness of
mainline denominations to relate their faith to politics. A similar paradox exists in Islamic nations
like Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where fundamentalist Muslims
(Islamists) have corrupted their politics by using Islamic law (Shari’a) to deny
fundamental human rights and libertarian democracy.
Ancient
scriptures are the original sources of religious standards of legitimacy. For Jews it is the Hebrew Bible or Old
Testament, for Christians the New Testament, and for Muslims the Qur’an. All these scriptures emphasize promoting the
common good, but all three religions have subordinated the common good to exclusivist
religious doctrines, with fundamentalists in those religions of the book promoting bigotry, hatred and violence in the
name of God.
Mainline
Christian denominations have avoided politics and are in decline, while
evangelical churches have grown by promoting a prosperity gospel that is consistent
with the objectivist politics they support, but inconsistent with the gospel of
Jesus. Islam is growing, but
fundamentalist Islamism has prevented religious reconciliation and in its most radical
form has promoted violence. Both Christianity
and Islam need a moral revival to restore their legitimacy.
For
Christianity and Islam to reclaim their legitimacy, they need to promote the greatest commandment to love God and
to love their neighbors as they love themselves, including their neighbors of other
races and religions. It summarizes the
standards of legitimacy taught by Jesus and is also a common word of faith for Jews and Muslims. It should be the moral foundation for a
religious and political revival of all three religions.
Loving
our neighbors in politics requires balancing individual rights and wants with
providing for the common good. That
requires providing equal justice under law and protecting people from those who
would do them harm. Those security
functions require law enforcement and military personnel to use lethal force, while
restraining its use to avoid unnecessary harm.
Fundamentalist
Christians and Muslims have denigrated their religion and politics by failing
to apply their religious standards of legitimacy in their politics. They have lost their moral compass. To restore their legitimacy they need to
promote a politics of reconciliation based on the greatest commandment to love others as they love themselves. The fabric of libertarian democracy is
unraveling around the world. There is no
time to waste.
Notes:
In asking “What if…?” Fareed
Zakaria has suggested that maybe Trump
knows his base better than we do.
See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/maybe-trump-knows-his-base-better-than-we-do/2017/11/30/b4ca2164-d60e-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?undefined=&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
For a snapshot of the current
decrepit standards of political legitimacy in the U.S., see https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-volume-is-all-the-way-up-to-11/2017/12/01/6eaf4e8c-d6c4-11e7-a986-d0a9770d9a3e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
On the Senate tax bill, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/johnson-to-back-senate-tax-bill-putting-gop-leaders-close-to-securing-passage/2017/12/01/0226ff98-d6a2-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?undefined=&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
Daniel Altman has drawn a
parallel between Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler in using hateful propaganda to
demonize a religious group and prime a Christian population for genocide. See http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/11/30/this-is-how-every-genocide-begins-trump-retweets-muslim-hate/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=Flashpoints.
Robert Bellah described the
interrelationship between religion, legitimacy and politics as civil religion
that “…exists alongside of and (is) rather clearly differentiated from the
churches.” See
Jim Wallis has addressed the
decrepit morality of Donald Trump and Roy Moore on issues of money, sex and
power, with Christians who put them into power facing a spiritual reckoning at https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-year-into-trumps-presidency-christians-are-facing-a-spiritual-reckoning/2017/11/17/551dc318-cafd-11e7-b0cf-7689a9f2d84e_story.html?undefined=&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
Religious academics who once
remained aloof from politics are becoming more involved in civil religion as a
result of Trump’s anti-intellectual “white American Christian tribalism.” See http://religionnews.com/2017/11/21/religion-scholars-turn-activist-in-the-shadow-of-trump/.
Michael Gerson has attributed the
support of Roy Moore by white Alabamans who claim to be Christians as a distorted
form of utilitarianism that is opposed to Christian morality. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-is-cursed-with-tribal-morality/2017/11/27/8d289064-d39d-11e7-95bf-df7c19270879_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
Richard Cohen has described those
who supported Trump and now say nothing as replacing their moral principle with
political cowardice, and ushering in
America’s darkest hour. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-has-ushered-in-americas-darkest-hour/2017/11/27/43ee19c4-d3ab-11e7-95bf-df7c19270879_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
Ross Douthat has described a
schizophrenic Christian evangelicalism in which a legitimate form of Christian
evangelicalism is competing with a “God-and-country-pray-and-grow-rich” form of
“white tribalism and a very American sort of heresy;” but Douthat is uncertain
which side will prevail. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/sunday/trump-evangelical-crisis.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-5&action=click&contentCollection=Politics®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article.
