The Enemy of My Enemy – Part 2
TimeWatch Editorial
October 06, 2016
In part one of the Editorial “The Enemy of My Enemy,” we quoted Dr. Jay Michaelson in his article entitled, “Mike Pence, Postmodern Evangelical Catholic Conservative,” published on The Daily Beast website, on October 3rd 2016. In that article, Dr. Michaelson quoted Paul Weyrich, one of the founders of the Christian Right, saying to historian Randall Balmer the following.
“What really united Catholics and Evangelicals was opposition to civil rights. After Brown vs. Board of Education, Evangelicals began imitating Catholics, setting up their own, segregated private schools in parallel to public ones. This effort intensified as a wave of Supreme Court decisions removed prayer from public school and allowed the teaching of evolution. And when, in the 1970s, the federal government began clamping down on these racist private schools — the Evangelical Bob Jones University first and foremost — Evangelicals found themselves in a similar situation to the Catholics they had once opposed.” Dr. Jay Michaelson, “Mike Pence, Postmodern Evangelical Catholic Conservative,”The Daily Beast, October 3rd 2016
What is incredibly phenomenal about Dr. Michaelson’s assessment of the unifying effect of Evangelical opposition to the civil rights movement is that historically, he has no axe to grind in the matter whatsoever. Nothing in his background indicates a connection to or support for, the civil rights movement. As his biography describes him, apart from his being a columnist for The Daily Beast and the Forward Newspaper, and a frequent commentator on NPR, MSNBC, he is an assistant professor at Chicago Theological Seminary, teaching meditation in Jewish and Theravadan Buddhist lineages, and holds nondenominational rabbinic ordination. Dr. Michaelson however, then continues to lay out a historical pathway of unity between Catholics and Evangelicals.
“Both sides adjusted their doctrines. Evangelicals swiftly adopted Catholic teaching on abortion, both as a matter of political expediency and as part of their anti-feminist “pro-family” agenda. Catholics stopped crusading against the death penalty. And both sides abandoned their earlier positions that religion should stay out of politics. By the time Mike Pence made his “commitment to Christ” in his freshman year of college, the differences between Catholic and Evangelical communities had become as much stylistic as doctrinal. Evangelicals stress a personal relationship with Jesus; their services are often emotional and intense; and they emphasize an idiosyncratic approach to the Bible that is at once “fundamentalist” and innovative. Catholics, meanwhile, have more mediation between the individual and God, more ritual, more formality, and more doctrine as interpreted by the Church hierarchy.” Dr. Jay Michaelson, “Mike Pence, Postmodern Evangelical Catholic Conservative,”The Daily Beast, October 3rd 2016
You will recall for those of you who are acquainted with him, that Jerry Falwell, another founder of the Christian Right, had said in 1964 that “preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul-winners.” The PBS.org website, in its description of Jerry Falwell says the following:
“Born in Lynchburg, Va., in 1933, Falwell experienced spiritual rebirth and was baptized at age 18. By 22 he had established the Thomas Road Baptist Church in his hometown. His first congregation consisted of 35 people who met in a building that had once housed the Donald Duck Bottling Company. He soon began to broadcast his weekly sermons as The Old-Time Gospel Hour. Like many of his fellow fundamentalists, Falwell had firmly believed that politics and religion didn't mix. Following the Scopes trial, fundamentalists had retreated from active participation in public life. In his famous 1964 sermon, "Ministers and Marches," Falwell declared, "Preachers are not called to be politicians, but soul winners...." His remarks were widely interpreted as a rebuke to the political activism of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Dismayed by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, Falwell changed his mind. He began to speak out against the ruling and urge Christians to end their self-imposed exile and enter the political arena.” Jerry Falwell, God in America, the PBS.org website
The knowledgeable description of Dr. Jay Michaelson’s historical progression is indeed worthy of note. He quickly moves to the 1990s and mentions an important event that took place regarding the continuing development of oneness between Catholics and Evangelicals.
“In the mid-1990s, it is reported, Pence began attending Evangelical churches, including mega churches. This, too, coincides with an increase in cooperation between conservative white Catholics and conservative white Evangelicals — not just as a marriage of convenience, but as an authentic rapprochement. Politically, this period perhaps culminated in the “Manhattan Declaration” drafted and signed in 2009 by leaders from both camps, committing to a set of principles on which they agreed and agreeing to effectively set aside their remaining differences. Religiously, it has seen Evangelicals embrace the pope and some aspects of Catholic ritual, and occasional statements of coexistence from the Vatican.” Dr. Jay Michaelson, “Mike Pence, Postmodern Evangelical Catholic Conservative,”The Daily Beast, October 3rd 2016
So Dr. Michaelson describes the ultimate coming together; the embrace of Protestants and Catholics. The enemy of their enemy has truly become their friend, and the final assault is being prepared. The journey has been sometimes difficult, but there have already been victories as described by Dr. Michaelson.
“By now, the old enmities are long gone. Evangelical and Catholic groups have fought against reproductive choice, LGBT equality, and modern science for forty years now. They have won significant victories, particularly in education, where home-schooling and religious schools now receive enormous government subsidies. They have moved the needle on ‘religious liberty’ to the point where states like Indiana protect a religious person’s right to discriminate against others.” Dr. Jay Michaelson, “Mike Pence, Postmodern Evangelical Catholic Conservative,”The Daily Beast, October 3rd 2016
Moving the needle on Religious Liberty is indeed the plan. The measure has already been adjusted. When Exemption is the Rule: The Religious Freedom Strategy of the Christian Right,”
“The evangelical Protestant Christian Right and U.S. Roman Catholic bishops are intensifying their campaign to carve out arenas of public life where religious institutions, individuals, and even businesses may evade civil rights and labor laws in the name of religious liberty. By creating zones of legal exemption, the Christian Right seeks to shrink the public sphere and the arenas within which the government has legitimacy to defend people’s rights, including reproductive, labor, and LGBTQ rights. In this, it is often aligned with the anti-government strategy of free market libertarians and some business interests, who for a variety of reasons also seek to restrict arenas where government can legally act.”, When Exemption is the Rule: The Religious Freedom Strategy of the Christian Right,”
The prophetic accuracy of the Word of God has again been validated.
Cameron A. Bowen
