ORANGE COUNTY VOICES : Cautionary Tales About Religious Agendas : Appeals to universal values may work better with voters than biblical quotations.

Did religious communities play a positive role in last Tuesday’s elections--particularly at the local level--or did they meddle unnecessarily and damage their credibility?

It appears that the survey of local candidates by Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa on specific moral issues (abortion, gay rights, sexuality education) backfired and forced the church to distance itself from the questionnaire. The majority of candidates didn’t even respond because of the survey’s narrow focus and demand for yes or no answers to complex questions.

The Roman Catholic Church fought in vain to defeat Proposition 187, as did the liberal Protestant California Council of Churches, which also supported Proposition 186, for state health insurance.

To what extent are religious groups justified in becoming involved in politics? To a considerable degree, according to Stephen Carter in his highly acclaimed 1993 book “The Culture of Disbelief.” He argues that religion is no hobby or extracurricular activity and should have a place in the public square. In fact, it is a “very subversive force,” particularly to those in America “committed to the proposition that religious ways of looking at the world do not count.” Recent history proves Carter’s point: The civil rights movement was born and nurtured in the black churches of the south; the anti-Vietnam War movement had a powerful base in the liberal churches and synagogues of the north; and conservative Christians have catalyzed a national debate over abortion, euthanasia and gay rights.

While I agree with Carter that religious groups should carry out this “subversive” activity on behalf of the moral issues they feel so deeply about, they need to proceed with caution. I offer these guidelines:

* Take a stand based on sound reasoning, not religious doctrine. The public will be won over not by biblical quotations interpreted in a sectarian way but by persuasive appeals to universal values such as decency and justice.

* Stick to relevant issues, especially at the local level. One of the Calvary Chapel queries to candidates for city or county government positions asked, “Will you support laws restoring legal protection for unborn children from conception, with the possible exception that a medical procedure is necessary to prevent the mother’s death?” Not only is this an issue having no bearing on the elected duties of a local government official, it involves the most complex moral question of our time. What if the candidate is opposed to abortion except in cases of rape or incest? Or is pro-choice, yet sees abortion as a option to be chosen only for the most serious of reasons, strongly preferring contraception to avoid unwanted pregnancies? Does a yes or no answer suffice?

* Don’t implicitly set up a “religious test” for public office. Not only does the Constitution expressly forbid such tests, they are inherently repugnant to those of different religious backgrounds. Thus when Pat Robertson and his local counterparts in the Christian Coalition start talking about electing “Christians” or the “godly” or “Bible believers” to public office, they are crossing the church-state boundary line.

* Educate voters by allowing candidates to explain briefly their positions rather than forcing them to answer “yes” or “no” to complex questions. One of the yes-or-no questions to school board candidates on the Calvary Chapel survey asked, “Will you support an abstinence-only program that does not present premarital sex (with or without contraceptives) or abortion as responsible or acceptable options?” The candidates were expected to bubble in the “yes” or “no” column and go right on to the next question. What I suspect many of them would like to have done is explain how complex the issue of premarital sexual activity is, how abstinence is clearly the ideal and should be encouraged in all ways possible; yet, how an estimated 80% of teen-agers are sexually active by their senior year of high school and need information about how to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

If a religious organization really wishes to provide comprehensive voter information to its members, it might, for example, consider soliciting a short statement from school board candidates on how they plan to improve the quality of learning and the safety of the school yard. Or a statement from the city council candidates on how to promote new jobs in their districts. For, at root, these are questions with profound moral implications.