Liberal Religion is NOT Just Compromise

[Rabblevox]

What is the most important take-home message for readers?

A House for Hope: The Promise of Progressive Religion for the Twenty-First Century
John A. Buehrens and Rebecca Ann Parker
Beacon Press (2010)

Looking to the future, we see the tide of progressive religion rising. It will fill the vacuum created by the failure of the religious right to adequately address the issues of our day: global warming, torture and terrorism, religious prejudice, and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. In order for this tide to rise, progressive people need a renewed awareness that progressive religion has powerful theological alternatives that have inspired social justice causes from women’s rights and the abolition of slavery to present-day struggles for marriage equality and ecological stewardship. Additionally, progressive people need a renewed commitment to building and sustaining communities of faith—houses of hope—that can nourish our values and empower us for the long-haul change needed to establish a just and sustainable society.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/rd10q/2834/liberal_religion_is_not_just_compromise

[trotsky]

1. Basing political arguments and positions on religion is just plain wrong.

No matter which side is doing it. That's why we are in the mess we are in today - the fundies scream that because they think abortion is murder, no one should be able to get an abortion. Liberal believers have not helped this, by demanding that we respect religious beliefs and never, ever criticize them.

[kenfrequed]

5. Agreed mostly...

Liberal Christians that get angrier at our dismissing religious beliefs than at conservatives for betraying the 'feed the hungry, treat the sick, house the homeless' thing are the problem.

They rarely speak up or out and do so in such a meek and quiet manner as to be invisible to the mainstream media.

[trotsky]

6. True, however the central message from liberal believers should be the same as secularists:

Let's solve our problems without basing our position on religion. Doing so automatically entrenches each side against the other - any movement toward compromise is seen as a betrayal of one's core beliefs, and WHY WON'T YOU RESPECT MY DEEPLY HELD RELIGIOUS BELIEFS???

[kenfrequed]

7. right

Good progressive Christians should have everything in common with secular humanism. Sadly they are too busy saying "but I'm not like that" to us and not busy enough telling their conservative peers "We shouldn't be like that because Christ wasn't like that."

But I'm sort of an atheist when I'm not being an agnostic with occasional polytheistic flirtations so I don't imagien they want my opinion on their religion.

[skepticscott]

2. So why do any of these causes

or moral principles require faith in the supernatural to motivate people to pursue them?

[edhopper]

3. I think that

if you look at the more progressive countries you see the more progressive they are the less religion matters.
Perhaps it's that progressives have less need for religion and that leaves more and more conservatives in the ranks of the believers.
This is idle speculation based on nothing more than my observation. But food for thought no less.

[Deep13]

4. marking for future reference.

I'll read it later when I have time.

[Igel]

8. Ah.

The need to build a just and sustainable society based upon religious norms--and to do what is necessary to make sure that everybody falls into line with those norms.

Xian reconstructionism redux. Obverse, meet reverse.

(Of course, it's very rude to point out when people insist that others do things that they themselves don't consider a personal obligation.)

[trotsky]

9. Bingo.

Funny, this thread has more recs than unrecs at the moment, and yet none of the reccers have bothered to try and defend the clear nature of this attempt to mix religion and politics, which always works out so well. I wonder why?

[Deep13]

10. Okay, a few points.

First, as a practical matter I wish we heard from liberal theists more often. And by that, I mean I wish the popular press gave them the same kind of coverage that they presently devote to reactionary believers.

As lifelong progressive people of faith, we are tired of religion getting a bad rap because religious fundamentalists and right-wingers lend the power of religion to support unholy.

That's part of why religion has a bad rap with some people. Much of the reason, however, is simply because it makes factually unsupportable claims and because it still puts limits on how one is allowed to think. And while both liberals and reactionaries pick and choose what to emphasize and what to ignore, on the whole the reactionaries tend to be more cannonically consistent than the liberals. If you say that the Bible was a product of its time and that it cannot be read literally because our morality has evolved since then I will agree whole-heartedly. But then I will have to ask in what way is it a holy book? I also take issue with the use of the term "unholy." If something is in accord with religious teaching (even RW religious teaching), it is holy by definition. Granted it may not be good, moral, ethical or righteous, but it is necessarily holy.

[trotsky]

11. Still wondering if any liberal believers want to defend this mingling.

Any takers?

Anyone?

[dimbear]

12. Pay no attention to pesky statistics showing progressive religion on the decline.

Like most statistics they are satanic.

[onager]

13. The numbers disagree

You wrote: Looking to the future, we see the tide of progressive religion rising.

Not according to the 2011 Yearbook of the National Council of Churches. The NCC is what most people would call "progressive." Except for Fundies, who probably call it "demon-spawned quasi-atheist liberal apostasy."

The NCC says total church membership in 2011 was down 1.05 percent over 2010.

OK, I can hear the laughter already - "ONLY 1.05 percent?!?" But as a bitter, cold-hearted atheist, I can take comfort in looking at that number another way - about 1.5 million people dropped their church membership in just one year.

Some other findings:

Mainline churches reporting declines in membership are United Church of Christ, down 2.83 percent to 1,080,199 members; the Presbyterian Church (USA), down 2.61 percent to 2,770,730 members; the Episcopal Church, down 2.48 percent to 2,006,343 members; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. down 1.96 percent to 4,542,868 members; the American Baptist Churches USA, down 1.55 percent to 1,310,505; the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), down 1.08 percent to 2,312,111 members; and the United Methodist Church, down 1.01 percent to 7,774,931 members.

All those, AFAIK, are (relatively) "progressive" churches.

Four of the nation's 25 largest churches are Pentecostal in belief and practice, Lindner reported. "Strong figures from the Assemblies of God and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) suggest an increase in the number of adherents to Pentecostal groups, though it is impossible to state unequivocally from this table since the other two charismatic churches in the ranking have not reported in some years."

Ah, one of my personal favorites, the Ass. of God. They're a pretty loose confederation of Pentecostal churches. Loose enough to spawn two of America's most dynamic and creative Xian leaders, Rev. Jim Jones and David Koresh.

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110210yearbook2011.html

But even the Fundies are worried about their poll numbers - as covered by the no doubt strictly objective reporting from Signs of the Last Days:

When you examine all of the most recent poll numbers, the answer is inescapable. Christian churches in America are losing members rapidly, and this trend is especially dramatic among young Americans.

According to a stunning new survey by America's Research Group, 95 percent of 20 to 29 year old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. However, only 55 percent of them attended church regularly during high school, and only 11 percent of them were still regularly attending church when in college.

http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america