Mustafa Akyol asked, Does religion make people moral? He noted that religious conservatives in
Turkey “have become corrupted by power.” He attributed their sanctimony to “abiding in
a legal code [that] makes them feel upright in the eyes of God, even if she or
he is immoral when dealing with fellow human beings,” Akyol noted that Jesus condemned such
sanctimony, which can cause a “us versus them” mentality that can corrupt and
radicalize any religious community. See https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/28/opinion/does-religion-make-people-moral.html
This is the 158th weekly
commentary on the relationship between religion, legitimacy and politics. All have been posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/ over the past
three years. I would appreciate any
comments you may have on this commentary or any others.
Commentary
on related topics:
#2 (12/8/14): Religion and Reason
#5 (12/29/14): Religion, Violence and Military Legitimacy
#7 (1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of
Faith
#8 (1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of
Legitimacy
#9 (1/25/15): Jesus Meets Muhammad: Is there a Common
Word of Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims Today?
#11 (2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism:
Bringing Light or Darkness?
#13 (2/22/15): Religion and Human Rights
#15 (3/8/15): Wealth, Politics, Religion and Economic
Justice
#16 (3/15/15): The Kingdom of God, Politics and the Church
#18 (3/29/15): God and Country: Resolving Conflicting
Concepts of Sovereignty
#20 (4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The
Heart of Legitimacy
#21 (4/19/15): Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logos? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html
#23 (5/3/15): A Fundamental Problem with Religion
#24 (5/10/15): Religion, Human Rights and National Security
#26 (5/24/15): De
Oppresso Liber: Where Religion and Politics Intersect
#27 (5/31/15): Liberation from Economic Oppression: A
Human Right or Obligation of Faith? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/05/liberation-from-economic-oppression.html
#28 (6/7/15): The Future of Religion: In Decline and
Growing
#30 (6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
#32 (7/5/15): Reconciliation as a Remedy for Racism and
Religious Exclusivism
#33 (7/12/15): Reconciliation in Race and Religion: The
Need for Compatibility, not Conformity http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/07/reconciliation-in-race-and-religion.html
#35 (7/26/15): Fear and Fundamentalism
#36 (8/2/15): Freedom and Fundamentalism
#37 (8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective
Responsibilities
#38 (8/16/15): How Religious Fundamentalism and Secularism
Shape Politics and Human Rights http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/08/how-religious-fundamentalism-and.html
#39 (8/23/15): Legitimacy as a Context and Paradigm to
Resolve Religious Conflict
#40 (8/30/15): What Is Truth?
#43 (9/20/15) Politics and Religious Polarization
#48 (10/25/15): The Muslim Stranger: A Good Neighbor or a
Threat?
#50 (11/8/15): Tough Love and the Duty to Protect Life and
Liberty
#54 (12/5/15): Faith, Hope and Love in a World of Fear,
Suspicion and Hate
#55 (12/12/15): The Power of Freedom over Fear
#56 (12/19/15): Taking Lives and Liberty in the Name of God
#57 (12/26/15): Resettling Refugees: Multiculturalism
versus Assimilation
#58 (1/2/16): God in Three Concepts
#60 (1/16/16): Religion, Politics and Public Expectations
#61 (1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
#62 (1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as
Ourselves
#63 (2/7/16): Jesus Meets Muhammad on Issues of Religion
and Politics
#66 (2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in
Faith, Freedom and Politics
#67 (3/5/16): The American Religion and Politics in 2016
#68 (3/12/16): Religion, Race and the Deterioration of
Democracy in America
#70 (3/26/16): Religion, Democracy, Diversity and
Demagoguery
#71 (4/2/16): The Freedom of Religion and Providing for
the Common Good
#73 (4/16/16): Religious Violence and the Dilemma of
Freedom and Democracy
#75 (4/30/16): The Relevance of Religion to Politics
#76 (5/7/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
#78 (5/21/16): Religious Fundamentalism and a Politics of
Reconciliation
#79 (5/28/16): Nihilism as a Threat to Politics, Religion
and Morality
#80 (6/4/16): Christianity and Capitalism: Strange
Bedfellows in Politics
#81 (6/11/16): Health Care: A Right or a Privilege?
