Archive for the ‘In the Field’ Category

In Iowa: Recognizing the merits of change, protect the rights of others

Monday, February 1st, 2010

January 31, 2010 Des Moines Register:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100131/OPINION01/1310317/1035/arc

Guest column by CONNIE RYAN TERRELL-executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. Contact: connie@interfaithallianceiowa.org

In any public conversation, that which defines us is the manner in which we debate. Do we do so with integrity and civility, or not? The Jan. 24 guest essay in the Register by Bryan English argued that Iowans have a right to vote to allow or to ban same-sex marriage. However, English’s article distorted important facts.

Regardless of the religious right’s attempts to rewrite history, marriage has always been an organic, ever-changing institution. Even Biblical literalists must acknowledge that marriage has changed throughout history as humanity and our critical-thinking skills evolved. What marriage looked like in Old Testament times is a far cry from marriage today.

One cannot honestly argue that “traditional marriage” is the only form of marriage ever to exist. Historically, women were, and in some countries still are, treated as property with no rights. In our country, interracial marriage was forbidden only a few short decades ago. The institution of marriage changed due to the pressure from those who understood a more progressive future. The government then interrupted the socially accepted norms by changing the laws. Thankfully, our society understands the value of change.

What role should religion play in this discussion? Let’s be clear. The public debate on same-sex marriage is about civil marriage, not sacred marriage. Those who argue against civil marriage equality do so solely from their particular religious perspective. They have a right to their religious belief, they just cannot write it into our civil law. Thankfully, the U.S. and Iowa Constitutions are very clear on this point.

History proves that differences in civil law and religious beliefs can cohabitate. For example, there are faith traditions that disagree with civil laws that sanction divorce. Our state and U.S. Constitutions protect the rights of religious institutions to handle divorce according to their beliefs. However, civil law stands as the law of the land. Religious liberty is our most precious freedom. If we can agree on nothing else, let us at least agree to protect faith and freedom in our state and country.

Those who publicly rally against same-sex marriage most often speak from their faith, usually as Christians. They typically assert that their faith speaks with one voice on the subject, and those who disagree are not true believers. It is an arrogant assertion. People of faith span the full spectrum of beliefs on this and many other social issues. Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist, Sikh, or any other, there is no unanimous understanding in any faith. We see things through the lenses of our life’s experience and we interpret from that.

Regardless, the differences between people of faith are secondary in the discussion on civil marriage. This is a societal conversation about access to civil rights and responsibilities. Do we as a society believe all people have equal protection under the law? Or, do we as a society believe in an institutionalized class system defining the haves and the have-nots?

Years ago, the Iowa Legislature passed a marriage law that clearly disregarded the Iowa Constitution’s equal protection clause. The Iowa Supreme Court used its rightful powers to dismantle that unconstitutional law. The religious right disingenuously asserts the Supreme Court overstepped its authority. Their current tactic is to contend that elected officials are blocking the public’s right to vote.

Since when has Iowa ever placed the rights of others on the public chopping block?

When have we ever dissolved the rights of a group of people by adding discrimination to our Constitution?

As the public discussion continues on civil marriage equality, let us do so with integrity and civility. Scare tactics, distorting history and perpetuating myths never serve the public’s best interest. This can only be ensured when the rights of all are equally protected by our government and by each of us.

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Posted in In the Field, Uncategorized, public policy issues | 1 Comment »

Good Start, Now We Need Good Action

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

The following is cross-posted from the Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith forum:

I am delighted to hear President Obama speaking to the Muslim world in a part of the Muslim world and not just speaking about the Muslim world.  The president’s message in Turkey was precisely the message appropriate for the President of the United States to deliver anywhere and everywhere.

Frankly, I find it disturbing, as well as a bit sad, that so many people feel it necessary to congratulate the president for understanding and speaking about basic concepts of religious freedom and pluralism. No president with a constitutional conscience should say less or more than President Obama said.  A majority of United States citizens claiming Christianity as their religion does not make the United States a Christian nation.  The Constitution reflects our people’s appreciation for religion while leaving no doubt that the government of the nation is secular in nature.  Subsequently, never should the United States government go to war against any religion or on behalf of any religion.  Any time the last option of war has to be chosen to resolve an international dilemma, the target of our nation’s military action should be a foreign government entity or rogue terrorists, not a religion.

