[Fwd: Re: Abortion and the Death Penalty (was Re: abortion litmus test)]

[Michael Eisenscher]

There is plenty of room for differences with the "religious right" over
doctrine, social policies, assumptions, and theology.  I think, however,
that there is a tendency on the Left to take issue with the most
stereotypical characterizations of those who are assumed to be part of these
movements without taking the time to explore the substance of their beliefs
in order to identify differences between them.  I count myself guilty of
this error.  It was only after I came into contact with members of some of
these faith traditions (Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Southern Baptists, etc.)
who disassociate themselves from the Christian Coalition's views on a range
of issues that I began to learn something about what some of these folks
actually think and believe.

I learned, for example, that in the 19th Century these faith traditions were
in the forefront of the abolitionist movements and that in the early part of
the 20th Century they fought for women's right to vote.  It was only in the
period after WWI and into the 1920s that these movements divided racially
and turned inward to embrace a more private and conservative intepretation
of religious doctrine.

There is now an effort to rekindle some of the older progressive traditions
in the form of a network of congregational and lay leaders and theologians
that cross denominational lines in the form of Christians Supporting
Community Organizing.  The theological foundation for their interpretation
of scripture is quite radical in its implications.  For those interested,
check out the work of Robert Linthicum.

Does this mean they all agree on issues of choice or divorce?  No.  But it
also does not mean that they all advocate the most extreme reactionary
conservative positions on these or other issues.  Broadly, however, they
embrace many precepts of social and economic justice that most left of
center activists would have a hard time falting.

In learning to be less sectarian and knee-jerk in my own reactions to
differences on the Left, I also have had to confront some of the biases that
came along with uncritical dogmas buried deep in the socialist movements
with which I have been either associated or in conflict over the years.
That required that I put aside old stereotypes that got in the way of
finding common ground around the immediate challenges we confront.  It meant
I had to learn how to work with people who I had previously written off with
flippant sectarian characterizations without ever bothering to learn what
they really thought.  It meant I had to learn also to distinguish those with
whom I could work, despite our differences, from those whose own dogmatism
and sectarianism prevented us from finding any meaningful common ground.

Perhaps we of the Left might benefit from a bit more ecumenism in our
approach to the religious movements that we have heretofore dismissed as
hopelessly reactionary... at least to the point of differentiating between
them in order to identify those with whom we actually have more in common
than in conflict.  In theprocess, we might also learn that they have
something to teach us.

In solidarity,
Michael