With all this talk of Pat Robertson lately, it got me wondering … is there a religious left? If not, why? If so, where are they, and how come they’re not as vocal as the religious right?
(Mods: please move this thread to GD or a more appropriate forum if the discussion evolves in that direction. This OP is intended as a general question, though.)
These guys are in the UK:
Does Al Sharpton fit your definition? He’s certainly left and presumably religious. Or perhaps Maryknoll? How about Bill Clinton?
They all seem to claim religious faith and are left wing. At least to me, viewing it all from the atheist right.
Forgive my immense incredible stupendous naivety here but isn’t the ‘left’ in America really just ‘a bit less right than the right, but still right’?
I think the OP was refering to religious leftist groups. If not, Joe Libermann certainly fits. I think the reason you don’t see many liberal groups that mix religion and politics is because liberalism seeks to take religion out of government.
These people look to be pretty left-wing, at least at an initial glance.
Huh? No, it would be very hard to describe Al Sharpton as right of center. What makes you think he is?
I have no idea who Al Sharpton is. I did indicate that I was naive.
I mean American politics in general - Aren’t the democrats still right wing, but less right-wing than the republicans?
Lobsang, despite attempts by some to equate the two, the mainstream Democratic party is not the left wing of the political spectrum.
There have been issues like Black civil rights and nuclear disarmament where some religious leaders led left wing causes.
::: waves hand :::
Don’t forget the little nuns who protested the Vietnam war in the 60’s and now because of terrorism legislation can’t fly on airlines anymore. There were a lot of socialist anti-war Catholics during that era. My dad even got into some trouble for reading “communist” material after he got drafted but since it was The Catholic Worker he argued his way out of trouble on ground of religious freedom.
Somebody needs to help me out with names. I’d call my dad but its way past his bedtime.
I would think someone like Helen Prejean would count, right? See Dead Man Walking. Not only a great example, but a beautiful movie that truly depicts being Christ-like. IMHO.
The linear right-left spectrum political model does not hold up very well as there are many viewpoints that don’t land in a firm place on it. I’d guess it would depend on how, in your case Lobsang, you define left and right. Remember when the Soviet Union was falling apart? The hard-core leftist Communists were described as the conservatives.
What do you think about preserving an individual’s right to speak their mind? To choose their government? To make a living? To observe, or not, a religious faith? To freely associate?
Does a desire to preserve those rights make one Right or Left?
Those questions describe issues that are dear to the hearts of those on the Right.
And equally as dear to the hearts of those on the Left.
The Devil’s in the details.
I wonder how the folks in Earthling’s link tie in with liberation theology. It was the proponents of that system that were so often the clerical victims of the right-wing, Latin American death squads. Pope John Paul II was also pretty down on them too.
Please bear in mind that, living in the UK, my understanding of US politics is based on interpreting newpaper and TV reports. (These usually give a story, and you try to estimate politicaL ideology from the reactions.)
So coming from a country with a National Health Service, no written Constitution (although we have a lot of precedent!), unarmed beat policemen, a Welfare State, a hereditary Monarch who is automatically head of the Church of England and a full-time ‘neutral’ Civil Service:
Your Republican party would be right-wing, with a fanatical religious right.
Democrats would be centre, with right-wing leanings.
I hasten to add that I wish we had a written guarantee of free speech (and that President Bush would be amazed at what media oppression our leaders can do with the Official Secrets Act.)
Liberal Jews were very active in socialist causes in the USA before World War II, as well as later in the civil rights movement. However, I’m not sure whether this was as a result of their faith or their sympathy with other victimised minorities.
I’m the religious left, but if there’s a non-scary organization of people like me, I couldn’t tell you its name.
Liberation Theology was pretty big in the 60s and 70s, and many of its adherents married elements of Marxist theory with the traditions of Christian charity. They certainly tended to fit on the leftist side of the political spectrum, especially in Latin America (where Liberation Theology really developed).
I know of many Catholics today who are still influenced by Liberation Theology, and they would probably fit your definition of a “religious left.” They tend to be in the minority, though, and have never enjoyed the support of the pope and the upper echelons of the Catholic Church–so as a movement (within the Catholic Church, at least), they aren’t nearly as powerful as the more conservative elements.
The Unitarian Universalists and the Society of Friends (AKA the Quakers) are also typically on the progressive side of issues.
Further ramblings (I’m currently playing an Internet game and it’s my mate’s move):
The religious right are Old Testament and try to stop things (like teaching evolution, homosexuality + abortion) with appeals to the unalterable Word of God and threats of Divine retribution.
The religious left are New Testament and try to use Jesus’ teachings (do unto others; don’t cast the first stone) as principles to do good.
That sounds prett on target, glee.
When thinking or discussing left and right of center, instead of imagining a straight line with a center point marked and things split to the right or left, I see a circle.
In this circle of mine, the center (politically) is not the middle of the area described by the circle, but a point on the circumfrence of the circle that seems arbtrary. The reason this works for me is that some groups have gone so far right that they are almost leftish in many things and vice versa.
It all depends on perspective.
Liberal religionists can do much good but when they start to meddle in politics, then IMHO they have gone around the backside of the circle and are now rightish. The Central and South American Liberal Theologists fit this analogy in my mind. YMMV