Religion hijacked for political gain (BY GUESS WHO?)

I've been thinking about Barack Obama's speech on religion in Hartford on Saturday and also the recent forum where the three leading Democrats discussed their own theologies -- Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ, Hillary Clinton is a strict Methodist and John Edwards was raised as a Southern Baptist but joined the Methodist Church while in college.

This is the first time in recent memory that Democratic candidates on the campaign trail have been so candid about their religious affiliations and beliefs; religion and the sanctity of belief are subjects that have been "hijacked" -- to borrow Obama's word -- by the far-right in the past few decades and used to transform the Supreme Court and reject legislation that was deemed in conflict with the beliefs of conservative Christians.

This is troubling, but religion in the United States has always been a messy issue.

More intense beliefs Yes, America was born in the search for freedom of religious practice -- the City on the Hill, the Pilgrims, the rejection of a church back home headed by a king -- but it was also a place where women were condemned as witches and where observant churchgoers were slaveholders. Religion and individual freedoms often collided. When the founders wrote the Constitution, it was during a rare period of secularism. Reading the Greeks and Romans was important. So was studying Enlightenment philosophers such as Voltaire, Hume and Rousseau. And that shaped the outlook of the Declaration of Independence and the focus on individual rights.

Despite this brief moment of secularism, over the past 400 years Americans have grown more intense in their religious beliefs -- one of the few peoples of a western democracy to do so. Sometimes this has clashed with the public good.

John F. Kennedy recognized this could be a problem when he said he would be an American president, rather than a Catholic one. But 40 percent of those who voted for President Bush identified themselves as evangelicals. Another 20 percent were Mormons and traditional Catholics, and they expect a president who hews his laws to their beliefs.

Josef Braml, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, grievously told the Economist magazine that religious attitudes in America "have more of an influence on political choices than any other western democracy."

Here in the United States religious attitudes have smothered laws to broaden federal support for embryonic stem cell research -- a science that has shown promise for the treatment of Parkinson's and other chronic illnesses.

The incremental erosion of abortion rights and the specter of Roe vs. Wade being overturned haunts those who uphold the notion of a woman's right to choose. The appointments of conservative-minded John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court concerns those who worry about the separation of church and state. "As Alito wrote in an application for a Justice Department promotion in 1985, his work on abortion and race cases, among other Reagan Administration priorities, had given him the chance 'to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly,'" noted Jeffery Toobin in a recent issue of the New Yorker.

Obama rightly noted in his speech on Saturday that "doing the Lord's work is a thread that's run through our politics since the very beginning." But for the past decade it has been used as a lever to divide. Obama didn't name names but it has been evangelical leaders like Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell who appropriated the national debate and used their influence to guide legislation coming from the Oval Office and Congress. So that issues such as abortion, gay marriage and Creationism get heightened way beyond their daily importance to most Americans.

Morality in helping others "There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich," Obama said. "I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version." Speaking of the president's veto of expanded stem cell research funding, Hillary Clinton noted: "This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families." The Democrats are right when they say taking care of the poor, eradicating racism, providing health care and ending the war in Iraq are paramount and indeed the most moral of moral issues Americans need to address. These are things Americans should be fighting for; they are what define our country as a haven and once made it the shining City on the Hill.

Religion and individual freedoms often collided. When the founders wrote the Constitution, it was during a rare period of secularism. Reading the Greeks and Romans was important. So was studying Enlightenment philosophers such as Voltaire, Hume and Rousseau. And that shaped the outlook of the Declaration of Independence and the focus on individual rights.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Do these libs ever look at what's in our founding documents? Or what the men who wrote them said?

"We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
—John Adams
"It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution."
—James Madison

Quite the rare period of secularism they had there, eh Ms. Hunter?

Not familiar with christianpost.com but found this article last night because of another Warren thread.

More Council of Foreign Relations, New World Order Ecumenical global One World apostate, End times!! religion and deception.

Beware!! The wolves in sheep’s clothing are on both sides of the political fence.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070625/28158_Obama_Points_to_Rick_Warren,_T.D._Jakes_as_Models_for_Faith-Driven_Action.htm

Obama Points to Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes as Models for Faith-Driven Action

By Michelle Vu

Christian Post Reporter

Mon, Jun. 25 2007 04:44 PM ET

Prominent Christian leaders such as Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes were praised by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) this weekend as role models of Christians who put their faith into action.

In his first speech on the intersection of faith and politics as a presidential contender, Obama discussed how religion should inspire people across the Christian spectrum to unite in helping to eradicate social problems rather than divide them.

“I’m hopeful because I think there’s an awakening taking place in America,” said Obama on Saturday at the United Church of Christ’s 50th anniversary convention. “People are coming together around a simple truth – that we are all connected, that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper.”

During his speech to a crowd of nearly 10,000 people, the senator, a member of Trinity UCC in Chicago, criticized division within the Church, but praised Christian leaders and groups that have worked together to remedy social problems.

“That’s why pastors, friends of mine like Rick Warren and T.D. Jakes and organizations like World Vision and Catholic Charities are wielding their enormous influence to confront poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the genocide in Darfur,” Obama said.

Dr. Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in California, had invited Obama to his church’s HIV/AIDS conference last winter despite vehement protests by pro-life groups that urged the megachurch pastor to rescind his invitation because of the senator’s pro-choice stance. Warren had refused to uninvite Obama, explaining that he wanted the Church to work together on the HIV/AIDS crisis despite their personal differences on other issues.

“I’m hearing from evangelicals who may not agree with progressives on every issue but agree that poverty has no place in a world of plenty; that hate has no place in the hearts of believers; and that we all have to be good stewards of God’s creations,” said Obama.

“From Willow Creek to the ‘emerging church,’ from the Southern Baptist Convention to the National Association of Evangelicals, folks are realizing that the four walls of the church are too small for a big God. ‘God is still speaking,’” the senator added, citing the motto of UCC’s media branding campaign.

Obama also talked about health care, the genocide in Darfur, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and the controversial immigration bill.

The UCC, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on Saturday, is holding its biennial General Synod in Hartford, Conn., June 22-26. The liberal denomination, which prides itself on being the first denomination to ordain openly gay and lesbian ministers, emphasizes progressive causes and also began to endorse same-sex “marriage” starting in 2005 - a decision which caused a rift in the denomination and the departure of about 100 churches from the UCC.

Last year, according to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, UCC faced a 3.8 percent membership drop in the 1.2 million-member church body. Donations from church members to the UCC’s national offices and regional conferences also decreased by more than $2 million in 2006, according to the church’s annual report.

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