What to make of The Manhattan Declaration

The more conservative Christian blogs have been discussing the Manhattan Declaration for a little while now. For those who have not seen this, it is a statement made by a mix of Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical leaders in the US. The very summary version is as follows:

A CALL OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them.

These truths are:

• the sanctity of human life
• the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
• the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Cranmer likes it. Anglican Mainstream love it (judging by the fact that they've posted 13 articles on it in 10 days). Clayboy finds it 'somewhat bizarre', however. At the time of writing almost 210,000 people have signed the declaration, yet it seems to be dividing opinion amongst evangelicals in the US.

Mouse will set out now that he will not be signing the declaration. From this side of the Atlantic, Mouse finds it odd that these three issues would be selected as worthy of a united Christian declaration.

Just for those who do not speak American, Mouse should point out that 'sanctity of human life' is code for 'anti-abortion' (with a bit of 'anti-euthanasia' and 'anti-assisted suicide' thrown in), 'dignity of marriage' is code for 'no gay marriage' and 'rights of religious conscience and liberty' is code for 'speaking against homosexuality'.

These have been totemic issues for the American religious right for some time, and it is undoubtedly the actions of a Democrat in the White House that is the trigger for this particular action.

Mouse starts from the point of asking what are the biggest issues facing the world, and Christians in particular, today. Mouse's answer would start with the need to spread the good news of the Gospel to those who not heard of believed it before. After that, he would go on to global poverty, hunger, injustice, war and climate change. These are all things that the Bible is concerned with and tells us to fight against. Unfortunately, none of these things are mentioned in the Declaration. Many who wonder where the US church are on climate change, for example, will be dismayed that they have managed to get together on these issues, but not to tell Obama to Seal the Deal in Copenhagen.

Now, many would say that it is simply not the point of the declaration, and rather than talk about what it is not concerned with, we should discuss what it is concerned with. The problem with this is that it is concerned with an extremely narrow range of issues, which will divide many faithful Christians in some areas.

Whilst there are many who Mouse has utmost respect for who have signed this declaration, and have done so to take a stand on issues that are hugely important for them. However, there are others, who Mouse has utmost respect for who could not sign this document.

Mouse sees this as fundamentally an internal American political move, so no doubt those behind the Declaration will not mind in the least that Mouse is not on board. However, he would be concerned if the American right were allowed to define the agenda for the rest of us.