Post by krazeeboi on Nov 16, 2006 3:50:19 GMT -5
Commentary: Want to Know the Major Difference Between the Religious Right and the Christian Left?
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By: Joseph C. Phillips, BlackAmericaWeb.com
"We can no longer be misused by some in the Christian right that will not deal with the broader issue of injustice and fairness and inequity in our society." -- Rev. Al Sharpton
While it is true the Christian right believes that poverty of the soul is more devastating than economic poverty, it is a gross misrepresentation to depict the Christian right as unconcerned with fairness and inequity in our society. Those in the religious community, which no doubt includes the religious right, donate far more time and money to charity than do those in the secular community. It is not the secular community that visits the elderly, nurses the sick and feeds the hungry.
However, when Rev. Al Sharpton and others on the religious left speak of fairness and equity in our society, they are not referring to charity; they are speaking of using the power of government to confer bounties and benefits among the masses. This accurately characterizes the major difference between what is referred to as the religious right and that which is rarely identified, but exists as the religious left: The right believes justice, fairness and equity are achieved through virtue and by the grace of God. The left believes good gifts come not by virtue and grace, but through government largesse. The difference is huge.
Attempts to confine the differences between those on the Christian right and those on the left to their respective stances on homosexual marriage, abortion and, to a lesser extent, school prayer miss the mark. These issues are really window dressing for differences that are much more fundamental, differences that go to the very question of the foundation of liberty.
For the right, the basis of liberty is morality born of religious principle, specifically Judeo-Christian principles. These principles are seen as being consistent with traditional American values. The right desires the promotion of traditional American institutions and mores because these institutions are seen as nurturing the virtue of individual lives that will continue to bring this nation into God’s blessing. It is a real belief in American exceptionalism -- that, as Tocqueville put it, “America is great because America is good.” Or more accurately, the American people are good.
The religious left believes in America’s capacity to be great, but they do not yet see America as good. The Christian left have looked through this nation’s history and seen bigotry, oppression and intolerance. This failure of men is seen as a failure of virtue and, just as significantly, as a failure of traditional American institutions. The moral soul of this nation can therefore only be saved through the overhaul of those institutions and mores. And because men are fallible and our traditional institutions are illegitimate, it is incumbent upon government to create the morality that does not currently exist and on which our liberty depends. It is not the virtue of men, but the virtue of government that will bring the nation at long last into God’s blessing.
Where both factions agree is that God loves liberty. Where they part company is that the right better grasps that rights granted by God require fidelity to God and to his natural law -- objective law applied to all men, regardless of their station. Submission to God’s law liberates because it controls man’s carnal nature, which demands less interference from government. Conversely, there are many good folk on the religious left who forget that if rights originate with man, it is men to whom fidelity is owed, and those in favor will receive blessings that those out of favor do not. When morality is relative, liberty, justice and equity become impossible. Submission to men is the beginning of tyranny because with no objective standard to guide behavior, it is now government that must control man’s carnal nature and their tool of choice is force.
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2006
By: Joseph C. Phillips, BlackAmericaWeb.com
"We can no longer be misused by some in the Christian right that will not deal with the broader issue of injustice and fairness and inequity in our society." -- Rev. Al Sharpton
While it is true the Christian right believes that poverty of the soul is more devastating than economic poverty, it is a gross misrepresentation to depict the Christian right as unconcerned with fairness and inequity in our society. Those in the religious community, which no doubt includes the religious right, donate far more time and money to charity than do those in the secular community. It is not the secular community that visits the elderly, nurses the sick and feeds the hungry.
However, when Rev. Al Sharpton and others on the religious left speak of fairness and equity in our society, they are not referring to charity; they are speaking of using the power of government to confer bounties and benefits among the masses. This accurately characterizes the major difference between what is referred to as the religious right and that which is rarely identified, but exists as the religious left: The right believes justice, fairness and equity are achieved through virtue and by the grace of God. The left believes good gifts come not by virtue and grace, but through government largesse. The difference is huge.
Attempts to confine the differences between those on the Christian right and those on the left to their respective stances on homosexual marriage, abortion and, to a lesser extent, school prayer miss the mark. These issues are really window dressing for differences that are much more fundamental, differences that go to the very question of the foundation of liberty.
For the right, the basis of liberty is morality born of religious principle, specifically Judeo-Christian principles. These principles are seen as being consistent with traditional American values. The right desires the promotion of traditional American institutions and mores because these institutions are seen as nurturing the virtue of individual lives that will continue to bring this nation into God’s blessing. It is a real belief in American exceptionalism -- that, as Tocqueville put it, “America is great because America is good.” Or more accurately, the American people are good.
The religious left believes in America’s capacity to be great, but they do not yet see America as good. The Christian left have looked through this nation’s history and seen bigotry, oppression and intolerance. This failure of men is seen as a failure of virtue and, just as significantly, as a failure of traditional American institutions. The moral soul of this nation can therefore only be saved through the overhaul of those institutions and mores. And because men are fallible and our traditional institutions are illegitimate, it is incumbent upon government to create the morality that does not currently exist and on which our liberty depends. It is not the virtue of men, but the virtue of government that will bring the nation at long last into God’s blessing.
Where both factions agree is that God loves liberty. Where they part company is that the right better grasps that rights granted by God require fidelity to God and to his natural law -- objective law applied to all men, regardless of their station. Submission to God’s law liberates because it controls man’s carnal nature, which demands less interference from government. Conversely, there are many good folk on the religious left who forget that if rights originate with man, it is men to whom fidelity is owed, and those in favor will receive blessings that those out of favor do not. When morality is relative, liberty, justice and equity become impossible. Submission to men is the beginning of tyranny because with no objective standard to guide behavior, it is now government that must control man’s carnal nature and their tool of choice is force.