Standing firm against forces of coercion
First published: Saturday, February 3, 2007 Albany Times Union


Behind the news about conflicts in churches over gay marriage, reproductive rights and other hot-button issues, there's a background story about a propaganda think tank that seeks to discredit, divide and ultimately take over mainline denominations.


The Institute on Religion and Democracy is funded by large radical-right foundations. Its technique is to fund splinter groups to disrupt peace and justice work; to get individuals, congregations and regional church bodies to leave their denominations; and to take money and property with them. The goal is to silence the moderate church so it can't speak out against spiritually indefensible policies.

The IRD surfaced last month with an attack on one of its favorite targets. At a news conference in Washington, D.C., it declared:"The National Council of Churches, a body founded to pursue Christian unity, is no longer supported by its member churches. Secular left-leaning foundations have stepped in to save the council, thus artificially amplifying the voice of the declining religious left."

That paragraph used a time-tested technique dating to the IRD's formation in 1981 as an operative for the Reagan administration's Latin American policies and in opposition to liberation theology. It calls anything that doesn't fit its neocon views "left-leaning" -- even environmental stewardship.

The council's general secretary, the Rev. Bob Edgar, on the other hand, points out that his organization is an example of what he calls "middle church" -- an umbrella term for the mainstream of Christians, Jews and Muslims in the United States. In the introduction to his book, "Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right," he states: "The politics of faith have been co-opted in the service of a political agenda defined by fascination with war, indifference toward poverty and exploitation of God's creation for the benefit of a relative few."

For a generation, churches, synagogues and mosques have been under attack for our stands on war, poverty, race, gender equity, equal protection, science, and separation of church and state. And theocratic elements of the religious right proclaim they are destined to exert dominion over the government. In 2005, James Kennedy, pastor of the Coral Ridge Ministries, trumpeted: "Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."

Now there are signs the middle church is regrouping. Bob Edgar is coming to Albany as keynote speaker at a conference called "Recovering Our Voice: Calling Truth in a Culture of Subterfuge." He'll talk with a panel including a Catholic, a Jew and a Muslim.
Another United Methodist author, the Rev. Andrew Weaver, will lead a workshop on "Safeguarding Religious Values from Political Manipulation," based on his contributions to the book, "Hardball on Holy Ground."

Other workshops will deal with listening to youth, interfaith dialogue and working with the media. The goal is to equip our local interfaith moral majority to deal with the attacks of radical right-wing forces.

Our task is to restore the potency of our prophetic voice on behalf of the most vulnerable members of the human community -- and to protect all faith communities, and those who are not religious, from political/religious coercion.

Harriet Warnock-Graham chairs the conference task force. Bernard Fleishman chairs the Interfaith Alliance of the Capital District. Edward Bloch is executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of New York State.

Recovering Our Voice

When: Sunday, Feb. 11, 3-6:30 p.m.; Book signings at 2 p.m.

Where: First Lutheran Church, 646 State St., Albany

Cost: Suggested donation, $10

Sponsors: Interfaith Alliance; Methodist Federation for Social Action, Troy Area chapter; Capital Area Council of Churches; Sidney Albert Interfaith Center of the College of Saint Rose; Capital Region Ecumenical Organization; Muslim Community of Troy; Islamic Center of the Capital District, Presbytery of Albany.

Information: Bill Peltz, 436-0442