The speech was brilliant.  Now it is time for action. Speaking is not doing; words are not actions.  The president has a civil and moral responsibility to see that this nation does not seek to promote or establish any one religion or religion itself and to assure that all citizens are beneficiaries of civil rights and liberties even if they are out of step with a popular, even majority, religious point of view among other citizens.

I applaud the president’s efforts to demonstrate to the international community his strong commitment to repairing relations with foreign governments generally and with the global Muslim community specifically.  But there is also work to be done here at home.  This work, too, will deliver an important message to the rest of the world.

Too many Muslims living in this country still feel like second class citizens. Too many non-Christians in this land continue to feel like our government favors one religion over another. I appeal to President Obama to find specific ways to make clear at home his commitment to religious pluralism and to religious freedom as promised by the Constitution.

No speech or act is as influential or transformational as are consistency and continuity between a person’s words and actions.  In that regard, President Obama is off to a good start.

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Posted in In the Field, Welton | No Comments »

Concerning presidents and privacy

Monday, April 13th, 2009

After getting up very early yesterday for Easter services, I was a little groggy on my Metro ride into work today. As I flipped through my Washington Post, I found this headline in the Metro Section:

For Easter, Obamas Pick A Safe Bet

That’s right, the Obama family went to St. John’s Episcopal Church (located across the street from the White House) for services yesterday. It’s a sad reflection on American society that even a president’s choice of a church should be calculated in terms of political risk, but President Obama made his faith an issue during the campaign, a tactic we at the Interfaith Alliance warned against. So I don’t disparage the Washington Post for writing this story. For better or worse, it has some news value.

Where I do take issue with the Washington Post was covering one detail of the Obama’s visit to St. John’s:

All four family members took communion at the Episcopal church yesterday.

I have a number of problems with this revelation.

  1. It is irrelevant information for the public because it has no bearing over the president’s ability to do his job.
  2. It makes the Washington Post look more like People Magazine when they report on what food Angelina Jolie orders at a L.A. restaurant.
  3. It is a violation of privacy for the Obama family.

Look I know presidents and their families have to sacrifice some privacy in order to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It comes with the territory. But the decision to take communion is a very personal choice. I know first-hand: I have helped serve communion at a local church for the past five years. Many of the people I served were taking communion for the very first time. In the Christian tradition, this is one the most important sacraments that Christians partake in to feel more connected with God. So I asked myself how I would feel if my communion habits were printed in the Washington Post. I would be outraged.

Look, I realize that communion has been used as a political weapon in the past. I understand why the Washington Post printed that detail – the president’s religion is a political issue. I am merely arguing that the private religious expression of the president and his family ought not to be a political issue. If the Post had not printed the communion choices made by the First Family, they still would be able to cover the story fully, but still leave the Obamas a modicum of privacy. That would have been a better outcome.

Posted in In the Field, Live from the Conventions, The Lighter Side, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Public Schools + Religion = Success Story

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Religion is not only at the crux of electoral and international politics, its influence has also been on the rise in the past few decades. Naturally, the most religiously diverse nation in the history of humanity ensures that its students learn about this omnipresent force, right?

Wrong.

California’s Modesto school district is the only one in the country to require students to take a world religions course. Students are allowed to opt out of the 9th grade class, but in the eight years it has been offered, few have. Those that oppose the class on grounds of ‘constitutionality’ are failing to make an important distinction: there is a big difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion. Though it requires exceptional preparation and tact, the latter is both legal and imperative.

Numerous media reports have tracked the success of this course, with multiple studies noting that students gained “respect for religious liberty as well as for basic First Amendment rights.” Sounds good to me.

I find it more than a little ridiculous that a graduate of the K-12 American school system will have taken roughly 26 semesters of mathematics (with many courses in obscure disciplines like trigonometry) but not a single course on the world’s religions. As Americans, we come into contact with someone of a different faith on a fairly regular basis. Trigonometry, on the other hand…well, let’s just say I haven’t given sine or cosine a thought since my junior year of high school. After all, very few of us spend our days computing the relationship between the sides and angles of a triangle.

