Reply #9: Let's talk for a minute about media [View All]

There can be no doubt that the radical religious right is growing more powerful on the political scene. But I think the question of "why" is much more complicated than a lot of the sweepingly dismissive answers frequently given.

For example, allow me to give you a list of 20 Christian Theologians, Ministers and Activists who would radically disagree with most if not all the perspectives and approaches of the people on this list:

1. John Shelby Spong
2. John Cobb
3. Rita Nakashima Brock
4. Michael Lodahl
5. Marjorie Suhockie
6. Brennan Manning
7. Phillip Yancy
8. Marcus Borg
9. Jim Wallis
10. The executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting (whose name I forget)
11. Jospeh Sprague
12. John Haught
13. Clayton Sullivan
14. Rev. Peter Laarman
15. Rev. Jessie Jackson
16. Rev. Al Sharpton
17. Dr. Robin Meyers
18. Rosemary Radford Luther
19. Rev. James R. Adams (president, center for progressive christianity)
20. Anthony Freeman

It would not surprise me much at all if many of you have not heard of the majority of these people. But that does not mean they are not speaking out, writing out, and acting out. Certainly criticism can be made of what I will very loosely term the "religious left." For one thing, the religious left would likely disagree with the radical right about the nature and place of religion. Its hard to have the same kind of force and effect on the political scene when you don't believe that personal religious experience and politics should be mixed.

There is another problem as well: media. I'm not blaming everything on the media - this isn't a cop-out for the huge problems being brought on the country by the radical religious right. But I can tell you from very personal experience that if you are a liberal progressive religious thinker and you want to get national air time -- good luck. The media is not a courageous organization - if something exists out of mainstream consciousness, doesn't fit conventional "wisdom" or standard generalizations, you can pretty much be sure the media will not give it much serious attention.

It's one thing to be critical that the "religious left" isn't doing enough to speak out and resist the radical right. But its quite another to recognize the extreme challenges to doing that effectively, getting air time, getting the national spotlight -- without compromising yourself to the point where you look and act exactly like the other guys. And by the way, these people are speaking out. They are writing books and articles and getting them snuck into publications under the radar.

They are teaching in universities and training new generations in a better way of thinking about religion. They are certainly not refusing opportunities to speak -- but no one is offering them any sort of serious microphone. In many ways its not dissimilar to someone like Noam Chomsky's basic inability to be taken seriously and engaged by the media at all. Now, if you feel that professional folks on the "religious left" are not doing what they should be doing to speak out, get involved or resist the oppressive forces of the radical religious right, that's fine. But you can write or contact many if not all of these people yourself and give them your suggestions on what they could do more than they are doing. Do you think they would not take your suggestions?

It's pretty dismissive to just off-handedly act like the large number of religious folk who do not in any agree with the radical right are just sitting around on their asses not doing anything. If you have practical suggestions on how to do that better, I suggest you let people know. Otherwise, I think its probably healthy to remember that for every person on a Top 25 list of radical religious right evangelists (which by the way, a couple of those names on the list don't actually deserve that label, but a lot do) there are an equivalent number of people on the left who disagree strongly and say so, in universities, in publications, in books, in magazines, in every speaking engagement they are offered, in any interview ever given, etc.

Organizations like Sojourners, Progressive Christians Uniting, the Center for Progressive Christianity, Interfaith Alliance, the Center for Process Studies, affiliated with the Claremont School of Theology, etc. are out there and active, as well as countless individuals speaking out at any opportunity in local scenes. I'm sorry if national media refuses to give them equal time.

Sel