Mensch tracht, und Gott lacht

Friday, January 07, 2005

Christians and Politics

Mr. Homnick is dead-on when he points out that Christian political activity (particularly on gay marriage) is a tiny fraction of the total dollars spent even by conservative Christians on social ministry of various sorts. As a person who has made a pretty good tour through the Christian political world, I can attest that groups like the Christian Coalition are hardly the cash-flush entities the left supposes them to be.

The reality is that even though left-wing powerhouses like the ACLU are far more heavily funded than the right-wing Christian groups, the so-called Christian right is able to make a significant impact because it is articulating a very clear complaint with modernity that resonates with a great many people.

The cornerstone of the whole project is abortion. Had Roe v. Wade not occurred and the abortion issue had been left to the states, I suspect what we know as the Christian right would be a mere shadow of its current manifestation. Is that because male paternalism was somehow overthrown by reproductive freedom? No, the answer is that the pro-life movement is among the most noble causes imaginable, the protection of the weakest and most vulnerable among us and a belief in their entitlement to exist. You can ultimately disagree with that goal, but the motivation is very pure and very just. And it has moved millions to engage politics in a way they never cared to do before.

1 comment:

Jay D. Homnick said...

I once (about a decade ago) called a conservative talk-show to make this point, and to my surprise the host did not "get it". It's exciting to see it confirmed by the great Hunter Baker.

Namely that whether you agree with them or not, pro-lifers are moved by a noble impulse, to defend the defenseless, something that liberals should theoretically admire.

However, the fact remains that a clever propaganda campaign mounted by left-wingers has succeeded in painting pro-life people as weird creeps who are motivated by a weird aversion to "fun" in all its manifestations.

Let me say this: the proudest years of my life were 1994-2000, when I lived in Rob Portman's district in Cincinnati. It was the only time when I could sleep at night knowing that my unit of political power was represented by a pro-life vote.

The rest of my years, divided between New York, Chicago and Miami, have not been so fortunate in this regard.