Progressive Christians Use Bible To Take Down Boehner, McConnell

Republicans and conservatives typically rule the roost when it comes to religious messaging. But as the debt limit looms, Christian progressives are thumping the Bible, too.

[Image via Brooklyn Street Art.]

As President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner follow the same fear-soaked script on the debt limit, a group of Christian progressives called Sojourners are using the ongoing negotiations to flip it. The script, that is…

In a radio ad running in Ohio, Kentucky and Nevada, the Sojourners use Biblical text to argue that voters should back the Democratic Party’s plan.

According to CNN, the one-minute commercial cites a lesson from Proverbs’ — “that where there is not leadership a nation falls and the poor are shunned while the rich have many friends” — to lambast two Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, while another supports Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

“Sadly Congress has failed to heed these Biblical warnings, and our own Rep. Boehner is risking the health of our economy if America defaults on its debts,” says the Sojourner’s Ohio ad aimed at Boehner.

The one in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky pleads, “Please join this growing chorus of faithful Americans by telling our elected officials our nation’s budget is a moral document and they are responsible not just to the few at the top, but to all of us.”

Founded in 1971 by progressive pastor Jim Wallis, the Sojourners is both a magazine and a Christian Community who have been involved in the political scene for decades.

The group has most recently thrown themselves into the thick of the debt debate, and Wallis in April fasted for 4 weeks to send lawmakers a message: “Our work to speak out for “the least of these” in this budget process has only just begun.”

That same month, Sojourners released a document called “A Circle of Protection,” wherein they wrote, “We believe the moral measure of the debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare.”

“Budgets are moral documents,” the 8-point pledge concludes. “As Christian leaders, we urge Congress and the administration to give moral priority to programs that protect the life and dignity of poor and vulnerable people in these difficult times, our broken economy, and our wounded world.”

While the “Circle of Protection” does not have any listed supporters in Congress, Wallis and other Sojourners last week met with President Obama and asked him to sign onto the Circle of Protection. The group says the commander-in-chief “agreed that the sacrifices needed in reducing the deficit must not be borne by the ‘least of these,’” though the president does not appear to have endorsed the “Circle” document.

It’s worth mentioning that Leith Anderson, the head of the National Association of Evangelicals and Tim Pawlenty’s pastor, has signed that pledge, which declares, “We urge our leaders to protect and improve poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance to promote a better, safer world.”

Though comprised mostly of progressives and Democrats, the Sojourners clearly hope to win over religious conservatives. And considering that the most recent Public Religion Research Institute poll showed that 71% of Republicans and 72% of Tea Party adherents “say it is somewhat or very important that a presidential candidate have strong religious beliefs, compared to 51% of Democrats,” it’s a fair assumption that right wing voters could be persuaded to support the Sojourners’ progressive cause.

If the Sojourners’ radio ads do help it gain more traction on the ground and in Congress, does that mean the Democrats will start using their campaign platforms as pulpits? If so, will they use them to help the working masses or just for a cheap vote?

Because, as we all know, religion has and will continue to be used as a political tool, both at home and abroad, but it refreshing to see it used to defend the poor and vulnerable, instead of to justify a foreign invasion or to support spread a madman’s nationalist ideology.

The Sojourners do not, however, support LGBT equality, so they could still do some work on refining their progressive politics.