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The Rev. Albert Pennybacker is a Bible Belt preacher with a drawl who's urging people to support "basic religious values." But he's no Jerry Falwell clone.
Dec 24, 2003 | In the heart of the Bluegrass, a Bible Belt preacher is rallying people to political action around what he calls "basic religious values." Think you can describe his politics? Think again. This man of the cloth wants "regime change" in Washington.
The Rev. Albert Pennybacker, a Lexington, Ky.-based pastor, is head of the Clergy Leadership Network, a new, cross-denominational group of liberal and moderate religious leaders seeking to counter the influence of the religious right and to mobilize voters to change leadership in Washington. Pennybacker, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a pastor of 35 years, is tired of the conventional wisdom that equates religiosity with conservatism. Nationwide, he says, the religious right often squeezes out the left in public debate.
Now is the moment for liberal religious voices to make themselves heard, Pennybacker says. He believes the Bush administration's record runs contrary to the core values of America's religious communities, and, as examples, he points to what he says are deceptions about war in Iraq, economic programs that favor the wealthy and destructive environmental policies.
It's "wake-up time" for religious liberals and moderates disenchanted with the current White House, Pennybacker tells Salon. He sees a historic moment for progressive religious leaders in the tradition of liberal clergy who led protests during the civil rights and Vietnam War eras. "One of the gifts of the present administration is the summons -- or call to arms -- for progressive religious people," he said in a recent interview.
About 1,000 clergy from a range of religions have joined the Clergy Leadership Network since its inception last month; about 100 lay people have signed on, too, and Pennybacker says he gets about 60 inquiries a day from around the country. The network also includes the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, noted leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movement; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, former president of the American Jewish Congress; and Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, a prolific writer and lecturer on spiritual matters.
Pennybacker is tall, bald, blue-eyed and, at 72, he has the electric energy that comes to someone whose passion is his work. His office on the 21st floor of an office/apartment high-rise overlooks downtown Lexington; the room is crammed, and his wide desk is overflowing with issues of the New Yorker, Mother Jones, Esquire and Christian Century.
In years past, he worked for congressional candidates in Ohio and New York who, he says, were under attack by the religious right. He formerly directed the Washington office of the National Council of Churches.
Pennybacker's group plans to equip clergy to educate congregations on political and social issues and train religious leaders to operate voter registration drives, advise candidates and conduct public discussions. The organization is exploring the possibility of a national gathering in the spring, possibly in the Midwest. By law, the group's tax status permits it to raise unlimited funds and advocate on issues, but it cannot endorse or fund specific candidates. That hasn't stopped the group from attacking the White House, especially the administration's policy over war in Iraq.
Indeed, some of Pennybacker's strongest criticism for the White House comes over the perception, widely held by war opponents, that the administration has failed to adequately publicize and recognize funerals for U.S. soldiers slain in Iraq.
"We don't have the choice as religious leaders whether or not to go to a funeral. We have to go. We can't avoid the hard reality of what war means," he says. "When a parent says to me or any of us: 'Why did God take my child?' the answer is: God didn't take your child, the policies of this government took your child."
Salon spoke with Pennybacker at his office in Lexington, and in a later follow-up interview by phone.
What led to the formation of the Clergy Leadership Network?
The main impetus was a growing sense of dismay over current national leadership and national policies and hearing that echoed in lots of candid conversations with clergy -- repeated expressions of anger, disappointment and outrage in conversations in communities at national and regional church meetings.
I talked with the canon of an Episcopal cathedral who was a United States Marine Corps chaplain for 25 years. And he said, "I'll do anything to have a change in administration," because of what he saw as the White House's deceptive defense of the Iraq war.
Would you talk about some of the specific issues you're focusing on?
One of the things we're very concerned about is the economic impact of policies in this administration. When people lose jobs, we see it as pastors and religious leaders. It means that families are shortchanged. It means that domestic violence increases. It means that alcoholism increases. And then we're very concerned about the international policies. This administration has set us against the world. From 9/11 to now, we've done a 180-degree turn with our relations with the world. In a very profound way our democracy is at stake.
Do you see a need for progressive leaders in the country to acknowledge the spiritual needs of progressive voters?
Progressive forces tend to be suspicious of religion. But that's partly because being religious has been defined in such individual and spiritual terms. But I think religious heritage is rooted in the thing called the Lord's Prayer, which says, "Thy kingdom come on Earth (as it is in heaven)." That is, justice, peace, hope, love, compassion -- you know, caring for your neighbor. Those are earthly things.
Most religious leaders are moderate to progressive. [William Sloane] Coffin has written this wonderful book where he quotes an archbishop in South America who says, "God's given us two eyes, two ears and two arms and two hands, but only one heart. And it's in the center and a little bit to the left."
If, as you say, countless religious people are largely progressive, why do you think religious conservatives have dominated the political debate in America? How do you see the media's influence?
They've been funded generously from conservative sources; they have been very skilled in quickly learning how to use the media and Internet capacities, and the mainstream progressive religious voice has been far too timid and quiet.
I think now it's wake-up time. One of the gifts of the present administration is the summons -- or call to arms -- for progressive religious people.
The media finds itself attracted to two things, controversy and brief, neat answers. I recall speaking at a meeting several years ago in Seattle about the political influence of the religious right. Six hundred people were inside and three people (from the religious right) were outside, and the media, in this instance television, gave equal time to both sides.
I don't fault the media on that, in part it's because that's the interest of the audience, but it is a distortion, and it plays into the hands of the extreme right, both politically and religiously. I think the media should be ferreting out some solid, moderate-to-progressive religious voices.
