Liberals and Religion

Steve Waldman is still writing and taking comments over at The Washington Monthly blog, Political Animal, about his article in the magazine, The Framers and the Faithful. I previously commented on it here. Apparently Waldman took some flack from commenters about his suggestion that the current iteration of liberalism is hostile to religion. But then he quotes from a new book by Rabbi Michael Lerner, "The Left Hand of God." Lerner is a well-known "spiritual" liberal who edits the magazine Tikkun. Lerner's quote and Waldman's response:

"Overwhelmingly, the white activists who shaped the Left of the 1960s have remained mired in a culture of hostility toward religion and spirituality. If this were merely a historical curiosity, I'd leave this issue to the cultural historians. But since the Left's hostility to religion and spirituality has become such a major stumbling block to the chances that progressive forces will ever win enough power to actually change the socially and environmentally destructive policies of the West, it becomes important to explore the roots of this hostility."

I had been making a narrower point – that many liberals carry an elitist attitude toward evangelical Christians. Lerner's indictment is far more sweeping. Is he being unfair? I think a distinction should be made between the elites and the rank and file on this. The fact is that most Democrats are religious. But secular liberals, who made up about 16% of the Kerry vote (more stats here) seem to have a disproportionate impact on the party's image and approach.

So are liberals hostile to religion? I think it is fair to say that there are some secular liberals that have a deep hostility towards right-wing religion, and a general distrust of religion in general. It might also be fair to say that they are over-represented in the image and image-making of the Democratic party.

But let's not forget that Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry are all life-long church-goers. Carter and Clinton were always at home speaking the language of religion. Gore and Kerry never were, but that doesn't mean they were not genuinely religious. What it does mean, however, is that Democrats have had no trouble supporting religious leaders. But none of these leaders ever wore their religion on their sleeves. None of them ever dreamed of using religion as a wedge issue to divide right-wing Christians from secular and religious liberals.

All of these leaders represented the best of progressive religious values (including the fact that they were not perfect). They modeled and fought for tolerance and respect for all: religious or non-religious. Their political platforms emphasized suport for human rights, compassion for those less fortunate and government initiatives to level the playing field, respect for minority rights, global interdependence, care of the environment.

In my book these are religious values, but they are the kind of religious values that can speak to secular humanists as well as progressive evangelicals. They are not, however, the kind of wedge issues that Rove has used and Bush has preached as he courts the right wing.

In short, there is a smidgen of truth that liberals are hostile to religion. The rest is buying into the Rove playbook.