Coffee Hour

The Politics of Liberal Religion

Posting this here...

Chris Walton has raised the age-old question of political equivalents to Unitarian Universalism: is there a political ideology which flows naturally from liberal religion?

On the one hand, there is a visible consensus about Unitarian Universalism, and it is on the Left wing of the Democratic Party, inclined toward multi-culturalism, environmentalism, anti-imperialism, and radicalism. On the other hand, there is much worry about a political orthodoxy developing, and I have spent lots of my time decrying and denouncing it. But I don't think that Unitarian Universalism is politically neutral, anymore than it is religiously neutral. What is disturbing about visible political conformity is that it is conformity: that we are not actively and publicly engaging in political reasoning. What do our religious beliefs require of us in the political sphere?

I do believe that there is a political programme that flows naturally from liberal religion, and it is traditional liberalism. After all, we shared a crib in the intellectual nursery. In short: an affirmation of cultural pluralism, secular states, free institutions of religion, separation of church and state, consensual, constitutional government, democratic republicanism, human rights, including the right to private property, and equality of the sexes. And a whole list of others that flow from those bullet points.

The whole set rests on the core religious positions of Liberal Protestant Christianity, of which we were the clearest expression and from which we have descended, in both senses of the word. Namely, the primacy of the individual soul's encounter with God, the equality of all souls before God, the suspicion of all human institutions and groupings which try to interpose themselves between human beings and God.

The funny little quote about liberalism in the poll is that calls for "checks and balances" everywhere. Given what we know about human beings, and their behavior in institutions, doesn't this make sense?

Because these principles are based on individualism, they are suspect these days among Unitarian Universalist thinkers. Since the prevailing ideology in the US seems to justify everything in terms of individualism, the meaning and limits of individualism are contested and constantly being struggled over. The same individual right to pursue happiness unimpeded by community custom is invoked by the lesbian couple seeking a marriage license, the guy at the gun show seeking an automatic weapon, the woman seeking an abortion, the family seeking to buy a gas-guzzling SUV and the guy who wants to attend services at the UU church without pants. It's complicated and contested and worthy of considerable discussion.

But there are political and religious ideologies which oppose individualism, without qualification. Fascism, Communism and Islamic Totalitarianism do not simply define the balance between the individual and the society differently than we do. Individualism is decadent, illusory, false consciousness,or a sign of rebellion against God in their eyes. They oppose liberalism by name and with good reason; it stands opposed to them at its very core.