Somewhere along the timeline of my experience and work as a minister, I was invited to engage in a debate at a local community college.  The topic was “Faith and Politics,” so, even though I no longer recall, I’m guessing it likely was an election year.

During that period of time I was active in the community on a variety of issues considered by some as political.  Most of my efforts were in conjunction with other people of faith from a variety of traditions and largely dealt with a broad array of economic justice concerns.  We held workshops, staged press conferences, submitted to interviews on television and radio, wrote newspaper columns, and met with elected officials on local, state, and national levels.  My involvement in these efforts led to the debate invitation.

My “opponent” in the debate was a lawyer, and as I heard his opening remarks I knew I had the advantage.  He focused his comments on the issue of the separation of church and state, and became bogged down in mentioning court cases and precedents.  My approach was to describe how faith informed one’s concern with justice issues, including what the Friends refer to as “speaking truth to power,” i.e., dealing with elected leaders, and I mentioned some biblical examples.  It was clear from the reaction of the audience they preferred my approach to that of my attorney friend.  This is not to gloat, but to point out that many people look for relevance to life in our society and in the world in their faith and beliefs.

Over the last generation or so, though, I think many have become skittish in giving expression to their faith in the political arena because of the antics of the Religious Right.

The Christian Century has two thought-provoking articles about this.  Jan Linn, a friend and Disciples colleague, wrote about the recent forum sponsored by Sojourners/Call to Renewal, televised on CNN, in which Democratic candidates for president were questioned about their faith values and commitments.   He worried that the candidates fell into a trap of presenting popular religious views in order to round up votes.  Jim Wallis, Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners magazine, and leader of Call to Renewal responded to Jan’s concerns. 

They both are well worth reading.