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Topic #5: Evangelicalism and Politics

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American evangelical Christians involve themselves in politics by engaging the democratic processes of governance, whether as voters, activists, government officials, or merely by discussing issues with fellow citizens. Of course, beyond the governmental ordering of local, state, national, and international community life, evangelicals are also generally interested in the ordering of their faith communities at all of these different levels. Evangelical politics is complicated by the complex overlaps between these different communities. For example, it is conceivable to advocate freedom of behavior at the national level—say, for working on Sunday—while seeking to restrict such behavior within the faith community. In light of these issues, some “leading questions” are

Guardrails, Why America needs Religion

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George Washington, in his 1796 Farewell Address, warned the new nation about a variety of potential developments. He warned against consistent foreign entanglements as he recognized the danger in excessive military commitments. He also was extremely concerned about the power of political parties, as he saw them as detrimental to healthy political discourse and public decision making. He was convinced that both of these issues would hamper the nation’s potential for growth. To him, choosing the right course in these areas would be essential to the future of a healthy, vibrant, and prosperous American democracy.

 

Evangelicals have a morality problem

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The question of Christian “morality” or “ethics” is a deeply challenging, even troubling topic for Evangelicals, and indeed, for the entire Christian tradition. In the biblical / theological nexus of Law and Gospel, “morality” as such does not appear. The Mosaic Law (Torah) was to be received in its entirety not in parts, thus, the misnomer of a portion called: “moral law”. The text presents the problem the sin, not of immorality, to its hearers. Since the Bible is so often accused of imposing strict moral norms, is moral reform compatible with the Christian mission (e.g., Mt 28:16-20)? If not, what is the status of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, the Epistle of James and Paul’s apostolic counsel? Jesus is notable for intensifying Jewish ethics, but not in the way that the strictest sects did. Of course the Bible is filled with moral teachings and warnings – how does this connect with the moral teachings of other systems and societies?

Evangelicalism in Parallel Universes

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It is almost time for the first round of responses for question #5, and I still haven’t weighed in on question #4. That’s not because I’m indifferent. On the contrary. I just don’t know what our conversation is really about. I’ve read all the responses regarding “evangelicalism and morality” at least once; most of them I’ve read more than once; some I’ve read several times. I’m still baffled. Many of my fellow participants appear to be living in a world that resembles the one I know in some respects but is also quite different—as if in one of those parallel universes we hear so much about these days.

 

Evangelicals and Human Dignity

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The idea of human dignity is on hard times these days. The work of the President’s Council on Bioethics under the guidance of Leon Kass, MD, provoked bioethicist Ruth Macklin to brand human dignity a “useless concept.” Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker even assailed the notion of dignity as a “stupidity” in a screed he wrote for The New Republic. Preserving a robust notion of human dignity seems to me to be a task worthy of evangelicals in the 21st century.

Morality Should Be All Bible, All The Time – And No, I’m Not Kidding.

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I’ve got what some will consider an outrageous suggestion for Evangelical institutions: the Bible should be consulted more, not less, where norms for human behavior are at stake. The self-defeating American anti-abortion movement is a good example of what can happen when the Bible serves as a limited, narrow set of rules, disregarded when an issue isn’t “covered.”

As We Go Forward…

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Ever since my time in seminary, I have found it interesting to observe what has been included or not included in the ethics texts produced by evangelicals and others.  It makes sense that some texts will address issues that emerge from the contemporary context (e.g. bioethical issues continue to raise questions, not just matters such as cloning but more radical issues such as transhumanism) and that some perennial concerns will appear (e.g. divorce, war, etc.), yet I found it very interesting and also disturbing that few texts addressed racism as an ethical issue (there are some evangelicals that have included this, but they are not the majority).  Racism is only one glaring example, but it leads me to ask with Miguel De La Torre in the book Ethics From the Margins: Who gets to frame the ethical conversation?  Who gets to say what counts and what gets “airplay”?

On “Biblical Morality,” Cognitive Psychology, and Narrative Ethics

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“But is it biblical?” My Wheaton College friends and I would query each other in the dorm with this question. We were being mischievous; reacting in jest to the seeming evangelical obsession with “biblical morality”—and to the assumption that “biblical morality” was uniform, universal, and simple. But if it’s just a matter of reading it off the page, why are there so many debates and disagreements among Christians?

Can Evangelical Ethics Become More Evangelical?

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Allow me to start with reflections on how ethics tends to be viewed and practiced in evangelical contexts.  These observations are made based on my own location in evangelical contexts, such as churches, seminaries and mission organizations, over the last 35 years, and as an academically trained Christian social ethicist. Starting with these observations will help locate my responses to the important issues raised in the discussions this month on “Evangelicalism and Morality.”

Evangelicals and Ethics: Renewing Evangelical Morality

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Throughout my reflections so far, I have sought to think through the issues from a renewalist perspective informed by pentecostal and charismatic experience and spirituality. As I take up our topic today, however, such an approach does not seem to provide as many springboards into the discussion as it has heretofore. What difference does a renewalist set of commitments make for thinking about evangelical ethics and morality?