Partisan Loyalty and Ideological Predictability

On yesterday's Meet the Press (thank you TiVo, I can attend church and watch Tim Russert), a special Easter panel was assembled to talk about religion and politics in America. It consisted of a priest and former congressman, an editor of Newsweek, an Iranian American journalist, Senator Lieberman, Richard Land (not in church on Easter, shame on you) and Jim Wallis. Of course the Schiavo case took up too much time.

And, Richard Land went out of his way to point out the the judge in this case was "no longer Southern Baptist" since he had been dismissed by his church in Clearwater (I now know we practice excommunication since Judge Greer has been renounced by Land on television). Also, when Rick Warren's name came up, he was sure to make sure everyone knew he was Southern Baptist (after 20 years of ignoring him).

However, the most profound this was said by Sojourner's Editor and Chief Jim Wallis (whom, as you may remember has been called "an Anti-American Marxist" by a prominent Southern Baptist theologian, as well as other extreme "Patriotic Republicans Only Christians").

He said, "I think a consistent ethic of life is a good moral guide for politics and it cuts both ways; cuts Republican and Democratic. Religion should be able to critique both the left and the right, not be ideologically predictable or loyally partisan."

Well said Jim. It reminds me of what bores me about much of what I see from my own denominational background and much of the Christian Right (and Christian Left if it had much of a voice). I am bored by the SBC and Christian Right's ideological predictability and partisan loyalty.