From the prophetic to the prosaic: revising the NAE Civic Engagement platform

[Update: Welcome, readers of The Revealer and other blogs. Here's a summary for those who don't want to read through each change. The numbers in parentheses refer to the numbers below.

• The most extensive changes are those in which Biblically-sanctioned views are softened, particularly those related to economics and social welfare, perhaps to accommodate social or political convention (1st revision: 13, 22, 24, 25; 2nd revision: 1, 2, 6, 7).
• Accurate but "politically incorrect" observations are deleted (1st revision: 4, 22; 2nd revision: 3, 4).
• The shift from third person ("Christians") to first person ("we") does make the statement less dry, but it also deflects attention from instances where Christians have not lived up to their own standards (1st revision: 8, 14; 2nd revision: 5).
• In some instances, the document is strengthened (1st revision: 10, 11, 15, 16, 26, 28), but often this is accompanied by a reiteration of a popular politically conservative position, such as the "strengthening" of marriage or federalism (1st revision: 9, 12, 17, 27).]

The original post begins here:

Some attention has been given of late to National Association of Evangelicals's recently released " For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility."

It's interesting to compare the official version of the document, available here, with its draft versions. The September 9 version still is available here and I have an offline copy of the original draft version.

Please note that italics represent text added from one version to the next. Strikethrough text appeared in a previous draft but was deleted.

From the June draft to the September revise, the following substantive changes were made:

1. The title "For the Health of the Nation" was changed to "For the Health of the Nations"

2. The subtitle "An evangelical declaration" was dropped.

3. Modified sentence:

Secular media outlets have long acknowledged evangelical involvement in prolife and family issues, but are taking belated notice of evangelicals’ global involvement in activities such as disaster relief, refugee resettlement, and the fights against AIDS/HIV, human rights abuses, slavery, and sexual trafficking, and prison rape.

4. These sentences were amended as follows (note the deletion of the second sentence):

Despite our common commitments and this moment of opportunity, American evangelicals continue to be ambivalent about our commitment to civic engagement. Christianized versions of interest group politics during the last two decades of the twentieth century produced access without influence and discouraged many who had become engaged for the first time.

5. Garnet was added to this list of "historical exemplars" as follows:

Scholars and leaders have inspired us by drawing attention to historical exemplars of evangelical public responsibility from Wilberforce and the Booths in England to Edwards, Backus, Garnet, Finney, and Palmer in America.

6. In the following section "Church" is decapitalized:

We know that we must wait for God to bring about the fullness of the kingdom at Christ’s return. But in this interim, the Lord calls the Church church to speak prophetically to society and work for the renewal and reform of its structures. The Lord also calls the Church church to practice the righteous deeds of the kingdom and point to the kingdom by the wholeness and integrity of the church’s common life.

7. The section "THE METHOD OF CIVIC CHRISTIAN ENGAGEMENT" is retitled as "THE METHOD OF CHRISTIAN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT"

8. Note the change from third to first person:

The more carefully and precisely we Christians think about the complex details of both, the more clearly they we will be able to explain their our views to others and understand—and perhaps overcome—disagreements with others.

9. A significant rewrite:

Evangelical Christians seek in every area of life to submit to the authority of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor.10:11), and where the Bible and contemporary social agendas are in conflict, believers are rightly wary of the alleged findings of social science. Nevertheless, many contemporary political decisions—whether about climate change environmental science, HIV/AIDS, or international trade—deal with complex sociological or technological issues not discussed explicitly in the Bible. As Christians engaged in public policy, we must do detailed social, economic, historical, jurisprudential, and political analysis if they we are to understand our society and wisely apply our normative vision to political questions. Only if we deepen our Christian vision and also study our contemporary world can we engage in politics faithfully and wisely. From the Bible, experience, and social analysis, we know that society is altered as a result of learn that social problems arise and can be substantially corrected by both personal decisions and structural changes. On the one hand, personal sinful choices contribute significantly to destructive social problems (Prov. 6:9-11), and personal conversion through faith in Christ can transform broken persons into wholesome, productive citizens. On the other hand, unjust systems also help create social problems (Amos 5:10-15; Isa. 10:1-2) and wise structural change (for example legislation to strengthen marriage or increase economic opportunity for all) can improve society.

