Our Faith in the Political Community

We Democrats sure don't like to talk about our very private religious convictions in public. Truth be told, our religious convictions are what motivate us to do what we do (those who are religious or spiritual anyway). When we don't talk about our faith or what compels us to do or vote our conscience, we miss the opportunity to show others, who also vote by their convictions, a different interpretation of the faith.

And so it went on November 2nd- conservatives voted their consciences and liberals voted theirs (read, ours). And yet, neither explained to the other what it meant to them; we only judged each other with vehemenance. Some good that did (continues to do).

I think before we liberals can convey how we believe our message reflects a fairer call to justice, we have to better articulate why we believe what we believe.. and do it in a Christian/religious context, if we are to convince other voters in the future that there is a better way to live out our faith in the political community.

Jim Wallis, editor at Sojourners, has written a piece conveying a similar call to Democrats while pointing out a newer post-election survey that contradicts the original flawed exit poll question that "sparked an enormous and important political debate in America" about the 22% figure reflecting that most Republicans cited their belief that moral values (e.g., abortion and gay marriage issues) were the primary reason for voting for President Bush. Check out the entire article, its a thought-provoking piece.

The reaction to that initial poll has underscored to our nation how important our religious beliefs are in relation to politics and how specifically we liberals have failed to communicate why its important to us. (Let me tell you, my anger totally blinded me to the reality that I too have failed to articulate how my faith speaks to Bush's lack of society concerns. Let our initial post-election reaction be our wake up call to get off our butts and get serious about our public faith.