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You don't have to be right-wing to be a Christian

Pastor's perspective column by the Rev. Jerry De Jong

I am a Christian. James Dobson does not speak for me.

The Family Research Council does not speak for me. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell do not speak for me. The religious right does not speak for me.

I read the Bible as a testament to faith and not a test of faith. I believe God is still speaking and there is more light and truth to break forth from God's Holy Word.

I am a pro-life and pro-choice Christian. I believe life begins at conception but I also believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. I believe that fewer abortions will occur when health care, contraceptives and sexual education untainted by politics and fear is available to those who desire it.

I am troubled by religious leaders who call for a return to our country's origin as a Christian nation.

At our country's founding only white men who were property owners could vote. At our country's founding slavery was an accepted practice and our Black brothers and sisters were said to be in our nation's Constitution only 3/5 human. Neither of these things sound very Christian to me.

I am a Christian who believes strongly in the separation of church and state. The toils and troubles of the Middle East should provide a cautionary tale to anyone who believes in theocracy as a governing principle.

I am a Christian who believes deeply and strongly in the power of prayer to change lives, heal and bring comfort. I welcome any opportunity to pray in Jesus' name and I give thanks that in America my brothers and sisters of other faiths can, for the most part, also pray publicly and without fear. I do not want school-sponsored prayer, but I sure do want home-sponsored prayer.

I am a Christian who believes the doors of the church should open wide for all and I am more concerned about the content of one's character than anything else.

Long ago the congregation I pastor adapted this statement: “Our congregation knows some measure of God's grace, compassion, mercy, justice, peace and love. It is our desire to share this measure and more with you regardless of your age, race, marital status, physical condition, sexual orientation, ethnic or economic background. Jesus welcomes you and so do we.”

I am a Christian who is troubled by my brothers and sisters who speak often of the importance of Christian values, but who have yet to set their own houses in order. The so-called values divide between red and blue states is not what you'd think.

Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas, for example, voted overwhelmingly for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. But they had three of the highest divorce rates in 2003, based on figures from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. The lowest divorce rates are largely in the blue states: the Northeast and the upper Midwest.

And the state with the lowest divorce rate was Massachusetts, home to John Kerry, the Kennedys and same-sex marriage.

In 2003, the divorce rate in Massachusetts was 5.7 divorces per 1,000 married people, compared with 10.8 in Kentucky, 11.1 in Mississippi and 12.7 in Arkansas.

Today the per capita rate of violent crime is 421 per 100,000 in the red states and 372 in the blue states.

The five states with the highest rates of alcohol abuse, as of 2000, are red states. The per capita rate of gonorrhea in 2002 was 140 per 100,000 in the red states compared to 99 in the blue states.

I am a Christian who does not support President Bush and his policies. War, particularly under false pretenses, is not a Christian value. Tax cuts for the richest one percent of society while services are cut to the poorest of the poor, is not a Christian value.

Jesus spoke extensively about economic justice in the Gospels. Despoiling the environment is not a Christian value. The use of torture under any circumstances is not a Christian value. Saddling our children and our children's children with the largest deficit in American history is not a Christian value.

Bill McKibben wrote in the August issue of Harper's Magazine, “America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. As a share of its GDP (gross domestic product), the U.S. is second to last among developed countries in foreign aid; almost 18 percent of American children live in poverty, compared to 8 per cent in Sweden; the U.S. murder rate is four to five times that of European countries.

“We have higher rates of divorce and teenage pregnancy too. Americans have hijacked the teaching of Jesus that “call for nothing less than a radical, voluntary, and effective reordering of power relationships, based on the principle of love,” says McKibben. The dominant American theologies of end-time obsession and consumer-oriented religiosity “undercut Jesus, muffle his words, deaden his call, and in the end silence him.”

Let us hear his words again. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19 TNIV) Are we listening?

Jerry De Jong is the pastor of the United Church of Christ in Suisun. He can be reached at 425-6330 and [e-mail].


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