10. Note the shift:

While individual persons and organizations may rightly are at times called by God to concentrate on one or two issues, faithful evangelical civic engagement must champion a biblically balanced agenda.

11. Another major rewrite:

Christians engaged in political activity must maintain their integrity and keep their biblical values intact. When we as Christians engage in political activity, we must maintain our integrity and
keep our biblical values intact. While they we may frequently settle for “half-a-loaf,” they we must never compromise principle by engaging in unethical behavior or endorsing or fostering sin. Evangelicals should join political parties and fully express their biblical values. In doing so, they must be careful not to equate Christian faith with partisan politics. As we rightly engage in supporting legislation, candidates and political parties, we must be clear that biblical faith is vastly larger and richer than every limited, inevitably imperfect political agenda and that commitment to the Lordship of Christ and his one body far transcends all political commitments.

12. Another rewrite:

As Lord Acton noted, power tends to corrupt and absolute power tends to corrupt corrupts absolutely. Thus we thank God for a constitutional system that decentralizes power through the separation of powers, free fair elections,and limited terms of office, and division among national, state, and local authorities.

13. A particularly interesting deletion:

As Christians we confess that our primary allegiance is to Christ, his kingdom, and Christ’s worldwide body of believers, not to any nation. Therefore, as we express legitimate patriotism, we must be careful to avoid the excesses of nationalism.

14. Additional switches from third to first person.

15. An interesting softening of language and acknowledgment of religious pluralism:

But we also resist government when it exercises its power in an unjust manner (Acts 5:27-32) or tries to dominate all other institutions in society. A good government preserves the God-ordained responsibilities of society’s other institutions, such as churches, other faith-centered organizations, schools, families, labor unions, and businesses.

16. Note the additional sentence:

We work to protect religious freedom and liberty of conscience. God has ordained the two co-existing institutions of church and state as distinct and independent of each other with each having its own areas of responsibility (Rom. 13:1-7; Mark 12:13-17; Eph. 4:15-16, 5:23-32). We affirm the principles of religious freedom and liberty of conscience, which are both historically and logically at the foundation of the American experiment.

17. Caveats and additions:

The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause was designed to restrain governmental power and was not intended to shield others from exposure to religious viewpoints. Nor do exemptions from regulations or tax burdens violate the First Amendment, is directed only at government and restrains its power. Thus, for example, the clause was never intended to shield individuals from exposure to the religious views of nongovernmental speakers. Exemptions from regulations of tax burdens do not violate the Establishment Clause, for government does not establish religion by leaving it alone. When government assists nongovernmental organizations as part of an educational or social-service program evenhanded educational, social service, or health care program, religious organizations receiving such aid do not become “state actors” with constitutional duties. Courts should respect church autonomy in matters relating to doctrine, polity, and the application of its governance governing documents, church discipline,clergy and other staff employment practices, and other matters within the province of the church (Acts 18:12-17). Religion is not just an individual matter, but also refers to rich communal traditions of ultimate belief and practice. We resist the definition of religion becoming either radically individualized or flattened out to mean anything that passes for a serious conviction. Thus, while the First Amendment protects religiously informed conscience, it does not protect all matters of sincere concern.

18. Another interesting rewrite:

But governments should understand that people are more than autonomous individuals; they live in marriages in families families and many are married.

19. "Pornography" added to this list of "social evils": "alcohol, drug, gambling, or credit-card abuse, pornography, sexual libertinism, spousal or child sexual abuse, easy divorce, abortion on demand"

20. Psalm reference added: "And because the Bible reveals God’s calling and care of persons before they are born, the preborn share in this dignity (Ps. 139:13)."

21. Additional reference added to "the unborn":

A threat to the aged, to the very young, to the unborn, to those with disabilities, or to those with genetic diseases is a threat to all.

