And lo it is a few days after the Saddleback Civil Forum and the republic is still safe. Extremists on both sides of religion and government issues are deeply disappointed.
The thin slice of religious people in America who are theocrats have long viewed Warren as an enemy. The Civil Forum confirmed their worst fears. Warren held a civil conversation with people whom he is not in agreement. He was polite to the “enemy” and yet he has not yet been smitten with boils or some other sign of displeasure.
The loud but small segment of the population that is extremely secular is also displeased. After all Warren asked questions about the religious views of the candidates. Next thing you know candidates will be taking the presidential oath of office on the Bible!
Some of the commentary on the Saddleback event misunderstands the role of buildings and the pastor in much of Evangelical Christianity. These easily worried commentators also act shocked and feign fright that pastors would be heavily involved in American politics when there is nothing new about it.
We have never been a theocracy, Saddleback is no sign we are becoming one, and Senator Obama and Senator McCain are behaving no differently than Abraham Lincoln in seeking the support of prominent pastors.
Evangelical Mega-Church Auditoriums are Not Sanctuaries
In my very traditional church it would be grossly inappropriate to have a civil forum in the main church building. That area is “sacred space” and is only used for religious events. A “civil forum” could and should never take place there. We will never have an American flag in the sanctuary for the same reason.
In the atmosphere of a church like Saddleback the main auditorium is designed to be multifunctional. It can be used for concerts and other activities that would be inappropriate in more “churchy” space. A different theology of ministry produces a different philosophy of architecture that allows the same location to be used for many different events.
The Pastor is Not a Priest
Comparisons of Rick Warren’s role with that of a priest in a traditional church are also misplaced. Warren is not a priest, but a pastor. His job is not as religiously elevated, given his theology, as that of an Orthodox, Anglican, or Catholic priest.
A pastor in a modern Evangelical church fills many roles that are not associated with religion in other faith groups. Traditionally one role the pastor plays has been to comment on the great issues of the day. Any reading of the sermons preached from Protestant pulpits in the American
Revolution or the Civil War will remind Americans that this is not a new role.
Seeking a Pastor’s Political Support is a Time Honored American Tradition
Traditionally candidates have sought the support of prominent preachers in American politics. Sometimes this worked out and sometimes it has not, but it goes back to very beginnings of both parties.
Christian voters and their pastors helped create the Republican Party. This support included more liberal Christians, but was overwhelmingly Evangelical in character. An example of the good and bad sides of this involvement comes in the political career of Lincoln’s supporter Henry Ward Beecher, who was more purpose driven and political than Rick Warren is today.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was a rock star in the pulpit in the middle of the nineteenth century. Though no Evangelical himself, he was part of a religious outreach to Christians, including Evangelicals, that formed the basis of the Republican rise to power. Not unlike Warren today, through his books and transcripts of his sermons, Beecher influenced and helped many Christians who did not necessarily agree with all the details of his theology. Beecher was a major player in every level of Republican Party politics, using his church building as a political center for the abolition movement.
In 1861 Abraham Lincoln wanted Beecher’s help in the general election campaign, got it, and benefited from it. Beecher’s church raised money to equip Union soldiers in the Civil War. Imagine if Rick Warren equipped a unit in the War on Terror!
Beecher was a mixed political asset to Lincoln. The preacher became a gadfly to the President and often criticized his conduct of the war, his timidity regarding abolition, and Lincoln’s intellect. His greatest political role in the Civil War for Lincoln, however, was positive. A series of sermons he delivered in Britain where he acted as an advocate for the Union cause helped keep Britain out of the Civil War. Long after Lincoln’s death a sexual scandal cast a cloud over Beecher’s ministry, but he continued to play a role in party politics.
Beecher is just one prominent example of hundreds of ministers that helped to elect Lincoln, to free the slaves, and to save the Union–though theologically he was not even typical, just more socially prominent. Beecher helped secure the “left” religious vote, but the Republican Party fundamentally relied on mass numbers of Evangelicals to win. The Party produced piles of literature touting Lincoln’s putative piety, morality, and faithful church attendance . . . all designed for Evangelicals.
Like John McCain, Lincoln mastered Evangelical language in order to win. The Republican Party has always had a Christian and an Evangelical base. This matters because it shows how little things have changed in American politics and religion!
The more things stay the same, the more the new atheists pretend there is something dangerous and different happening. As a tiny minority this is the only way they can force the majority to strip the public square of any affirmation of our religious character as a nation.
Rick Warren is actually less involved in politics and is less partisan than Lincoln’s political preachers. Because of today’s media situation, Warren’s views are better known to Christians and his life more open to scrutiny than were Beecher’s. When commentators are shocked by Warren’s general moral questions, they should remember that Lincoln’s political supporters argued that he was the better man because he did not use profane language. One doubts either McCain or Obama will be making that claim.
John McCain won the Saddleback event by combining his real world experience with his agreement with Evangelicals and other traditional Christians on the paramount moral issue of the day. In that way, if only in that way, he is following closely in the tradition of Lincoln’s campaign for the White House. Senator Obama deserves credit for trying to do so. The difficulty is that Obama rejects protecting the unborn. On that issue, Evangelicals of this day will be as single minded as northern Evangelicals were on the moral issue of slavery.
The good news is that all of us can relax. Both Obama and McCain are mainstream American politicians. Our constitution is not in peril and neither is the historic relationship between church and state. Lincoln’s Union was not theocratic from any sane perspective despite the involvement of religious leaders like Beecher. A nation governed by Rick Warren’s two friends, Senator Obama or McCain, will not be either.