Planting Liberally

This Sunday marked the last day of Evolution Weekend 2008.  Held in honor of Charles Darwin's birthday, the weekend is an effort on the behalf of the Clergy Letter Project to demonstrate that religion and science are not incompatible.  Over 800 religious communities throughout the world participated, and over 500 scientists signed on as consultants to work with clergy on accurately addressing the idea of evolution in a religious context.  (The church my wife belongs to participated, although we were out of town and didn't attend.)

I think this is an important project, and I'm glad to see that it's picking up steam.  From reports in the Dallas Morning News to my very brief perusal of the project's extensive evolution sermon archive, it appears that participating clergy are using this weekend to explore the theological meaning of evolution, and more generally, the importance of science within a religious worldview.  The sermon archive includes sermons with a wide variety of theological points of view on the meaning of religion - including suggestions that evolution is proof of divine presence and creativity, not rejection of it; thoughts about the different kinds of knowledge which science and religion can illuminate; and remarks about the different ways of understanding the story of creation and the theory of evolution.

My point here isn't to explore or evaluate these various points of view, although I think some of them are intriguing.  Rather, I think this project is an example of something which we don't see very often: religious liberals providing a theological underpinning for a progressive point of view.  This is an important role for religious liberals, for a number of reasons.  First, it accurately reflects the principal factor (faith) which actually motivate some liberals.  Second, it provides an alternative to the religious conservative worldview.  Third, it may be a useful tool in motivating religious people who are not politically active to join a progressive cause.  Finally, it may help us understand the motivations of conservatives - the heartfelt beliefs and anxieties on the other side of the debate, whether the debate be centered on evolution or another topic.

Evolution Weekend isn't the only example of such an effort.  The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice offers a similar breadth of religious infrastructure for issues related to reproductive choice, as the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry does for the issue of marriage equality.  Religious liberals are steadily building a wealth of resources for explaining elements of the progressive worldview from a religious point of view.  This kind of religious infrastructure is incredibly important in competing with the Religious Right.  Instead of pandering to this crowd or attempting to imitate them while papering over substantive political differences, our leaders should be drawing on these kinds of resources, to the degree that those resources help them communicate with religious communities.  I'm glad to see the Clergy Letter Project, RCRC, RCFM, and others like them laying the groundwork for this new approach to liberal religious politics, and I hope that we see more in the future.