22. More changes:

Christians must witness in the political sphere to the limits of our creatureliness and warn against the dangers of dissatisfaction with normal human limits. ...As technologies related to cloning and creating inheritable genetic modifications are being refined, society is no longer less able to create a consensus on what is good and what limits we should place on human modification. The uniqueness of human nature is at stake, and we face the serious prospect of discriminatory societies in which some human beings are devalued because of factors intrinsic to their being.

23. A very interesting evisceration of the draft economic platform:

God identifies with the poor (Ps. 146:5-9), and says that those who “are kind to the poor lend to the Lord” (Prov. 19:17), while those who oppress the poor “show contempt for their Maker” (Prov. 14:31).If we fail to show concern for the poor and the vulnerable, God despises all our acts of religious devotion (Isa. 58:1-7). Jesus said that those who do not care for the needy and the incarcerated imprisoned will depart eternally from the living God (Matt. 25:31-46). The vulnerable may include not only the poor, but women, children, the aged, persons with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, minorities, the persecuted, and prisoners. God measures societies by how they treat the people at the bottom. America has a tragic history of mistreating Native Americans, the cruel practice of slavery, and the subsequent segregation and exploitation of the descendants of slaves. While the United States has achieved legal and social equality in principle, the legacy of racism still makes many African Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to a variety of social ills. Our churches have a special responsibility to model good race relations (Rom. 10:12), and Christians should support well-conceived legal remedies for the lingering effects of our racist history. Throughout the Bible, God’s prophets call God’s his people to create just and righteous societies (Isa.10:1-4; 58:3-12; Jer. 5:26-29; 22:13-19; Amos 2:6-7; Amos 4:1-3; 5:10-15). The prophetic teaching insists on both a fair legal system (which does not favor either the rich or the poor) and a fair economic system (which does not tolerate perpetual poverty). The Bible makes clear that a just social order will do more than simply reward those with superior ability, who work harder, or who have fortunate connections. Though the Bible does not call for utter economic equality, it condemns gross disparities in opportunity and outcome that cause suffering and perpetuate poverty. When social structures result in such gross disparities and suffering, the Bible writers envision structural solutions, such as periodic land redistribution (Lev. 25:8-28) and it calls us to work toward equality of opportunity. God wants every person and family to have access to productive resources so that if they act responsibly they can care for their economic needs and be dignified members of their community. Christians reach out to help others in various ways: through personal charity, generous effective faith-based ministries, and other nongovernmental associations, and by advocating for effective government programs and structural changes. The Bible calls rulers to shoulder certain responsibilities for the economic well being of their people. We urge Christians who work in the political realm to shape laws pertaining to wages, education, taxation, immigration, health care, and social welfare that will protect those trapped in poverty and empower the poor to improve their circumstances. Such economic justice includes both the mitigation of suffering and also the restoration of wholeness.

24. Revision of draft welfare policies:

Since healthy family systems are important for nurturing healthy individuals and overcoming poverty, public policy should encourage marriage and sexual abstinence outside marriage, while discouraging early onset of sexual activity,out-of-wedlock births, and easy divorce. Government should also hold fathers and mothers responsible for the maintenance of their families, enforcing where necessary the collection of child-support payments. Restoring people to wholeness means that public governmental social welfare must aim to provide opportunity and restore people to self-sufficiency. While basic standards of support must be put in place to provide for those who cannot care for their families and themselves, incentives and training in marketable skills must be part of any well-rounded program. We urge Christians who work in the political realm to shape wise laws pertaining to the creation of wealth, wages, education, taxation, immigration, health care, and social welfare that will protect those trapped in poverty and empower the poor to improve their circumstances.

25. Foreign policy:

We further believe that care for the vulnerable should extend beyond our national borders. We link arms with Christians everywhere in calling on individuals, churches and governments to do more to reduce the scandal of widespread poverty in a time of abundance. American foreign policy and trade policies often have an impact on the poor. We should try to persuade our leaders to change patterns of trade that harm the poor and to make the reduction of global poverty a central concern of American foreign policy. We must support government policies that encourage honesty in government, correct unfair socioeconomic structures, and generously support effective programs that empower the poor, and foster economic development and prosperity. We urge the US government to increase its commitments to developing democracy and civil society in former colonial lands, Muslim nations, and formerly Communist countries. Christians should also encourage continued government support of international aid agencies, including those that are faith based. ...We support Christian agencies and American foreign policy that effectively correct these political problems and unfair social promote just, democratic structures.

