Messing with Political Agendas

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Pope Francis’ recent document on the environment, “On the Care of Our Common Home,” elicited interesting reactions from many American politicians, including some announced and presumed presidential candidates of his own faith.

Many of them don’t directly attack the logic or significance of the document, the substance of which I’ll write about in a future blog. Instead, they say the Pope, as a religious leader, has no business meddling in “scientific” or “political” issues like climate change.

“I don’t go to Mass for economic policy or for things in politics,” said one front-running candidate, a Catholic.

Another Catholic politician, not a candidate, said: “I think he got it all wrong. On matters of faith, I will certainly hear him. But these are not matters of faith.” 

Stick to "Religion"

The general message: The pope should stick to “religion” and leave science to the scientists and politics to the politicians.

This is an example of people compartmentalizing their lives, assigning their faith to their “religion” drawer. In my opinion, this common practice is one of the principle reasons many people are turned off by religion. Many people who go to church don’t apply their faith’s principles to their everyday lives so their faith makes no difference.

Faith is an all-or-nothing proposition. That doesn’t mean we should all be on the same page or progressing in our search for God at the same pace. It means that whatever faith we have, it applies to our whole life, not merely some aspect of it. Failing that, we preserve faith for church or “prayer time” or whatever and go about business as usual, allowing our behavior and attitudes to be formed by something other than God.

Aligning Political Agendas

Interesting that these politicians don’t have a problem with faith leaders applying their faith principles to abortion, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide or any issues with which their political agendas coincide. These issues, they say, are faith-based and subjects of robust political debate in our country. But not taking care of God's creation.

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It’s obvious that the Pope’s message interferes with their political agendas. They’re willing to accept the pope if he stays within the bounds they have set for “religious leaders,” but they are embarrassed by religious leaders who suggest that the politicians’ agendas are not supported by religious faith.

Ironically, by criticizing the pope’s message about the environment, politicians are making it a political message. And politicizing his message occurs on both sides of the political divide. A current TV ad asks viewers if they are with the “Pope or Kochs,” referring to the reported opposition of the Koch Brothers – reputed billionaires and energy moguls – to the pope’s environmental message. The pope would not be pleased to be used in such a manner.   

Of course, politicization – at least in the Christian context – is nothing new. It has been a thorn in the side of Christianity from the beginning. Jesus’ disciples, according to the Acts of the Apostles, asked - even after his death and resurrection - if he was then going to “restore the kingdom to Israel.” In other words, was he going to kick out the Roman occupiers and restore its governance to Israel? This turned out to be a gross misinterpretation of his message, which the disciples would only slowly come to understand.

Some modern authors who write about the “historical Jesus” have adopted that viewpoint, by the way, declaring - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary – that Jesus was a political figure, a zealot whose main interest was political revolution.

Constantine

Many believe that the politicization that occurred after the conversion of the Roman emperor, Constantine, in the early fourth century, forever made Christianity as much political as religious. Indeed, from that time up to the current time, Christianity has been irrevocably involved in European and world politics.

And modern politicians – as evidenced by the pre-caucus campaigns in Iowa – exploit faith to the max, hoping to collect votes by appearing to be aligned with the religious views of their audiences. Oddly, some politicians also complain that the pope’s message on the environment is an intrusion into science, a way of knowing not favored by politicians who oppose the idea that human activity causes environmental damage.

The bottom line is that the pope isn’t a politician and his message isn’t political. He could care less if he’s loved or hated by Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. It’s obvious that his document is motivated by the Hebrew and Christian traditions that recognize an obligation by all people searching for God to care for “our common home.”

That comes from a deep conviction that God is the author of life and creator of the universe and that humans must care for his/her precious gifts. Call that religious or political; it’s what flows from faith, and any genuine search for God.