Rachel Laser of the advocacy group Third Way called it the “official beginning of the ending of the culture war.” Hmmm. This may not be quite “Mission Accomplished” territory but I suspect her prediction is a tad premature.
Nonetheless, what was announced — a document called “Come Let Us Reason Together” — was genuinely noteworthy and possibly significant. Her group, along with Faith in Public Life, has been working with a small cabal of centrist evangelicals to create a common ground agenda on the hottest culture war issues.
They got gay marriage opponents like Rev. Joel Hunter and Sam Rodriguez (the latter of whom actively supported Proposition 8 in California) to sign on to a gay rights agenda focused on employment discrimination and other issues. They got pro-gay rights leaders to stop shunning the likes of Rodrigues and Hunter.
Second, they got pro-life evangelicals to endorse comprehensive sex education as a key part of reducing unintended pregnancies. Conversely, they got liberals to agree that the emphasis should be on abstinence and that there should be more government aid to fix the adoption system.
The group also renounced torture and endorsed comprehensive immigration reform.
It will be interesting to see whether any hardcore conservatives or liberals back the package.
Below the jump is the full platform and full list of participants:
POLICY: Reducing Abortions Through Common Ground Policies
Common ground on abortion means reducing abortions in America through
policies that address the circumstances that lead to abortion: preventing unintended
term, as well as increasing support for adoption. This approach involves the following
policy tracks:
1. Preventing unintended pregnancies. Prevention policies include grants for sex
education (age-appropriate, medically accurate and complete contraceptive
information with an abstinence emphasis) and support for teen pregnancy
prevention programs, including after school programs and resources to help
parents better communicate with teens, and increased access to contraception
for low-income women.
2. Supporting pregnant women through to parenthood and support for new
families. Support policies include expanding Medicaid coverage of pregnant
women and S-CHIP coverage of children, prohibiting pregnancy from being
classified as a pre-existing condition by insurance providers, and providing
support for pregnant and parenting students who are in school.
3. Increasing support for adoption. Adoption support policies include expanding
adoption tax credit assistance and supporting optional adoption services at
group homes for pregnant and parenting women.
POLICY: Protecting the Rights of Gay and Lesbian People to Earn a Living
Even amidst our different beliefs about the issue of sexual orientation, we agree on a
policy that protects the basic rights of gay and lesbian people in the workplace. This
policy has two provisions, which are grounded in core American values of fairness and
the Golden Rule on the one hand and religious liberty on the other:
1. Making it illegal to fire, refuse to hire, or refuse to promote employees
simply based on their sexual orientation. This policy protects the basic rights
of gay and lesbian people to earn a living, and it is careful not to create, or imply,
any rights for gay and lesbian people that every other citizen does not already
have.
2. Providing a clear exemption for faith-based employers that is identical to
the religious exemption in Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 (as
specified in the bipartisan H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination
Act). We affirm that no legislation to protect the human dignity and rights of gay
and lesbian people should threaten the religious liberty of churches and other
religious
POLICY: Renouncing Torture
We agree that the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment against
prisoners is immoral, unwise, and un-American. We must be better than our enemies,
and our treatment of prisoners captured in the battle against terrorism must reflect our
character and values as Americans.
We agree that the U.S. should adopt a clear stance against torture that includes the
following core provisions, modeled on the bipartisan Campaign to Ban Torture’s
“Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order on Prisoner Treatment,
Torture and Cruelty”:
1. Following the “Golden Rule.” We will not authorize or use any methods of
interrogation that we would not find acceptable if used against Americans, be
they civilians or soldiers.
2. Implementing one national standard. We will have one national standard for
the interrogation and treatment of prisoners. Currently, the best expression of
that standard is the U.S. Army Field Manual.
3. Upholding the rule of law. We will acknowledge all prisoners to our courts or
the International Red Cross. We will in no circumstance hold persons in secret
prisons or engage in disappearances.
4. Affirming a duty to protect. We acknowledge our historical commitment to
end the use of torture and cruelty in the world. The U.S. will not transfer any
person to countries that use torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
5. Ensuring checks and balances. Congress and the courts play an invaluable role
in protecting the values and institutions of our nation and will have access to the
information they need to be fully informed about our detention and
interrogation policies.
6. Maintaining clarity and accountability. All U.S. personnel–whether soldiers
or intelligence staff–deserve the certainty that they are implementing policy
that complies fully with the law. Henceforth all U.S. officials who authorize,
implement, or fail in their duty to prevent the use of torture and ill-treatment of
prisoners will be held accountable, regardless of rank or position.
POLICY: Creating Secure and Comprehensive Immigration Reform
We agree that we need comprehensive immigration reform that creates an earned
path to citizenship and protects families, while securing our borders and treating
American taxpayers fairly. The common ground solutions we present here enable us
simultaneously to protect our borders, protect families, and protect our values. We
agree that we should adopt comprehensive immigration reform with the following
provisions:
1. Securing the borders through rigorous enforcement. We support active
efforts to secure the border and prosecute illegal trafficking, identification fraud,
and abusive employers.
2. Providing a practical, earned path to citizenship. We support an earned path
to citizenship for existing undocumented workers in the U.S. that is fair to
American taxpayers and restores the rule of law. We recognize that citizenship is
a high honor and agree that it should come with basic obligations such as
obeying the law, paying back taxes and reasonable fines, and learning English
and American civics.
3. Establishing a fair guest worker program. We support a guest worker
program that fills jobs where there is a need, but that does not unfairly
disadvantage American workers. It should ensure that workers are not exploited
and that they are paid for the work they do.
4. Keeping families together. We support policies and enforcement that are
sensitive to the value of preserving family integrity, keeping parents and
children together.
The core group consisted of:
– Rachel Laser, Director of the Culture Program for Third Way;
– Dr. Robert P. Jones, Visiting Fellow at Third Way and President of Public Religion Research;
– Dr. David Gushee, Professor at Mercer University and President of Evangelicals for Human Rights;
– Rev. Dr. Joel Hunter, Senior Pastor at Northland, A Church Distributed;
– Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference;
– Dr. Ronald J. Sider, President of Evangelicals for Social Action;
– Katie Paris, Director of Communications Strategy for Faith in Public Life
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