Pray That Legislators Find Middle Ground

One-hundred and thirty years ago, Abraham Lincoln stood before a divided nation at his second inauguration and observed:

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.

Lincoln was speaking of Civil War adversaries. He might have been speaking of American politics, circa 1995.

Last fall’s elections installed a new crop of conservatives in Congress and in state legislatures. More than a few of these lawmakers represent the increasing political activism in conservative churches and non-denominational religious groups. In addition to the growing cadre of lawmakers, the conservative Christian movement deploys lobbyists.

Other churches, elsewhere on the Christian spectrum, have been doing the same thing for years. The Washington Association of Churches, for example, regularly has taken positions on political issues - positions that differ from those of the newly arrived conservatives. The Roman Catholic Church is hardly new to political activism either.

What’s the Legislature to do? On abortion, health care reform, gay rights, welfare reform, juvenile justice reform and other issues, sincere, Bible-quoting Christians appear on opposite sides of the battle lines.

Liberals cite Scriptures prescribing social justice and care for the downtrodden. Conservatives cite Scriptures prescribing codes of conduct and individual accountability. Both make good points.

But where’s the middle ground, where law is made for a diverse society?

The certitude that goes hand in hand with faith leads religious folks to disagree, intensely. They disagree within congregations, between denominations, on theological and political issues.

Legislators, therefore, must recognize this: Anyone who claims to know the Almighty’s view of Senate Bill 9999-Z runs a considerable risk of being mistaken.

People of faith ought to be just as welcome in political debates today as they were during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

But these advocates, on both sides, would benefit from a prominent scriptural virtue that can be in short supply when Bible verses begin to fly like grenades:

Humility.

On March 4, 1865, Lincoln told us how. With malice toward none, with charity for all …

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board