26. Some deleted language makes a reappearance and reference is made to a non-biblical source:

Insofar as a person has a “right,” human right, that person should be able to appeal to an executive, legislative, or judicial authority to enforce or adjudicate that right. We believe that American foreign policy should reward those countries that respect human rights and should not reward (and possibly even prudently employ certain sanctions against) those countries that abuse or deny such rights. We urge the United States to increase its commitments to developing democracy and civil society in former colonial lands, Muslim nations, and countries emerging from Communism. Because the Creator gave human beings liberty, we believe that religious liberty, including the right to change one’s religion, is a foundational right that must be respected by governments (Article 18, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
...America has a tragic history of mistreating Native Americans, the cruel practice of slavery, and the subsequent segregation and exploitation of the descendants of slaves. While the United States has achieved legal and social equality in principle, the legacy of racism still makes many African Americans, Hispanics, and other ethnic minorities particularly vulnerable to a variety of social ills. Our churches have a special responsibility to model good race relations (Rom. 10:12). To correct the lingering effects of our racist history, Christians should support well-conceived efforts that foster dignity and responsibility.

27. Clarity about what environmentalism does and doesn't mean:

As we embrace our responsibility to care for God’s earth, we reaffirm the important truth that we worship only the Creator and not the creation. God gave the care of his earth and its species to our first parents. That responsibility has passed into our hands. We affirm that God-given dominion is a sacred responsibility to steward the earth and not a license to exploit or abuse the creation of which we are a part. We are not the owners of creation, but its stewards, summoned by God to “watch over and care for it” (Gen. 2:15). This implies the principle of sustainability: our uses of the Earth must be designed to conserve and renew the Earth rather than to deplete or destroy it. ...Because clean air, pure water, and adequate resources are crucial to public health and civic order, government has an obligation to protect its citizens from the effects of environmental degradation. This involves both the urgent need to relieve human suffering caused by bad environmental practice and the responsibility to use foresight in regulating the use of land and resources to minimize the effects on the poor and others who are less able to protect themselves. ...We urge Christians to shape their personal lives in creation-friendly ways: practicing effective recycling, conserving resources, and experiencing the joy of contact with nature.

28. And in conclusion:

We call on all Christians to vote and to become informed and then to vote, as well as to regularly communicate biblical values to their government representatives. We urge all Christians to take their civic responsibility seriously even when they are not fulltime political activists so that they might more adequately call those in government to their task.

From the September revise to the October release, the following substantive changes were made:

1. The title "For the Health of the Nations" was changed back to "For the Health of the Nation"

2. Softened sentence #1:

Never before has God given American evangelicals such an awesome opportunity to shape public policy in ways that could improve contribute to the well-being of the entire world. Disengagement is not an option.

3. Softened sentence #2:

Evangelicals will inevitably disagree may not always agree about policy, but we realize that we have many callings and commitments in common:

4. Softened sentence #3:

We must take care to employ the language of civility and to avoid demonizing denigrating those with whom we disagree.

5. Another one:

We also support democracy because we know that since the Fall, persons, even Christians, people often abuse power for selfish purposes.

6. A deletion:

We urge followers of Jesus to engage in practical peacemaking locally, nationally, and internationally. Transformative peacemaking initiatives are not the exclusive property of the “peace churches.” As followers of Jesus, we should, in our civic capacity, work to reduce conflict by promoting international understanding and engaging in non-violent conflict resolution.

7. Even the final sentence takes a step back from courage:

Above all, we commit ourselves to regular prayer for those who govern, that God may prosper their imperfect efforts to nurture life, justice, freedom, and peace.

To sum up, in my view, the changes from the first draft to the second draft move the piece from the truly prophetic to the mostly prosaic, and from the second draft to the final draft systematically remove any possible "zing" that could grab people's attention. You be the judge.