First Ever Faith Caucus at DNC

At noon today people of faith caucused at the Democratic National Convention for the first time in the history of the party. The Faith Caucus held two panels, back to back; two more are scheduled for Thursday. The first one today was called "Common Ground on the Common Good" and the other was called "Faith in 2009: How an Obama Administration will Engage People of Faith."

The "Common Good" approach taken by the faith team organizers for these caucus events is consistent with the direction taken by the progressive faith movement in recent years. Especially since 2004, progressives of faith have been working diligently on broadening the values agenda to include issues of poverty, the environment, education, immigration and the like. The goal is to encourage people, as one Catholic group has put it, to "Vote all your values." In short, the message is that "values" for the faith community does not have to equal anti-gay or anti-abortion.

Today's first event was modeled on that approach and certainly showed its possible strengths. It also was a reminder of the lengths to which conservatives will go to keep people of faith from finding common ground on values, especially on abortion.

Congressman Tim Roemer and I were the panelists designated to talk about how the Democratic platform offers opportunity for finding common ground on abortion reduction. Tim, a Catholic, is pro-life; I am a Protestant pastor and pro-choice. Our Common Good approach, on which we both agree, is to offer strong social policy that strengthens the supports for women who choose to bear a child. In other words, for choice really to be choice, as a society we need to have pre- and post-natal care, expanded family and medical leave, child care, and a host of other social supports that would make us a more caring society that will not abandon women who choose to have a child once that child is out of the womb.

Several anti-abortion folks, however, decided even this was insupportable and tried to shout me down when I tried to express that I was equally glad the DNC platform included continuing support for Roe v. Wade. They had to be escorted out.

It occurred to me, as I watched them being led from the hall, that all these years of anti-abortion shouting have changed almost nothing. Rates of abortion have gone up and the attitudes of the American people toward abortion have remained largely unchanged for a long time now. Isn't it time to try real abortion reduction methods through increasing the Common Good? Why not at least try?

There was plenty of common ground on the Common Good on today's panel, however. The theological basis of the Common Good, a consistent thread throughout each panelist's presentation, was our God-given dignity and worth. On our first panel, this was lifted up as the basis for raising the minimum wage, for improving education, for immigration reform with compassion for those who come here seeking a better life for themselves and their children, and for how we treat former prisoners; each speaker gave examples of the specific good we need for there to be Common Good.

This struggle for a new vision of religious values in the public square is an urgent struggle because there are so many ways in which we are now failing one another in social policy that it is becoming harder and harder to call ourselves a good society.

The second panel, while given a very general title, was actually totally about Faith-based Initiatives and it was extremely instructive and precise. Senator Obama's support for Faith-based Initiatives has been a source of concern for some Democrats because of separation of church and state issues. This high-powered and well-informed panel picked the various issues apart carefully.

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, is also an attorney and laid out how these faith-based funding initiatives have not necessarily added to the significant work already done by faith groups, but have been more a matter of diverting funds from one place to another. This risks creating religious competition and that is corrosive for religious tolerance in a diverse society.

Rev. Jim Wallis, the well-known evangelical progressive, was the moderator of both panels. Wallis contributed, as Saperstein finished, that the 'just moving money around' approach to faith-based initiatives "becomes a substitute for sound public policy," a comment that received applause.

John DiIulio, the second panelist, was the first Director of the Bush White House's Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. He famously resigned after only 180 days. What DiIulio urged, given his considerable experience in the area, is what, he said, Senator Obama has advocated: fund effective programs in ways that have operational depth and do it in a constitutionally balanced manner. He argued strongly against what he called "a 1-800-Dial-a-Prayer" approach.

And finally, Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., the nationally renowned pastor and theologian, cautioned that there should always be a "healthy tension" between faith-based mission and government funding. If "getting the grant" is all the pastor or the congregation is worried about, asked Moss, "how can you be the conscience of the nation?" And being the voice of conscience, he concluded, following Dr. King, is always the proper role of religion in relationship to the state.

So, in other words, this second panel argued, 'don't play shell games with the money, obey the Constitution, don't use faith-based initiatives as a substitute for strong social policy, don't be stupid in the way you run these programs, and finally be careful as religious people if you seek government money, for you risk losing your prophetic voice if you do.'

There are those both inside and outside the party who think the Democrats should not be talking about faith like this. I wish these critics would actually come and hear these discussions. There is a lot of critical given and take, both on the panels and with the audience.

Those whom I have met here at this Convention are not of one mind on these issues, but the area of greatest agreement is that if you are a person of faith, that does not mean you cannot also use your mind to think about the issues and engage in civil dialogue about them both with people of diverse faiths and people who espouse a secular point of view.

"On Faith" panelist Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite is paying her own way to the Democratic National Convention as a registered Democrat and an unpaid volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign.

By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite  |  August 26, 2008; 8:50 PM ET
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