#82 (6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty
and Justice for All
#84 (7/2/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation
in the Wake of Globalization
#85 (7/9/16): Back to the Future: Race, Religion, Rights
and a Politics of Reconciliation
#87 (7/23/16): Reconciliation and Reality
#89 (8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and
Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
#90 (8/13/16): The Need to Balance Competition with
Cooperation in Politics and Religion
#91 (8/20/16): The Freedoms of Religion and Speech:
Essentials of Liberty and Law
#92 (8/27/16): A Containment Strategy and Military Legitimacy
(see also #49)
#94 (9/10/16): Liberty in Law: A Matter of Man’s Law, not
God’s Law
#95 (9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to
Our Politics
#96 (9/24/16): The Evolution of Religion and Politics from
Oppression to Freedom
#98 (10/8/16): Revolutionaries, Moderates and
Reactionaries in a Polarized Democracy
#100 (10/22/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation
in a Polarized Democracy
#101 (10/29/16): A Revelation in American Politics and
Religion
#102 (11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and
Abroad
#104 (11/19/16): Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
Based on Shared Values
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/11/religion-and-politics-of-reconciliation_19.html
#105: (11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise
of Democracy
#106 (12/3/16): Righteous Anger in Religion and Politics
#107 (12/10/16): Partisan Alternatives for a Politics of
Reconciliation
#108 (12/17/16): Discipleship in a Democracy: A Test of
Faith, Legitimacy and Politics
#110 (12/31/16): E
Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
#111 (1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political
Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
#113 (1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is
Ridiculous
#114 (1/28/17): Saving America from the Church
#115 (2/4/17): When Confrontation Trumps Reconciliation in
Politics and Religion
#116 (2/11/17): The Mega-Merger of Wall Street, Politics
and Religion
#117 (2/18/17): Gerrymandering, Race and Polarized Partisan
Politics
#118 (2/25/17): The Need for a Revolution in Religion and
Politics
#119 (3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and
Politics
#120 (3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of
Democracy
#121 (3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
#122 (3/25/17): National Security and Military Legitimacy:
When Might must Be Right
#123 (4/1/17): Human Rights, Freedom and National Security
#124 (4/8/17): Politics as a Religion and Religion in
Politics
#126 (4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance
of the Church in Today’s World
#128 (5/6/17): Loyalty and Duty in Politics, the Military
and Religion
#129 (5/13/17): Voices of Reason and Hope in the Cacophony
over Religion, Human Rights and Politics
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/05/voices-of-reason-and-hope-in-cacophony.html
#130 (5/20/17): The Freedoms of Religion and Speech: Where
Human Rights Begin
#131 (5/27/17): Intrafaith Reconciliation as a Prerequisite
for Interfaith Reconciliation
#133 (6/10/17): Religious Exclusivity and Discrimination in
Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-and.html
#135 (6/24/17): The Evolution of Religion, Politics and
Law: Back to the Future?
#136 (7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting
Concepts of Legitimacy
#137 (7/8/17) A Sad Day in the U.S.A.
#138 (7/15/17) Religion and Progressive Politics
#140 (7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
#141 (8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem
or to Divide and Conquer?
#142 (8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a
Remedy for Religious Exclusivism
#143 (8/19/17): Hate, History and the Need for a Politics
of Reconciliation
#144 (8/26/17): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in
Politics and War
#146 (9/9/17): The Evolution of the American Civil
Religion and Habits of the Heart http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-evolution-of-american-civil.html.
#147 (9/16/17): The American Civil Religion and the Danger
of Riches
#148 (9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion
#149 (9/30/17): The 500th Anniversary of the
Protestant Reformation: What Does It Mean Today? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-500th-anniversary-of-protestant.html.
#150 (10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to
Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
#151 (10/14/17): In the Midst of an Islamic Reformation http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/in-midst-of-islamic-reformation.html.
#152 (10/21/17): The Symbiotic Relationship between Freedom
and Religion
#153 (10/28/17): The Moral Decline of Religion and the Seven
Woes of Jesus
#154 (11/4/17): What to Believe? Truth or Consequences in
Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/11/what-to-believe-truth-or-consequences.html.
#155 (11/11/17): A Politics of Reconciliation that Should
Begin in the Church
#156 (11/18/17): Radical Religion and the Demise of
Democracy