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Posted in Daily News, First Amendment, In the Field | 3 Comments »

Rosh Hashanah in Eastern North Carolina

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

I spent the first of this week in Wilmington, NC with my parents for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  Besides getting a chance to see the ocean for a final time this season, I also had the opportunity to hear some fine sermons.  My parent’s rabbi is Harley Karz-Wagman, and he preached a sermon on the power of language.  He explained the need for people to take back language from the Christian Right and from people blasting GLBT equality among other examples.

The Christian Right, he said, does not represent most Christians and in fact is not “right” at all. GLBT equality is about the basic rights of all people to visit their loved ones at their hospital beds and to inherit estates; it is not about harming families or getting special privileges.  His sermon spoke to me because the day before the Christian Right launched the offensive you have read about before on this website, that would allow (taxpayer subsidized) religion to become a partisan political tool.  Congregations in America have the privilege and the responsibility of being tax exempt.  Rabbi Karz-Wagman was able to follow the rules of a tax deductible organization and speak powerfully on important issues.

The next morning I read the local paper and learned that Brunswick County, the county next door, was having a fight over teaching creationism in schools alongside evolution.  My favorite quote came from a Catholic priest named Father Hector La Chapelle who is standing against this attack on science: “The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”  That is some great wisdom for the folks who think their take on religion is the one to teach in public schools.

Maybe everyone on the Brunswick school board should sit down with Rabbi Karz-Wagman, Father La Chapelle, and all the other clergy in the area and see if they can all decide which version of the Bible they should use to teach children about science.  If anyone thinks that is a simple question, read the article and see what the Buddhist monk in the area says about it.

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State of Belief Preview

Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Obama Religion Guru Joshua DuBois

Obama Religion Guru Joshua DuBois

This weekend on State of Belief: The Democrats are having a party and people of faith are definitely invited. The Obama campaign’s Director of Religious Affairs Joshua DuBois talks with us about the role of faith at next week’s Democratic National Convention.

Progressive and Religious, by Richard P. Jones

Progressive and Religious, by Robert P. Jones

Author Ronald Aronson is in disbelief. We’ll talk with him about his column from last week’s Denver Post that asks: “What about Democrats who are not ‘People of Faith’“? And, author Robert P. Jones joins us in studio to discuss his new book ‘Progressive and Religious’ .

You can listen to State of Belief by Podcast, on your local Air America affiliate, or on XM Satellite Radio – Channel 167 on Saturdays from 10 am – 11 am EST/7 am – 8 am PST and Sundays from 7 pm -8 pm EST/4 pm -5 pm PST.

Religion and Radio done differently, this weekend, on State of Belief.

State of Belief host Rev. Welton Gaddy in studio with gues Robert P. Jones

State of Belief host Rev. Welton Gaddy in studio with guest Robert P. Jones

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Posted in First Amendment, In the Field, Legislative Update, State of Belief | No Comments »

Interfaith Alliance of CO Fights School Prayer Initiative

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Religious Right leaders in Colorado are aiming to create a ballot initiative to dedicate five minutes each day for “prayer or meditation” in their public schools. Thirteen other states have passed similar legislation, though a federal court is hearing a constitutional challenge to a moment of silence law in Illinois.

Fortunately, one of the strongest chapters of the Interfaith Alliance is based in Colorado and they are already gearing up for this fight. According to a story from 9News, the Denver NBC affiliate:

The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado released a statement on the petition drive. The Interfaith Alliance is a group promoting religious freedom made up of 13 congregational partners across the state with more than 800 members. The statement outlines concerns over intertwining religion and the public school system.

“It is imperative to preserve our democracy by respecting religious freedom, protecting individual rights, and pursuing public policies that promote the common good, instead of one religious or political viewpoint,” said Rev. Patrick Hurley, president of the Alliance, in a written statement. “The bottom line is that we believe public schools are for education and not religious worship, rituals, or indoctrination.”

Well put. And good luck.

This is a great example of the Religious Right putting lipstick on a pig.  Supporters of this type of legislation might call it a moment of silence, but they are really trying to push prayer.  And prayer is only genuine when it is voluntary.

In order for the initiative to be listed on this fall’s ballot, 76,000 residents must sign a petition. The Colorado Secretary of State has given permission for school prayer supporters to begin collecting signatures. We will keep you posted as Election Day draws closer.

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