Posts filed under 'Religion and politics'
Today on the radio Glenn Beck said that Americans are about to lose their religious freedom. He was actively rallying the forces to prevent it. Perhaps someone who agrees with his sentiment could help those of us who say “huh?”
There is a valid argument that legal secularism has overreached in working toward a “naked public square” (a term used by Christian writer Os Guinness, theologian John Neuhaus although I’m not clear of its genesis), removing faith from our public spaces, rather than aiming for a public square where all faiths – and no faith at all – are warmly welcomed into a rich conversation. The second option allows for the “constant clashing of opinion” that our Founders envisioned as a check on excess in the majority.
But the suggestion that there are vast and sustained efforts to subvert Christians’ religious freedom doesn’t seem to hold up. A drive through town on a Sunday morning paints a vivid picture of religious diversity and freedom, alive and well in America.
Overreaction on one “side” of an argument inevitably leads to an equal and opposite overreaction. Greater than the risk that Christians, though they 
are the vast majority of us, will lose their religious liberty is the risk that this sort of white hot rhetoric overshoots the mark enough that it will actually create what it fears. If you’re of a minority religious view, a wall of angry Christians coming at you (especially if you are not aware of any action against them) does little to make your religious liberty feel secure. Then you, in turn, feel the need to defend what you perceive as an assault. And so it goes, on and on in likely escalation if we don’t mind the exaggerations that come out of our mouths.
And this kind of “die on the hill” rhetoric also does what C.S. Lewis refers to as making “black blacker” as it creates an aggressive, powerful and villainous foe out of a largely disorganized minority of people. Read Lewis HERE.
While we’re on this topic, take a look at our We the Wiki Faith & Politics space. Feel free to add a topic and toss in what you think is important. Opposing views, when expressed with civility, are warmly welcome.
August 30th, 2010
We’ve started a “We the Wiki” page on the facts on the Ground Zero Community Center & Mosque. We’ll throw some info in, but it’s yours to build. Find resources that offer good, nonpartisan information to help clarify. You’ll have to register to edit the page.
“Get in your car and drive around and listen to some talk radio. The language is bad. From the minute this started my worry from the beginning was that this would be treated like we treat every other political debate in this country: Polarized, where the winners are the ones who engage in the most extreme rhetoric. This is an issue that has international implications and a national security implication where we would hope that wouldn’t happen. There are no boundaries in our political discourse anymore even when there should be. That’s why I wrote in Time magazine this week and I still believe that the former presidents need to speak out in a bipartisan way. They are the only ones with the standing to treat this with the gravity that is required…” –Mark Halperin on Morning Joe
August 24th, 2010
(Uh, you might want to reserve your seat now. As if it couldn’t possibly get better, it just did. 101 Restaurant is offering complimentary house beverages and finger foods from 5 to 6 ahead of the movie and 15% off dinner for anyone with a ticket after the movie. And did I mention, the movie is FREE?)
June 1st, 2010
You should really ever miss any Purple Interviews, but especially not this one. Rear Admiral Barry C. Black:
…the issues that are debated in the Chamber usually have elements of truth in both sides of the issue. If the issue would happen to be blatantly wrong, most people would see that we should do the opposite. But there are pro and con arguments for both sides. That’s when you deal with right vs right. What might be right for the short term, might be wrong for the long term.
Read the whole thing HERE.
May 24th, 2010
From this morning’s Tallahassee Democrat:
“Regarding the proposed human rights ordinance, I urge fellow Christians to exercise respect and forbearance toward neighbors with whom they disagree. Christians who oppose this ordinance are not necessarily bigots, and those who support it are not necessarily heretics. Both sides regard their positions to be Biblical and in keeping with the requirements of faithful discipleship.
I disagree with Nathan Adams’ position that the First Amendment should protect religiously motivated individuals from laws prohibiting discrimination. I have vivid memories of “devout” Christians who believed racial segregation to be the will of God. Some Christians still have this conviction. Their deeply held conviction does not — and should not — make them exempt from the law.
However, I commend Mr. Adams for expressing his views with civility at the recent meeting of the Village Square. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 12:10, “… love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”
I support the ordinance, and I honor those who oppose it without demonizing their opponents.”
BRANT S. COPELAND
Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
May 9th, 2010
“You can tell you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually)
(Photo credit.)
April 25th, 2010
Florida Thinks guest columnist, Baptist minister and constitutional attorney J. Brent Walker explains why he opposes Florida House Joint Resolution 1399 and Senate Joint Resolution 2550 which would allow for funding of religious institutions, particularly for vouchers (from Florida Thinks):
Beyond the unfairness of taxing Floridians to support a religion in which they may or may not believe — a proposition that Thomas Jefferson denounced as “sinful and tyrannical” — religious liberty is even further harmed by government funding because the government always controls what it funds.
Moreover, the prophetic voice of religion will, even if only subconsciously, be dampened by state sponsorship. Indeed, religion historically has stood outside of government’s control, serving as a critic of government. How can religion continue to raise a prophetic fist against government when it has the other hand open to receive a government handout? It cannot.
