NEW YORK (ABP) — Declaring that “God is not a Republican. Or a Democrat,” a broad group of evangelical, mainline and Catholic Christian leaders has issued a high-profile response to recent comments by Religious Right leaders appearing to endorse President Bush's re-election campaign.
The signers, organized by the Christian anti-poverty group Call to Renewal, took out a full-page advertisement in the Aug. 30 New York Times denouncing recent statements by Virginia pastor Jerry Falwell and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson. Its appearance was timed to coincide with the opening day of the Republican National Convention, meeting in New York.
The ad led with a quotation from Falwell that appeared in the Times in a July 16 story. “It is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew, every Reagan Democrat, and everyone in between to get serious about re-electing President Bush,” Falwell said, according to the story.
The ad also highlighted a January quote from Robertson in which he said he believed God was telling him that Bush was “going to win in a walk” and that God had “just blessed [Bush]…it doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad.”
The religious leaders' petition said the quotations prove that Falwell and Robertson — and other unnamed conservative Christian leaders — “mistakenly claim that God has taken a side in this election, and that Christians should only vote for George W. Bush.
“We believe that claims of divine appointment for the president, uncritical affirmation of his policies, and assertions that all Christians must vote for his re-election constitute bad theology and dangerous religion,” it continued, saying that “sincere Christians and other people of faith can choose to vote for President Bush or Senator Kerry — for reasons deeply rooted in their faith.”
It also called attention to a host of moral issues — such as poverty, taxation and war — that should be of equal concern to Christians when voting as abortion, gay rights and other hot-button issues often cited by conservatives.
The ad concluded by calling on “both parties and candidates to avoid the exploitation of religion or our congregations for partisan political purposes.”
Its signatories included Call to Renewal director Jim Wallis, as well as evangelical theologians Stanley Hauerwas, Glen Stassen and Randall Balmer. Baptist signers included Wake Forest Divinity School professor James Dunn and sociologist and evangelist Tony Campolo.
According to a spokesman for Call to Renewal's magazine, Sojourners, more than 40,000 people have signed onto an online version of the statement. About 3,500 people donated funds for the ad, as well as identical pieces placed in the Aug. 30 editions of the Virginian-Pilot in Robertson's base of Virginia Beach and the News & Advance in Falwell's hometown of Lynchburg, Va.
During the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July, Wallis gave a speech exhorting religious Democrats to also avoid identifying God too closely with one political party. However, the group did not do a similar ad buy.
Reached by telephone in Washington, Wallis defended the timing of the Times ad buy by saying it was a non-partisan effort. “Those who signed it have voted both Democratic and Republican in the past,” he said. “No one's saying Christians can only vote for John Kerry — no one's saying that. But Jerry Falwell is saying that Christians can only vote for Bush.”
Wallis said the ad — whose full text can be found on the Internet at www.takebackourfaith.org — was necessary because “the Religious Right's attempt to ordain George Bush as God's candidate in this election is theologically outrageous.”
The advertisement came on the heels of a speech former President Bill Clinton delivered during the Aug. 29 morning worship service at New York's famously progressive Riverside Church. In it, Clinton quoted Scripture to criticize Bush's approach to some moral issues. He also implored Democrats and other progressives to stop ceding religious language and arguments to conservatives when debating moral issues.
“I believe President Bush is a good Christian. I believe that his faith in Jesus saved him. I believe it gave him new purpose and direction to his life. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't see through a glass darkly,” Clinton said, alluding to the apostle Paul's words in I Corinthians.
In an attempt to reach out to moderate voters, Republican officials have downplayed religious talk and divisive social issues during the convention — including scheduling a line-up of prime-time speakers heavy on GOP moderates who support abortion rights and gay rights.
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