[Dialogue] Danforth: Politics and Religion

Mon Sep 18 10:41:34 EST 2006

Danforth is speaking - and doing a book signing - at our church Sept  
28. I look forward to hearing him. Thanks for this story.
Priscilla

On Sep 18, 2006, at 10:05 AM, Terry Bergdall wrote:

> Many of you (particularly those in the US) will find this interview
> with John Danforth, a retired Republican senator, to be
> interesting.  It is about his concerns over the marriage of
> convenience between the Republican Party and the religious right.   
> Terry
>
> Below is the link to the story.
> http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/books/ 
> story/118FCE6A1D7E213C862571EB00070B87?OpenDocument
>
> Here is the story.
>
> When John Danforth was a student of religion and law at Yale, the  
> divinity
> school dean told him: "Being a minister and a lawyer is an interesting
> combination. It's like being a striptease saint."
>
> Danforth made both work (and kept his clothes on) as a U.S. senator  
> and an
> Episcopal priest. Primarily a politician, he let religious beliefs
> influence his opinions, but he avoided a religious agenda.
>
> Now retired, he's spent the past year or so rethinking that touchy
> combination for "Faith and Politics" (238 pages, Viking, $24.95). As a
> Republican senator in Washington from 1973-95, "we would have found  
> the
> notion that people should 'vote Christian' at least strange and  
> probably
> offensive," he writes.
>
> Now, he says, Republicans are captives of the Christian Right.
>
> The book, which goes on sale Tuesday, is part memoir and part call to
> action. A moderate who was ambassador to the United Nations and  
> worked for
> peace in Sudan, Danforth has faith in compromise and broad  
> coalitions. He's
> 70 now, and his speeches won't be given from a Senate or church  
> lectern but
> during what he expects to be a grueling book tour.
>
> While he discusses his support of stem-cell research in a nine-page
> chapter, his motive for writing the book is more than a single issue.
>
> Distinguished in a dark suit and maroon tie, he's full of purpose  
> this day
> at Bryan Cave, the law firm of which he is a partner. The only
> incongruities seem to be his racy red socks and his frankness on  
> how his
> own Republican Party has "lost its moorings."
>
> Q: What is your main message?
>
> A: Religion has the capacity to be a divisive factor in the
> world and our country or to be a reconciling factor.
>
> Q: What do you mean by "a reconciling factor"?
>
> A: The possibility of very different people finding common
> ground and dealing with difficult subjects. To the extent that  
> religion
> gets involved with politics, it generally is very divisive.
>
> On the other hand, if religion is a way of thinking about ourselves  
> and our
> relationship to other people and to the world, it can be a reconciling
> factor. That's really the question: Should religion be reduced to  
> specific
> political agendas, or does religion give us the basis for dealing  
> with one
> another respectfully and with a degree of humility?
>
> Q: Religion and politics are two subjects themselves that are hard to
> reconcile. Have you been thinking about this your whole career?
>
> A: For decades, I've been thinking about these two subjects, but
> not with the urgency of the past year and a half. This was  
> triggered by the
> Terri Schiavo case; that was the specific tipping point in my own  
> thinking.
> That was when I thought, "Something has gone very wrong here."
>
> Q: But these signs have been around for at least a decade or so,  
> haven't
> they?
>
> A: Maybe I was obtuse. People like Pat Robertson and Jerry
> Falwell have been involved in Republican politics for a long time. Of
> course, abortion has been a political issue since 1973. But in my  
> own mind,
> it didn't have the urgency until the Schiavo case. In the past year  
> or so,
> what was maybe a general interest of Robertson and others in  
> politics and
> one particular issue, namely abortion, has been transformed into  
> something
> much more detailed and much more a full-fledged political agenda.
>
> You have Terri Schiavo, the stem-cell issue, the gay marriage  
> issue, the
> Ten Commandments in courthouses - all occurring about the same time.
>
> But, I thought, particularly with Schiavo, something different had
> happened: Namely, basic Republican principles had been tossed  
> overboard at
> the bidding of Christian conservatives.
>
> Q: What are the basic principles you are most concerned about?
>
> A: The involvement of government in life-and-death decisions.
> The involvement of the federal government in what was a state  
> issue. Also
> that the federal courts were used to trump the state courts.
>
> Q: At one point in the book, you say that if politicians take up time
> arguing these social issues, they don't get work done on Medicare,  
> Social
> Security and the budget.
>
> A: It's part of it. But it's more than just a question of
> pre-empting time. It has to do with destroying whatever common ground
> remains in American political life and doing so intentionally.
>
> This is not just a problem of the Republican Party; Democrats have  
> it, too.
> Witness the defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary in
> Connecticut.
>
> If we are going to move forward as a country and address serious  
> questions
> like, 'How do you deal with terrorism?' which I don't think we're even
