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When Cowardice Meets Passion

Why I admire but sometimes don't follow single-issue activists.

Mark Galli | posted 10/30/2008 09:09AM

I recently attended a meeting of evangelicals concerned about nuclear arms proliferation. It felt odd, since this hadn't been a topic of conversation since 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. That event ...

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Lois	Posted: November 04, 2008 5:00 PM

Good points. Somehow I've gotten on mailing lists of a number of single-issue activists, and if I were to take part in everything they ask me to, i.e., boycotts, letter writing, e-mailing, phoning, and don't forget donating, -- for they just aren't going to be able to continue without your/my largest possible contribution-- there would be no time or energy or money for anything else. And there seems to be a lot of bitterness and judgmentalism. I guess it's good that different people have different passions so that various issues can be addressed. Sometimes I wonder if I'm cowardly, but sometimes "methinks [they] doth protest too much." We can't all do it all. We just each must consider what our own participation must be, and not feel guilty about deleting the other requests.

Chuck

Posted: October 31, 2008 11:34 AM


I agree with Alison - sometimes one issue is a deal-breaker. For me, that issue is the sanctity of life. How a politician votes on this issue speaks volumes about that person's worldview, which speaks to their character, priorities, etc.

DFM	Posted: October 31, 2008 9:26 AM

"The Poor" amongst us. Jesus says in Matthew 26 that we will always have the poor amongst us. It is only fitting and proper and decent that Christians help the poor. But to let, say, the emergent church's notion of Justice for The Poor trump righteousness is not sound doctrine. I'll say it another way: Justice for The Poor does not trump Righteousness. Regarding the GOP and The Poor: George W. Bush tripled U.S. aid to Africa during his tenure in office. Africa. Now there's The Poor. Babies dying in the dirt. Rampant AIDS, malaria, scabies, worms, leprosy, starvation, spiritual darkness----witchcraft, Islam, animism. The Poor in the U.S. have housing, food stamps, medical care, access to free education---they also have liberal theologians whose cowardice will not allow them to stand up and say, for example, "A baby needs to live in a home with his father and his mother. Get yourself right with God, clean up your life and many of your troubles will disappear."

Maryann

Posted: October 31, 2008 9:18 AM

To the reader who alluded to the unnamed candidate as an "adulterer": As I recall, the candidate's incidents happened after returning from being a prisoner of war. These days, society understands Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how a victim can react in unhealthy and puzzling ways to survive memories of horrific experiences--not that this is any excuse for anyone's behavior, but rather an explanation that should be held with some compassion. As I recall, in a public interview, the candidate named his adultery as the most regrettable incident of his life. Sounds like repentence to me. Go read the gospel where Jesus says "go and sin no more." Read Psalm 130, and ask yourself, if the Lord would mark our guilt, indeed, who among us would stand? And don't forget King David's past. If we are all bound in our pasts, then what is the promise of Christianity?

t.	Posted: October 31, 2008 7:53 AM

the one single issue (excuse the obvious irony) that I have with this essay is how lightly Mark Galli takes the modern/postmodern trend to not use the reality of Hell as a restraint on people's orgiastic and materialistic tendencies. Mark, as someone who should be intimately acquainted with Jesus, should know that Jesus judges with complete fairness and accuracy and will judge those who are in their very lifestyles rebellious against the good guidance of godliness. Because the pigs have squealed against the handler does not make them clean. The desert fathers as gentle as they were and as non-judgemental as they were preached that someone can be unclean enough not to deserve to enter into church never mind heaven!

Dave	Posted: October 31, 2008 2:05 AM

What unites the parties is wonderfully and violently racist Pharisee-Zionism and the right to kill Iraqis. Bush has not been alone. Remember the exchange on CBS in 1996 between Bill Clinton’s Jewish-Zionist Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who was then the US ambassador to the United Nations, and Lesley Stahl of CBS. Albright was maintaining that sanctions had yielded important concessions from Saddam Hussein. Stahl: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And you know, is the price worth it?" Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price.. we think the price is worth it." They read that exchange in the Middle East. It was infamous all over the Arab world.

Derje

Posted: October 31, 2008 2:02 AM

Ge‘ez (Ethiopic) is the Old language in Ethiopia and now serving as the Liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. So, I would like to say something for your 90th year birth day Greeting in Ge‘ez (Ethiopic) language using IPA linguistic character, as a little poem: “Mägābé A’elāf Billy Graham ’antä we‘et-u mämħerä mäşāħeft; bäşa‘e-kä lä-ledäte-kä; Egezī’ab\eħér ye-bārekä-kä lä-‘aläm ‘aläm Amén!!…” Translation:- Mägābé A’elāf:-The feeder of ten thousands (in Ethiopian Church this is title name for preacher), The feeder of ten thousands Billy Graham; You are the preacher of the Holy Books; Happy Birth Day for you; God Bless you for Ever and Ever, Amen!!... Sincerely Yours’in Christ Dereje Sahile (B.th., M.A.) Please send him as soon as possible. His web is not working.

frank

Posted: October 31, 2008 1:34 AM

Standing against abortion and gay marriage seems pretty scriptural to me and I think evangelicals give to the poor as much or more than anyone. Do we want the Gov. to do the giving for us. The Bible tell us to work that we may have to give to the poor and needy. I like it that way. It has the wonderful ring of Freedom. I know from experiance what its like to be poor but the best thing about this Country is we have the freedom to "work"our way out of poverty. Living by New testament Helps too. To me Capitalism is fair and means Freedom for all. We do care for the true needy in this Country and around the World. We are One in Christ. Call to be servants.

