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"Sojourners in the news" articles are from our archive of news clippings that mention Sojourners in any way - whether favorably or unfavorably. Though we provide the text on our site for your convenience, we do not necessarily endorse the views of these articles or their source publications.

Democrats' new faith still in old wineskins

Brent Castillo
Wichita Eagle 7-06-2006

Has the Democratic Party found religion? It seems to be trying to add a pulpit to its platform.

The most recent example was when a group of prominent politicians from both parties spoke at a "Covenant for a New America" conference sponsored by the Sojourners.

Sojourners bills itself as an evangelical organization and is headed by Jim Wallis. But most evangelicals -- if they've even heard of Wallis -- consider him and his group to be liberals in church clothing. Sojourners' main concern is ending poverty, and Wallis routinely criticizes Christian conservatives and stumps for Democrats. He's been getting a lot of press in the past few years from journalists looking for divisions among Christian evangelicals.

Wallis aside, it was the Democratic senators who garnered the most attention. The most prominent speakers from the party were Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and rising star Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Obama turned some heads with his comments on religion.

"At best, we may try to avoid the conversation about religious values altogether, fearful of offending anyone and claiming that -- regardless of our personal beliefs -- constitutional principles tie our hands," Obama said. "At worst, some liberals dismiss religion in the public square as inherently irrational or intolerant, insisting on a caricature of religious Americans that paints them as fanatical, or thinking that the very word 'Christian' describes one's political opponents, not people of faith."

The best Clinton could muster was that the "budget is a moral document." She made no mention of controversial social issues such as abortion or school prayer.

Similarly, Dean argued that "this is a moral nation, so the first thing we must do is convince people that poverty is a moral problem."

By far, Obama seems to have the best understanding of his party's disconnect with conservative Christians. At least he's trying to reach past the caricatures, unlike Clinton and Dean. They seem more interested in scolding the majority of evangelicals than in winning them over with ideas.

It's good that liberals are pushing conservative Christians to pay more attention to poverty. It's a big problem that needs to be addressed. But the Democratic message doesn't resonate with many Christian conservatives because it ignores their other concerns, instead of incorporating them.

Until I see a Democrat push for legislation that restricts abortion or protects traditional marriage, I'll remain unconvinced.

The Republican Party is imperfect, but it lets Christian conservatives have sway and proposes legislation that is deemed important to them. Until the Democratic Party gives the majority of evangelicals a strong voice, most will stick with the Republican Party.

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