Former presidential spokesman confronts church politics
By Mark Tooley

Former presidential spokesman Mike McCurry spoke at a General Conference luncheon organized by the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA). McCurry grew up in the United Church of Christ, but now is an active member (and Sunday school superintendent) of a United Methodist congregation in suburban Maryland and is a General Conference delegate.

MFSA is Methodism's oldest liberal caucus, but McCurry's message was more moderate than those of most MFSA speakers, who can be fiery in their demands for social justice and in their denunciations of conservative United Methodists. Some in the audience, which included many of the church's most prominent liberal leaders and bishops, may have chafed when McCurry even hailed Ronald Reagan.

"Let's give Ronald Reagan credit for naming [the Soviet Union] the Evil Empire," McCurry said.

McCurry credited "good things," such as America's "victory in the Cold War," for helping to precipitate many of the country's current cultural and religious battles. Winning the Cold War helped to spread "market rights and democratic rights," which is "better for everybody on this planet," he declared. But the Cold War's end also helped to end bipartisanship in American politics, McCurry said. And with the threats of communism and nuclear war removed, politics in America became "less consequential."

This political situation, plus the communications revolution, and the aging membership of the United Methodist Church, all helped to set the stage for today's battles within United Methodism.

"Great numbers [within United Methodism] grew up in the progressive tradition," McCurry said. But their one-time faith in government's power to build a better society has been eroded by political scandals such as Watergate and by the expensiveness of big government. "This has created enormous ambivalence about government," McCurry said about aging baby boombers who were once liberal. He cited the average age of United Methodists as 57.

McCurry also cited a political culture in America in which people "talk only to their own." Fewer and fewer congressional races are competitive, and the nation is polarized between "blue states" (vote for Democrats) and "red states" (vote for Republicans), as reflected in the last presidential election.

Political polarization was not what America's founders had hoped for when they created the "great, noble American experiment," McCurry said. "We can't let that happen to our United Methodist Church," McCurry insisted. He recalled that he was elected last year as a General Conference delegate on a slate promising a "more inclusive" approach to homosexuality.

"But now I find myself torn over the division in our denomination over this issue," McCurry related. He referred to "lots of conditional language" in the church's Book of Discipline about homosexuality. But he wondered if those United Methodists demanding an explicit change in the church's teaching should not push so far.

"There are those who say we can never be silent [on homosexuality]," McCurry acknowledged. But constant polarizing debates on this issue are a "formula for gridlock and despair that exists in our political system."

McCurry said his wife and daughter marched in the recent abortion-rights demonstration in Washington, D.C. But he also urged caution on this issue, admitting that some march speakers may have been strident. "We have to be equally sensitive on issues where we represent the majority of most Americans," he said of United Methodists who are pro-abortion rights.

McCurry also wondered if the church should speak so prolifically on a wide range of political issues, referring to the several thousand petitions submitted to the General Conference. "We don't need to legislate on everything," he suggested. "Sometimes the church should just sit and be quiet."

"Does the church need to pronounce itself on this issue?" he urged delegates to ask. "We need to think evangelically about making new disciples."

But McCurry also insisted he was "not saying take a pass on vigorous advocacy."

"We are often incoherent on the left," McCurry admitted. "We are not as well organized and present ideas in ineffective ways." He lamented that the "work and mission of the church is balkanized now." He also suggested that young people are not hearing "conversation that relates to them" and "a lot of these issues are generational."

Before the church decides on issues, it should ask "if we are of one opinion," McCurry concluded. He also said that advocates of all sides must realize they need to "give some things up" if they are to remain at the table.

Mark Tooley is director of UMAction in Washington D.C.

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