DougD

Posted: October 30, 2008 10:32 PM


With me, and probably others, there are several key issues, but one may tip the balance. For me it is the sacredness of life. There aren't enough reasons that I can imagine, that would lead me to vote for a presidential candidate who believes that killing babies--unborn or nearly born is OK.

Christine

Posted: October 30, 2008 8:37 PM

I think the activists you named and perhaps many others are those called by God to a particular mission in life. Rather than viewing it as living a balanced life or cowardice perhaps it is just that God has not called an individual to a particular issue. I would suggest a person prayfully consider an issue and discern whether God has laid this particular cause on his/her heart, to turn from it then would be cowardice. God uses our particular talents and gifts in various areas, as long as a person lives surrendered to God's will and is open and willing to follow wherever God leads without counting the cost I feel God will use that person in time. I know I have been called to a some issues in life and others, while good causes, are not where God has called me to work. Consider it part of the scandal of particularity.

A Hermit

Posted: October 30, 2008 6:23 PM

God uses individuals with single-minded passion. However, with mass communications and the global economy, all issues are interconnected. To vote on the basis of a single issue while simply ignoring the others will not do. Abortion is fueled by an economy based on materialism and greed; war robs the economy of precious resources; war is fought for cheap oil, when we need to turn our consumption of the creation away from squandering precious resources to an environmentally friendly economy which will generate more jobs; the exploitation of the poor also creates the causes for war and also environmental destruction. Vote pro-ALL life, because all life is what we humans depend on.

Lance E

Posted: October 30, 2008 5:37 PM

I don't know if there is another agenda to this article, but on the surface I think it is simple and on time. Extremism often are cases of being out of wack / out of balance, such as a vigilante. King Saul had the same problem. Often people are so determined to meet their goals, they don't listen to Christ (though their agenda is for the Kingdom). If they were ones to listen to Christ, they likely would not be so focused on one thing only.

Pam	Posted: October 30, 2008 4:41 PM


I understand and appreciate your point but be careful. . .the single issue heroes you mentioned were sometimes working to counteract single issue aggressors. . .as an example, the Nazis gained power by embracing a certain set of "single" issues.

Carolyn

Posted: October 30, 2008 4:35 PM

For me, it's not cowardice, usually -- it's laziness, the kind of laziness that leads me to dissipate my time and energy without much thought or purpose. But the thing that gives me pause with fervent single issue folks is the sneaking suspicion that things are just so much more complicated than they often admit. How much is being left out of the picture? Many problems are related to others, so that there is a dense network of sins, suffering, and injustice, not single issues.

K.W. Leslie

Posted: October 30, 2008 4:28 PM

Nothing wrong with being single-issue if it's a good issue; but how can the issue best be served? Does it make more sense to elect pro-life presidents, who MIGHT appoint pro-life justices, in the remote hope that a 35-year-old decision might be overturned; or does it make more sense to elect a pro-life Congress that would pass a pro-life constitutional amendment? (I would argue the pro-life president tactic hasn't got us very far over the past 35 years. Instead it got us a pro-vengeance president.)

Mark Galli

Posted: October 30, 2008 4:23 PM

Just to clarify: the careful reader will notice that I don't fully examine the pluses and minuses of single-issue activism. The usual criticism of single-issue activism is that it is "simplistic." What I'm trying to suggest is that criticism is simplistic, that some of these activists are real heros--or will turn out to be. And that, as much as we who criticize them imagine we're doing it for philosophical reasons, sometimes those philosophical reasons mask a moral weakness. It's another way of calling for humility in our dealings with one another.

Hubert Edgar

Posted: October 30, 2008 3:59 PM

This is an excellent post to start discussions. I appreciate the fact that you haven't provided answers. Answers would probably take a book. I was raised in the South and my grandmother Seavy was a true Southern Fundamentalist. I learned a lot about my faith from that woman. However, she sincerely believed that blacks were the sons of Ham and there, Biblically, were to be servants/slaves of the other races. There was a time in the 1800s when this was a significant, even single-issue, with truly believing Christians litterally willing to die to defend how they interpreted the Bible in this area. Were they heroes or villians? I'm not going to answer. I'm going to say that they tried to do what God's word said. They were just misinterpreting God's word. One danger I see with single-issue theology is what if you're interpretation is wrong?

pete Benson, editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Posted: October 30, 2008 3:11 PM

You know, most of the issues presented are (AIDS, nuclear proliferation, GW) are things that carnal mankind is doing to himself and the world. Evangelicals getting involved in trying to stop what carnal mankind, the world, is doing to itself is not God's will for the body of Christ. Many of these issues, when they become full-blown, will bring about the prophecies in Matthew 24 and Revelation 16-19. Our main job, given to us by Jesus does NOT involve these issues, except to try to help those in need, in the name of Christ (AIDs victims, victims of famines and floods, etc). But our main job is found in Matthew 28:18-20, and this commission is a two-parter, 1) proclaim the Gospel of Salvation to the world, then 2) baptize those that favorably respond and disciple them, nourish them in the Word of God, "whatsoever I have taught you." Matthew 24:14 shows that the body of Christ accomplishes that 1st or Great Commission given to us by Jesus. We'd better get on Jesus' page, not ours.

