PROGRESSIVES AND MORAL VALUES
A Catholic Activist Urges Progressives to Keep the Faith
by Dan Moriarty
Any way we look at them, the results of the recent elections represent a blow to progressive citizen movements. "Anybody but Bush" was more than a catchy bumper sticker. The policies of the Bush Administration threaten progressive values so severely that even Noam Chomsky and other longtime radical critics of Democratic liberalism urged votes for the centrist, partisan John Kerry.
In the wake of Democratic defeat, though, there is much that can and must be done to pursue peace and justice, and to resist the Bush agenda.
The first thing we do, let's kill all the pollsters. Or at least let's demand that the press abandon all references to "moral values" as re-defined in exit polls. Asking voters if we are most concerned about war, poverty, health care, the environment, or moral values was like asking if we are fans of classical, jazz, rock, r&b, folk, country, or good music . But the place of polls in progressive discourse has hurt us in other ways as well.
By paying excessive attention to polls - elections included - we often forget that progressive values are, indeed, moral values. Consider the implications. Moral values must be pursued tirelessly, regardless of popular support.
Understandably, popular support became a central focus as we approached the opportunity to vote Bush and Co. out of office. Strategic thinking is essential if we want to see our values reflected in society's laws and public programs. But before we spend too much time arguing over campaign strategies for '06 and '08, a bit of soul-searching is in order.
Instead of asking what ideas (or candidates) are most likely to enjoy winning numbers of votes, progressive citizen movements must regain the conviction needed to ask what ideas should - nay, what ideas demand by their righteousness to be manifest in society.
If this kind of zeal makes some progressives queasy, it is likely because the Right has so effectively co-opted all language around faith and religion and, largely, the role of morality in civic action. Religious progressives need to bring their faith back to the public square, to be shared - intact and unashamed - in the context of a diverse and democratic civil society.
Non-religious progressives need to recognize that their own values of tolerance and diversity are not served by demanding that religious allies keep their faith quiet, any more than they would be by forcing homosexuals to remain in the closet or prescribing assimilation as the only path to racial and ethnic harmony.
Myself, a Catholic activist, I say: fear not! Unlike the Christian Right and other fundamentalists, religious progressives believe in dialogue, and understand the difference between moral relativism (we avoid it) and pluralism (we embrace it). Our faith communities do not ensure the ability to live out our own beliefs by imposing them on others. In fact, for many of us, as for the nation's founders, the separation of Church and State serves to protect the Church more than it does the State.
By reconciling with religion, U.S. progressive movements stand to rediscover much of our roots and passion. From Quaker abolitionists to Vietnamese Buddhist monks, Baptist civil rights leaders to Catholic nuns in Central America, people of faith have so often been the visionary leaders of progressive movements here and abroad. More importantly, they have been at the vanguard of demonstrating that there are progressive moral values worth suffering and dying for. In wartime, when calls to "support our troops" are used to silence cries for peace, that is a conviction progressives must reclaim.
And then, having searched our souls, we must strategize beyond elections. Another way polls and elections hurt progressive movements is by making us forget that our great advances have seldom come in the form of election victories. Steadfast popular struggle and individuals with the courage to speak truth to power have always been the crucial elements in achieving peace and justice. It is up to each and all of us - not the president - to make real our vision for a more compassionate world. We can and must mount an effective resistance to war, discrimination, crippling tax cuts, environmental devastation, and the trampling of civil liberties. We have a long, rich history to learn from as we chose our strategies.
We are in an existential struggle for the common good, sisters and brothers. Let's all keep the faith.
Dan Moriarty is Social Justice Minister with, Campus Ministry at Seattle University in Seattle Washington. He can be reached via his Blog at: