Faith-based Activism: Religious Progressives At A Crossroads

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Twitter traffic about a report released April 24 on the future of religious progressives and a related panel discussion neatly encapsulated the underlying themes:

-- "It's wrong that people can't earn enough to live with dignity in the richest nation on earth."

-- "Both communities and government matter. Time to build bridges and reject false divides."

-- "Religious right spoke to fears. Religious progressivism can speak to hope, justice as it did in civil rights era."

-- "Mitt Romney's 47 percent comment could be seen as the most anti-'religious progressive' comment I've seen in my life."

The tweets from the forum at the Brookings Institution drew on the remarks of a panel of academics, activists and pundits about Brookings' report: "Faith in Equality: Economic Justice and the Future of Religious Progressives."

The multiyear project looked at the role of religiously based activism in politics and public policy on behalf of the poor and marginalized. It analyzed the factors behind the waxing and waning of the Democratic Party's attention to faith-based concern about poverty, income inequality and social justice.

It discussed the problems such activists have in an increasingly secular society, the outlook for how to build upon lessons learned from the Moral Majority, as well as upon progressives' own successes, by reaching across religious and political differences in pursuit of social justice.

Prominent throughout the report and the related discussion was the long-standing work of Catholics in seeking and establishing what are defined as progressive policies, generally supporting the poor and marginalized. Those included an early 20th-century report of the U.S. bishops, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development's longtime grant-funding of community organizing institutions and the "Nuns on the Bus" tours of the past two summers to bring attention to federal budget cuts and immigration reform.

The role that Pope Francis has had in raising the profile of the church's social mission -- among both Catholics and non-Catholics -- was a frequent theme.

"His language is direct, and often radical," the report said, quoting the pope's May 2013 address to a group of ambassadors: "While the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling," he said.

In an interview with Jesuit magazines, Pope Francis said, the report noted, "that issues linked to the politics of culture wars have been allowed to displace other concerns. 'We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible.'"

"Through his openness to non-Catholics and nonbelievers, he has enjoyed an influence on those outside the church of a sort not seen since Pope John XXIII," the report said. "Francis has re-identified the contemporary religious voice with a long tradition of witness on behalf of justice for the marginalized and the poor.

Among the forum participants, Ross Douthat, a New York Times columnist and author of books including "Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics," said there's common ground on economic issues among religious conservatives and religious progressives.

For instance, he said, under President George W. Bush, support for comprehensive immigration reform and efforts to combat AIDS in Africa found traction across party lines among people who were motivated by faith to care for those in need.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties reach out to people of faith "for cynical political reasons," as Douthat put it. But for long-term political success, both parties could stand to pay closer attention to the voices of religiously motivated people.

Republicans, he said, need to heed the faith-based call to "talk about poverty" and how it affects the nation. It was Douthat's quip about the "most anti-'religious progressive' comment I've seen in my life," that was widely tweeted. He was referencing 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's comment to political supporters that 47 percent of the public pay no taxes and think of themselves as entitled to health care, food and housing. He added that it was not his job to worry about them.

As for Democrats, Michael Wear, a political consultant who was a campaign aide and White House staffer for President Barack Obama, advised religious progressives to not eschew involvement in politics as too messy.

"Religious progressives don't want to be like the religious right," Wear said, leading to "anti-institutional" thinking about political engagement. In effect, that cedes the role of religious activism in politics to those who work within the Republican Party, he said.

Rather, he encouraged religious progressives to hold to scriptural mandates to be a part of the world.

"One reason Pope Francis is so widely admired is that he so clearly loves Jesus," Wear said. In Washington, such reflection of faith tends to be dismissed as "extraneous," he said, but motivations from faith should not be downplayed.

"That's what was so powerful about "Nuns on the Bus," said Wear. "They made clear from the outset their motivation was the Gospel.

"You knew the nuns were there because of their faith, it wasn't something they threw into a stump speech."

As a result, "the nuns didn't come to the Democrats in 2012, the Democrats came to the nuns," he said, putting Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service who became the most public face of the bus tour, as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention. She is the head of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby.

The report opens with the observation that, dating to the role of faith-inspired activists in opposing slavery and opening Settlement Houses in poor slums, religious social activists have shaped what has come to be known as the progressive movement. For example, in 1919, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a "Program for Social Reconstruction" that was seen as a precursor to the New Deal policies of President Franklin Roosevelt.

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s united African-Americans and whites, Protestants, Catholics and Jews in solidarity in pushing for racial equality.

But since the 1970s, the role of religious motivations in public policy has come to be defined more by the Moral Majority, focused on traditional definitions of family, pushing back against societal shifts.

As the report observes: "Popular narratives about religion's role in public life continue to focus on the influence of religious conservatives in campaign and policy debates. For many Americans, the words 'religious' and 'right' have been inextricably linked ever since the mobilization of religious conservatives began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Organizations such as the Moral Majority and, more recently, the Christian Coalition have had a substantial impact not only at the grass roots of conservative politics but also in the consciousness of reporters, editors and producers."

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Editor's Note: The report and video of the forum can be found at: www.brookings.edu/events/2014/04/24-future-of-religious-progressives.