> thinking about constructively, a person like Joe Lieberman really  
> should be
> in the Senate. But he was chucked for wandering off the Democratic
> reservation.
>
> Q: In your book you write that 'no political agenda can claim to be  
> God's
> will.' That argument is not going to persuade people who believe it
> can.
>
> A: No, you're not going to persuade everybody, but let's have
> other people weigh in on this discussion, too. Let's hear from the  
> people
> who do not believe that the kingdom of God can be reduced to a
> political platform. And let's hear from people who believe that the
> commandment that we love our neighbors as ourselves takes  
> precedence over
> bashing gays, for example.
>
> Q: How would that look, then, if more people were interested in
> reconciliation? Can you give an example?
>
> A: Let's stick with the gay issue. This issue has become
> politicized for the purpose of appealing to the Christian  
> conservative base
> of the Republican Party. It's difficult for me to imagine that,  
> aside from
> that effort, that many people really think that gay marriage should be
> incorporated into the Constitution of the United States.
>
> The Constitution is about the structure of government; it's about the
> relationship of the government and the people. It's not about  
> behavioral
> issues.
>
> The gay marriage issue gained currency in Republican politics  
> because only
> one side was heard from. It's time for other people to say, 'Wait a
> second.'
>
> I feel the same about stem cells. Some people say that the Christian
> position is against stem cell research. That's true for some  
> Christians.
> But a lot of Christians would say: No, when Jesus sent the  
> disciples out
> into the world, he sent them out, in Matthew's Gospel, to heal every
> disease.
>
> I'm not for muzzling anybody. I'm for having people who believe that
> America has become too polarized - and for religion to be more than a
> series of wedge issues - to be more outspoken than they've been to  
> date.
>
> Q: What are your thoughts on gay marriage?
>
> A: My personal view is that marriage is between a man and woman.
> But that's neither here nor there. I also believe in not humiliating
> people, and I believe in honoring people and understanding that  
> some people
> are just not drawn to people of the opposite sex.
>
> The government should recognize that when there's a committed  
> relationship,
> certain legal rights should go along with it. And then let the  
> churches
> figure out what they mean by marriage.
>
> Q: Has the Episcopal Church made decisions in recent years that you
> disagree with?
>
> A: Oh, yeah. But my view of the Episcopal Church is that its
> tradition is to hold within itself a whole variety of views. And I  
> think
> that's good. There's a big gap between God and our understanding of  
> God. We
> have to recognize that there are a variety of ideas that people can  
> have
> and still be faithful people.
>
> Q: What role do books have today in shaping or moving cultural
> discussion?
>
> A: The written word is really important. I hope that we're not
> reduced to not only talking heads, but shouting heads.
>
> The subject that I'm into now - the relationship between religion and
> politics - is going to benefit from serious public discussion,  
> (from) books
> that are written, op-ed pieces, ordinary people who think about this
> question.
>
> In that sense, I am very Jeffersonian: If the American people inform
> themselves and think about this question, it's going to turn out  
> fine. Now
> is the time for moderates to think and speak.
>
> Q: What if the response is detrimental to the Republican Party?[</B>]
>
> A: What's the use of the Republican Party: to serve its own
> aims, simply to get itself elected? Or is its aim to serve the  
> nation and
> the world? I don't think creating a sectarian political party serves
> anything beyond helping to win an election.
>
> For a short-term strategy, this is a good one, to appeal  
> relentlessly to a
> narrow base. But (in the long term), it's going to backfire.
>
>
> John Danforth
>
> Age: 70
>
> Family: Married to former Sally Dobson. Five children and 13
> grandchildren.
>
> Education: Princeton University, 1958. Bachelor of Divinity from
> Yale Divinity School and Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School, 1963.
>
> Career: Attorney general of Missouri, 1968; U.S. senator, R-Mo.,
> 1976-1995; special counsel in Waco investigation, 1999; special  
> envoy to
> Sudan in 2001; U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 2004.  
> Currently
> chairman of the Danforth Foundation and partner at Bryan Cave law  
> firm.
>
> An Episcopal priest, Danforth has had connections with various  
> churches;
> while in the Senate, he was honorary associate at St. Alban's Church.
>
> Book discussions and signings
>
> 3 p.m. Sept. 24, United Methodist Chruch of Green Trails, 14237  
> Ladue Road,
> Chesterfield. Free. (314-469-6740)
>
> 7 p.m. Sept. 29, St. Louis County Library, 1640 South Lindbergh  
> Boulevard.
> Free. 314-994-3300. Copies of book must be purchased from Left Bank  
> Books,
> or at event, to be signed.
>
> 12:30 p.m. Oct. 7, The Big Read book festival, Central Avenue in  
> Clayton,
> Author tent A. Free. 314-863-0278.
>
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Priscilla Wilson
TeamTech Press
Mission Hills, KS 66208
pwilson at teamtechinc.com

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