Christian Coalition names moderate Joel Hunter to president's position

Andy Jackson links to an article announcing that Joel Hunter is the new president of the Christian Coalition.  I have to admit I was nearly stunned when I first saw this.  Joel seems to be the antithesis of the all that the Christian Coalition has historically stood for and this seems to me to be an indication that the Christian Coalition is going a completely different direction.

And oh by the way - this is the Joel Hunter who pastors Northland Community Church in the Orlando area, not the Joel Hunter who has commented from time to time here on my blog and who is especially famous as a contributor over at the Tavern.

Dr. Hunter taught a couple of pastoral ministry classes at RTS-Orlando when I was in seminary and while I pastored a church in central Floriday, he was kind enough to meet with me for some counsel and encouragement one time.  He really is a great guy.  I disagree strongly with his position on the whole Christian Climate Initiative or whatever that thing is called, but overall he's great.

The most intriguing thing is that he has been fashioning himself recently as an opponent of the religious right.  He has written a book and done a podcast series titled "Right Wing, Wrong Bird," which is about . . .

Why the tactics of the religious right won't fly with most conservative Christians.

Wowzer - and this is the guy taking over the house that Pat and Ralph built. The article says this:

"I look forward to building upon the successes under Roberta's leadership and expanding our mission to concern itself with the care of creation, helping society's marginalized, human rights/religious issues and compassion issues," Hunter said, in a press release announcing his appointment.

In the podcasts, Dr. Hunter says things like this: (these are not quotes, they are my own summaries):

• America is not a Christian nation, but a secular nation and the founding fathers were mostly deists
• The bible doesn't say much about churches being involved in politics, it mostly concerns how to govern the affairs of the church.
• No leader speaks for God except when he speaks straight from God's word.  The traditional leaders of the religious right, past and present, don't speak for God.

Now, he does say alot more, for instance he does encourage Christians to be involved in politics and has many views that do comport with the traditional views of the religious right.  But I highlighted those controversial positions just to point out that he doesn't tow the typical Christian Coalition type line and even opposes some views which are foundational to their historic positions.  Although I have opinions on some of those matters my purpose in posting them is not to argue the positions themselves but to illustrate the difference between Dr. Hunter and some who have gone before him in the Christian Coalition.

So, I think this is big news, it's actually HUGE news and it will be interesting to see how this plays out.  The thing that probably is keeping this from becoming bigger news is that the Christian Coalition has shrunk tremendously in recent years, but still, the potential ideological shift here could be huge.

I've heard Richard Land speak before and like him a great deal, but I think he badly misses the point in at least one excerpted comment he made about Hunter's appointment:

According to the Sentinel, several established conservative Christian leaders are questioning Hunter's strategy. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told the paper Hunter’s bridge-building approach to public policy won't work.

"When people try to pretend there is consensus where there is no consensus, they lose their credibility with their constituency, and eventually, they lose their credibility with Washington," Land said.

I think he badly misses the point because he seems to assume that credibility with constituencies and credibility in Washington are the goals of Christians who are involved in politics.  Faithfulness to Christ is the goal, and faithfulness to Christ usually doesn't "work" in the public arena.  My guess is that Dr. Hunter is being driven by theological concerns, not pragmatic political concerns, although I could be wrong. 

Of course Dr. Land may be correct, Hunter's bridge-building approach may be flawed, but if it is, let's show that it is biblically flawed and not just politically imprudent.

And, consider this a call out to all of my RTS friends and other Orlando area readers who know Dr. Hunter - please chime in with your own opinions and reactions here.  Everyone else is welcome to do so too.

 

Related Tags: Religion, Current Affairs, Politics, Politics & Society, Theology, Christian Coalition, Religious Right, Joel Hunter, Dr. Joel Hunter, Richard Land, Dr. Richard Land, Christian, Christianity