Evangelicals: Closer to Kaine than to Kilgore?

By: Lowell
Published On: 3/6/2005 2:00:00 AM

This week in Washington, DC, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) -- representing between 30 and 40 million Christians -- will release a manifesto and a book that "will help conscientious Christians carefully develop a biblical framework that guides their political involvement." 

According to an article in The American Prospect magazine, "the group is not looking to influence policy on the margins but to become a major voice in the political process."  Furthermore, according to the article, "The policy statement is broad in scope, has been years in the making, and has been vetted by hundreds of evangelical ministers from across the country."  Finally, The American Prospect emphasizes that the NAE is not a "bomb-throwing religious-right pressure group," but a "middle road between mainline Protestantism and the separatist anti-intellectualism of fundamentalist Christianity."

In other words, this is a mainstream, Christian evangelical group with a well-thought-out set of public policy proposals.  They are definitively not a bunch of wackos.

Which is why right-wing Republicans like Dick Cheney, Tom DeLay, and Jerry Kilgore might be squirming a bit this week.  Just take the major section sub-headings, for instance, and some of the language that is used there:

  • Humility and civility
    • "We must match our high ideals with careful social analysis and critical reflection on our experience in order to avoid supporting policies that produce unintended and unfortunate consequences.."
  • Representative democracy
    • "God has blessed America with bounty and with strength, but unless these blessings are used for the good of all, they will turn to our destruction."
  • Just government and fundamental liberty
    • "A good government preserves the God-ordained responsibilities of society?s other institutions, such as churches, other faith-centered organizations, schools, families, labor unions, and businesses."
  • We work to protect religious freedom and liberty of conscience
    • "God has ordained the two co-existing institutions of church and state as distinct and
    independent of each other with each having its own areas of responsibility...those who obey and those who disobey God coexist in society and share in its blessings (Matt. 5:45, 13:24-30)."
  • We work to nurture family life and protect children
    • "Government does not have the primary responsibility for guaranteeing wholesome family life." and "Good family life is so important to healthy human functioning that we oppose government efforts to trespass on its territory..."
  • We work to protect the sanctity of human life and to safeguard its nature
    • "Human dignity is indivisible. A threat to the aged, to the very young, to the unborn, to those with disabilities, or to those with genetic diseases is a threat to all."
  • We seek justice and compassion for the poor and vulnerable
    • "Jesus said that those who do not care for the needy and the imprisoned will depart eternally from the living God (Matt. 25:31-46). The vulnerable may include not only the poor, but women, children, the aged, persons with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, minorities, the persecuted, and prisoners. God measures societies by how they treat the people at the bottom."
  • Justice and compassion (part II)
    • "We further believe that care for the vulnerable should extend beyond our national borders. American foreign policy and trade policies often have an impact on the poor. We should try to persuade our leaders to change patterns of trade that harm the poor and to make the reduction of global poverty a central concern of American foreign policy."
  • We work to protect human rights
    • "While the United States has achieved legal and social equality in principle, the legacy of racism still makes many African Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to a variety of social ills. Our churches have a special responsibility to model good race relations (Rom. 10:12)."
  • We seek peace and work to restrain violence
    • "The peaceful settling of disputes is a gift of common grace...As followers of Jesus, we should, in our civic capacity, work to reduce conflict by promoting international understanding and engaging in non-violent conflict resolution."
  • We labor to protect God?s creation
    • "We affirm that God-given dominion is a sacred responsibility to steward the earth and not a license to abuse the creation of which we are a part...[therefore we] urge government to encourage fuel efficiency, reduce pollution, encourage sustainable use of natural resources, and provide for the proper care of wildlife and their natural habitats."

    This is powerful stuff, but it's certainly not, on balance, the stuff of right-wing Republicanism -- at least as defined by the Tom Delays and Jerry Kilgores of the world.  In fact, the NAE language sounds awfully similar, in our (admittedly biased) opinion, to the deeply held beliefs of Tim Kaine, a religious Catholic.  For instance, Tim Kaine is personally against abortion and capital punishment because he believes -- as do the Pope and the NAE, we would point out - in the sanctity and dignity of ALL human life.  Also, like the Pope and the NAE, Kaine believes strongly in helping the poor, in promoting a just society, in safeguarding God's creation, in justice and compassion, and in non-violent resolution of disputes. 

    And what about Jerry Kilgore?  What are his positions on the environment, on helping the poor, on social justice, and on the use of force?  How consistent is he on the sanctity and dignity of life?  What are Kilgore's views on "persons with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, minorities, the persecuted, and prisoners?" 

    We suggest you compare the records of Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore and ask yourself, "which one of these men comes closest to the tenets of my faith?"  Could it be that Evangelicals are closer to Tim Kaine's beliefs than to those of Jerry Kilgore?  As the saying goes, "politics makes strange bedfellows."

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