free & faithful

The Faithful Democrats website finally appeared this week. It's an attempt to provide a voice to Christians who don't feel represented by the religious right.

I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, I'm glad to have another place to read what Amy Sullivan has to say, because she is one of very few journalists in this country who actually understand faith as well as its interplay with politics. I also like the idea of spreading word that there are serious Christians on both sides of the aisle.

On the other, I am hesitant to see a blog that identifies a political position with faith. I know that the people behind this are well-intentioned. And the site is careful to say that its members don't believe that you have to be a democrat to be a Christian.

But I also know that Jerry Falwell is not a registered Republican, or at least he wasn't when I heard him speak in fall 2004. And I know that the temptation to assume that your political position is God's position is so strong.

Traditionally, we Baptists have identified ourselves as "free and faithful." It's a simple way of talking about a series of complicated ideas. Baptists who remember their roots believe that freedom - at a minimum, of the soul - is a necessary condition for faith to flourish. We don't have a pope or a presbytry, or even a denominational structure that allows one agency or individual to tell churches what to do. Our churches are free, we are free to read and interpret the Bible for ourselves (my friend The Chaplain would argue that Baptists need to do this more responsibly, in the context of community), and our churches should be free from government interference, and vice-versa. But it's freedom that's key.

And that includes freedom from the temptations of political power. If Faithful Democrats can avoid the trap that so many Christians on the political right have fallen into, it will be a welcome voice. If it can't, why bother?