Both the state and religious institutions are better off when neither tries to dominate or do the work of the other. The Legislature faces a clear choice: Adopt the proposed amendment and gut the constitution’s protection of the vitality and independence of religious entities, or leave intact a constitutional provision that has protected religion from the shifting winds of politics and allowed generations of Floridians to worship — or not — according to the dictates of their own consciences.
Michael Sheedy of The Florida Catholic Conference disagrees:
Article 1, Section 3 in our State Constitution, more restrictive than the U.S. Constitution, does not reflect the pluralistic values of Floridians, and is instead reflective of the discriminatory and prejudicial fears of years gone by. It states that “no revenue of the state … shall be taken directly or indirectly in aid of any … sectarian institution.”…
Participation by any religious entity in any state program that involves exchange of funds for services is ripe for challenge unless the provision is removed from the Florida Constitution.
We agree that the state must not favor particular religious groups over others, nor religious persons over non-religious persons, but neither should our Constitution require discrimination against sectarian institutions simply because they are religious. Floridians deserve the opportunity to benefit from programs with a secular purpose run by religious entities.
Florida Thinks is available by subscription. Village Square members receive a 20% discount off of the subscription price.
April 23rd, 2010
And happy next-to-the-last day of Hanukkah.
(Photo credit.)
April 4th, 2010
Read Part 1 HERE.
The Muslim practice of worshiping five times daily can subconsciously convey militancy to an average American. But just 45 minutes of worship at a mosque helped me to understand that frequent prayer is far more about incorporating a desire to serve God through every day. It’s like the sense of higher purpose a Christian might feel walking out of church on Sunday morning… multiplied 35 times a week.
I learned in the sermon that there are three fundamental parts of a prayer:
Subhannallah (God is far from any imperfection)
Alhamdullilah (All praise is due to God)
Allahu Akbar (God is Most Great)
From Dr. Necati Aydin, who led the prayer:
The meaning of the prayers is the offering of glorification, praise, and thanks to Almighty God. That is to say, uttering Glory be to God by word and action before God’s glory and sublimity, it is to hallow and worship Him. And declaring God is Most Great through word and act before His sheer perfection, it is to exalt and magnify Him. And saying All praise be to God with the heart, tongue, and body, it is to offer thanks before His utter beauty. That is to say, glorification, exaltation, and praise are like the seeds of the prayers. That is why these three things are present in every part of the prayers, in all the actions and words. It is also why these blessed words are each repeated thirty-three times after the prayers, in order to strengthen and reiterate the prayers’ meaning.
The abiding feeling I left with is that I had experienced a deep act of humility towards God and a profound appreciation for God’s earth and His creatures on it. I asked a Muslim woman about extremism in Islam after the prayers. She said it simply wasn’t the faith she knew. What I heard that Friday – at its core – was the message I heard in just about any church I’ve been to.
There are clearly enduring problems between these worlds and to pretend otherwise isn’t realistic. But surely in attempting to solve them – at the very least – we should start by truly understanding, which might start just one doorway and 45 minutes away.
Anyone wishing to visit The Islamic Center of Tallahassee may contact Liz.
(Photo credit)
August 2nd, 2009
As a part of my preparation for our last dinner A Rabbi, A Priest, A Pastor & An Imam I attended worship services with each of our speakers. Each visit was transformational in its own way. But it was my visit to a mosque that was most memorable.
Probably like most Americans, I had never been to a mosque and I had my own preconceived notions about what the experience would be like. As it probably should be, I was mostly wrong.
In getting ready, I expected to feel constrained by how I should dress. In part, I did (Florida in July screams bathing suit to me, not burqua). But beyond the overabundance of clothes, I give a thumbs-up to not having to put on make-up or jewelry. When I sat on the floor without shoes with Muslim women after the service (it felt very comfortable, like college girlfriends hanging), I learned that they see freedom in not needing to dress to please others, which can be a distraction from doing their daily work and serving God. (This is self-evident to any woman who’s worn stockings. I’m still convinced that stockings are a secret communist plot to overthrow capitalism, but then that’s a post for another day.) At the far edges of the dysfunction our culture owns, there are dangerous surgical procedures to tuck, stretch and saw off. At the very least I think it’s fair to say that women in our culture have some of our own constraints and I do believe the whole glass houses and stones thing.
The prototypical newsreel footage of Muslims at worship subconsciously hints at militarism, sort of a gentler version of North Korean soldiers on the march. In person it was nothing like that. The prayer was poetic, the movements in the prayer like a peaceful ballet that appealed to me in the same way as do the liturgical traditions of my own Episcopal Church. Taking a front row seat inside a mosque shows the texture of the individual humanity that the two-dimensional view from outside totally misses – the people moving in and out of the service, the babies crying, a random sneeze or cough… making it feel just like any church on any Sunday morning.
It’s pretty easy to characterize people before you’ve bothered to cross their threshold. And it’s pretty hard to hate them after you have. If I had one prescription for world peace after my visit to the mosque, it’s that you should go to a mosque or two (and Muslims to a church or two). What a tragedy it would be if peace could come so simply but we somehow never got around to it.
Stay tuned next Sunday for my visit to the mosque, part two. (Good stories have cliffhangers, eh?)
(Photo credit.)
July 26th, 2009
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