There has been much discussion of late of the rise of a new religious left. While there are a lot of stirrings out there, I think that such claims are premature. While I look at this primarily from the standpoint of thinking about the various forces that might be cobbled together to better contend with the religious right, I want to offer a few thoughts about this going forward.

The idea that a religious left could provide a counterweight to the religious right seems to have several main components. One is the point that the Conventional Wisdom stresses; that the leaders of the religious right are not the sole voices of Christianity, let alone a Christian view of politics and public policy. True enough. (One wonders why it didn't occur to them sooner.) Another, is that there are great Jewish and Christian social justice traditions to draw upon -- that emphasize that Jesus and the Bible in general, had a great deal more to say about poverty than say, abortion or homosexuality. All true. But the main thing I have yet to hear any rumblings about is how all this connects to citizenship, ongoing active engagement in public life in general, and electoral politics in particular. Funny about that, since electoral politics has been the movement's main vehicle to power.

But generally, I think that anyone thinking about getting a religious left off the ground, and perhaps even engaging the religious right, has a lot to learn from young David of Bible fame, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of teen movie fame.

In the wake of the horrific disaster that was the tsunami of 2004, there was, and continues to be an outpouring of good faith across the globe.

As with any event of historic (biblical?) proportions, there are always two sides to the story. In this particular example the sides reflect the core of what we label contemporarily as the 'religious right' and the 'religious left'.

On the left, religion is met with a feeling of nurturance, tolerance and compassion. This is reflected in the lefts immediate reaction to the global disaster -- helping those in need in any way possible -- focusing on those most vulnerable.

On the right, religion is a vehicle of punishment, intolerance, and constant judgment as well as a convenient tool for rationalizing inhumane behavior. This is symbolized by the following conversation (paraphrased to account for imperfect memory):

Just before the new year, I was chatting with a colleague of mine. He's a staunch religious conservative, but generally open to other points of view. I respected him and his opinions...or at least I did.

(So it began...)