Chuck Colson and a dozen evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox leaders last week announced a document he says is “one of the most important documents produced by the American church, at least in my lifetime.” Is it?
In these challenging times those of traditionalist religious bent are under assault in numerous ways, and in ways that their more secular counterparts on the right are not. This is the old social/economic conservative divide that the left has tried to take advantage of since the ascendancy of conservatism with the Reagan administration.
Many, likely most libertarians have a hard time concealing their contempt for religious conservatives, while many of the educated conservative elite, not to mention those who see themselves as “moderate” Republicans, are more than a little embarrassed by the same.
Religious conservatives are seeing the possibility of the current administration and congress passing laws that are fundamentally at war with their values and moral convictions. The Tea Party movement was a reaction to much the same assault on the part of American government. Now Colson and others are saying enough is enough. They will not be coerced via law to support that which they morally abhor.
Here is the text of the introcution to The Manhattan Declaration:
Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.
We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:
1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The full text can be found here.
One thing I notice is that the appeal is to believers and non-believers alike. It is non-partisan, thus not captive to either political party, unlike say what the Moral Majority did in becoming a defacto extension of the Republican Party. In fact, the list of signatories is not a who’s who of the religious right.
As the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. For Chuck Colson and those who drafted and are promoting this declaration, they believe we are in such times. I wouldn’t necessarily disagree.
For example, homosexual activists are spending millions of dollars and millions of hours, it seems, doing everything they can to have my religious convictions, those that have undergirded Western society for 2000 years, deemed in law, bigoted. Homosexuals in America are free to do whatever they want to do. But that is not enough for some. Unless we affirm their lifestyles as the complete moral equivalent to heterosexual married unions, we are akin to racists.
Without a doubt there comes a time to say I will stand against oppression even if it means suffering the legal consequences. Martin Luther King did so, and did so because he was a Christian. Most of his admirers on the left choose to ignore this salient fact.
Here is the essential question: Will The Manhattan Declaration move the dial? Will it make a cultural impact beyond rhetoric? By itself, of course not. As we’ve argued many times here, the professions of cultural influence, i.e. education, entertainment, journalism, etc., are what inform public opinion and the basic assumptions most Americans live with every day, and vote with every two or four years. And there comes a point, whatever one’s opinion about this specific effort, when a stand must be made. I guess if you are a traditional religious believer, the question is, is this such a time?
–Mike D’Virgilio
Though some pastors have been guilty of misuse of funds and some Catholic priest have been convicted of child molestation, I still believe that Christianity is the best form of religion out there. Though some of its leaders have committed sins, the faithful have endured through the years when so-called “alternative’ lifestyles did not. More importantly, it is a part of who we are and the reasons we have prevailed through hard times and triumphed over evil is because the conviction of our faith. This is something liberals or so-called modern thinkers will never understand. It is different because it teaches us that we are not slaves to nature and that we have the power to change our lives if we want to. It is open to all regardless of race. The reason why people give up on it is because they feel like they’re being enslaved by it. But the truth is that you will never full appreciate something unless you fully surrender yourself to it.
I received a message from Touchstone & the Fellowship of St. James noting who constitute the named signatories to this document. They were broken down as follows:
22 Bishops signed, including:
14 Roman Catholic Bishops (Chaput, Cordileone, Dolan, Kurtz, Madia, Malone, Myers, Nuamann, Nienstedt, Olmsted, Rigali, Sheridan, Wuerl, and Zubik.)
2 Eastern Orthodox Bishops: Metropolitan Jonah (OCA) and Bishop Basil (Antiochian)
20 Heads of and 19 faculty members of Seminaries, Colleges and
Universities including:
Albert Mohler, David Dockery, Robert Sloan, Duane Litfin, J. I. Packer, Tom Oden, Peter Kreeft, Cornelius Plantinga
46 Leaders of various ministries, associations, policy institutes and think
tanks including:
Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries, Rav Zacharias of the National Association of Evangelicals, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Maggie Gallagher of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and George Weigel of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
22 Pastors including:
Rev. Tim Keller, Rev. Jonathan Falwell, Rev. Harry Jackson, Dr. Jack Graham, Rev. Herb Lusk,
10 Publishers including:
Christianity Today, First Things, Kairos Journal, Touchstone, Ignatius Press, and World Magazine.
My question to all these fine folks: How many are willing to put their livelihoods, ne their very freedom, at risk for the values stated in this Declaration? That is the only thing that makes this document any different than the numerous other documents that have been written that declare these same values.
The final paragraph in this document holds the potential for this to be on par with what MLK, Jr. did for civil rights. That paragraph reads, in part:
“… we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act? nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family.”
Time will tell what “we will not comply with any edict … nor will we bend to any rule” means. If this is just meant to promote political activism, then the method of its presentation may be misguided. If on the other hand it means that, say, the Prison Fellowship Ministries or EPPC will refuse to subject itself to tax laws putting at risk their nonprofit status, and that those in charge of these organizations would rather go to jail than give in to laws, edicts and rules that fall under the list above, then the Manhattan Declaration has the potential for serious impact.
In the end this must be much more than a petition passed around the internet. With all due respect, down that path lies little more than “cheap grace.” And I write that knowing I added my name to those who have “signed” the document online. MLK, Jr. didn’t have the impact he had because he passed around a petition and passively urged Congressmen to heed it. He got out in the street and marched, he faced down death threats, and spent time in jail for what he believed. Is Robert P. George, the editors of those journals, and others willing to do the same?