Joe	Posted: October 30, 2008 3:10 PM

Without the word of God there is no issue to discuss. When the Koran can be taught in school and the Bible is taboo there is no hope, no faith, no love. When each of us does what seems right we are lost. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the light, the only way to the father. It is not for anyone to force their beliefs on their neightbor. Come let us reason together, the truth shall set us free.

Jeri	Posted: October 30, 2008 2:55 PM

It is difficult to decide which of the issues trump others. Scripture identifies many as equally detestable in the sight of God. Jesus explains (Mt. 24) the signs of the End of the Age and predicts deception of even "the elect". The heart of His message? All things will come to an end and the generation of people alive on that day will be as insensible as most are today....causing all the nations of the earth to mourn when He appears. I am greatly troubled by the many sins thriving in what is identified as "the church": indifference to the poor, lack of love, selfish ambition, divorce, abortion, homo/heterosexual immorality, wars, and more. As we fight among ourselves, the work of the Kingdom and preparation for that Great Day of the Lord is left undone. There are two paths: one leads to eternal punishment; the other to eternal life. Perhaps it is time for a National day of Repentence, to break the hold Satan has on so many of God's people, and lead us back onto the path to God.

RV	Posted: October 30, 2008 2:40 PM

Christians, first and foremost, respect life, expose darkness and are good stewards of creation because the the Bible says so. The GOP's platform just happens to be closer to biblical truth than the Democrat's platform. Is it perfect? Of course not, but it's all we got right now. It's not, "Just because the GOP tells them to," as TSJ cynically states. My primary issue is life but support the others as well. I just don't get the author's point. Is he saying that we are cowards if we don't challenge "single issue evangelicals"? In other words, "single issue evangelicals" are simply ignorant or, at least, less enlightened than those of us who can talk about the "complexity of life" over a latte. Is it April 1st already?

Ashley

Posted: October 30, 2008 2:36 PM

Rob, there are many issues we as Christians have to deal with and I don't see abortion as the single most important issue. Many of the issues are important. Poverty is also important; children starving are also important as well. Children and teens are also being killed in improverished neighborhoods by gangs and other types of violence. Why don't we go all out and stand up against this as well. Why don't we call on the government to do something to help stop the violence in these poor areas. Why don't we bring in the National Guard to these neighborhoods that we know are bad. How loud do we scream or yell out in protest against this? Maybe I don't know how loud we scream or yell out regarding this because I don't hear any sounds from our mouths regarding fixing this.

Charlie J. Ray

Posted: October 30, 2008 1:54 PM

This article is the worst piece of doubletalk I have ever seen in my life. Obviously Mark Galli is voting for the Democrats who hate Christianity, push gay rights and abortion. There is only ONE issue we should be voting on here. Does the party you support openly attack Christian values like heterosexual marriage, pro-life, and religious freedom? Or does it promote secularism, atheism, and godless religious liberalism, relativism and pluralism. I never thought I would see the day when an Evangelical magazine like Christianity Today would go liberal by promoting political parties with a platform which attacks everything that Evangelicalism stands for. I never thought I would see the day when an Evangelical magazine would be openly liberal by promoting Open Theism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, New Perspectives of Paul, and other heresies meant to attack the Biblical emphasis of the Protestant Reformation. Galli should be ashamed!! www.reasonablechristian.blogspot.com

Gordon

Posted: October 30, 2008 1:47 PM

TSJ said: "So many Christians don't understand the Biblical truth that Sodom and Gomorrah weren't destroyed for sexual immorality, but for greed and indifference to the poor and elderly. My wife's Bible study leader wanted to argue that point with her last week, but he shut up when she pointed out Ezekiel 16:49" How do you explain Jude 1:7 "just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." I believe they were judged for their sexual immorality, as well as there greed and indifference to the less fortunate. They had no redeeming qualities as a nation in God's eyes.

Grainne

Posted: October 30, 2008 1:42 PM

the rise of Islam is probably the single greatest challenge to the church in this century. The church in the West is asleep. Islam is a missionary religion as is Christianity - but will use any method in its mission (dawa) to extend the authority of Allah over the whole world. In the eyes of Islam we are in the House of War and many strategies are in place to wipe out all opposition to Islam. The denial of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, and our salvation through His grace are all under attack. Identifying this issue as the most fundamental danger to the church does not mean, however, that other issues such as abortion etc are of any less importance to me. There are just so many hours in the day and the choice of which issue to support has to be made. It takes time to become knowledgeable in any one area and thus abstain from the cliches or slogans so often bandied about by the media.

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