Readers comment on our post, Class and the Left.
DJ Mitchell wonders why left-leaning religious groups don’t get more cred.
Here’s an interesting question, noting that two of these examples are rooted in some form of religion: why is it that in much of the world, politicized religion leans left, but in this country it most often leans right? There are plenty of left-leaning religious people out there. The Unitarian victims of the TN church shooting are just one of many examples, and so are the Christian Peacemakers (Mennonites) who got kidnapped in Iraq last year. But they gain little political traction. Is it because the traditional Marxist Left considers religion anathema? Or is it that Americans as a whole, as the richest people in the world, have little use for leftist politics? Or is it something else?
Part of it, I think, is because religion got jacked by the extreme Right. Because, when you think about it, historically there have been plenty of progressive churches helping out with social causes. The civil rights movement of the 50’s-60’s was spearheaded by churches and MArtin Luther King. Unitarian Universalists played a major role in starting the No Nukes movement. Heck, the AFSC (Quakers) have been around longer most anyone.
Yes, Marxists sometimes do ridicule and attack people of faith, even when they are obvious potential friends and allies. And of course, religious folks have been known to attack Marxism, this is hardly a one-way street. All of which seems singularly self-defeating. People of faith and socialists are often at the forefront of social movements, doing the all the endless grunt work organizing. This is, in my opinion, because both have strong belief systems to sustain them.
Imagine what could be accomplished if hard Left and religious groups joined together in their common causes.