The fifth discussion group at our interfaith Congregational Liaison Meeting discussed how to deal with the connection between faith and politics. How can we bring our faith values to the public sphere while respecting the separation of church and state? (You can also read reports 1: Global Warming, 2: Other Issues, 3: Peace in Iraq, and 4: Interfaith Dialogue/Scriptural Reasoning).

Who

• Irvin Green (Memorial Christian Church, DOC)
• Jenny Howard - notes (Northside Presbyterian Church)
• Odile Hugunot Haber (Reconstructionist Havurah)
• Fran Lyman (1st Unitarian Universalist Congregation)
• Kelle Parsons (Lord of Light Lutheran Campus Ministry)
• Amy Rosenberg (Temple Beth Emeth)
• Abby Weinberg - facilitator (AA Reconstructionist Havurah)
• Bryan Weinert (Zion Lutheran Church)
• Tom Wilson (1st Unitarian Universalist Congregation)
• Tad Wysor (MOSES/Gamaliel)

Charge

Abby - How can we joyfully and strategically use the fact that we are people of faith to strengthen our social justice work?

Some other members of the group had a somewhat different idea - How can we work to oppose and counteract inappropriate mixing of faith into politics?

Discussion

Tom - Religions/government too closely tied, especially financially. Refer to newsletter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. How can we take action?

Jenny - Faith leads to political acts for peace.

Tad - Fragmentation among faith communities is disempowering. Intentional relationship building including with public officials. Faith adds element of sacredness to our work.

Irvin - “Intersection” rather than “separation” of church and state is desirable. Separation too, so neither dominates. Free people to be both political and religious.

Abby - Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh are examples of integration. Integrated in her life also.

Odile - Progressives seldom outwardly mix their faith and politics. We need to do this to counterbalance the Right, which is already doing this. E.g. Sacred Texts work (such as ICPJ “Sacred Texts and Heart of Peace” program); visibility in community; family oriented.

Bryan - People of faith can contribute love, compassion, empathy, dialog to peace/justice work beyond the secular.

Amy - How do you bring people together for work on peace, when they think they have different ideas? e.g. different faith traditions

Fran - Total separation of church and state. Yet social justice is a religious issue. Emphasis: listen to each other. Called for research on presidential candidates - where do they stand on separation of church and state, on intersection of religion and politics?

Kelle - Bring people of faith together: Left and Right.

Abby - As a group, what do we see as our action or next steps?

Fran - Social justice is beyond religion.

Several - In this group, is “separation of church and state” in opposition to “faith in politics”?

Tom - We have to leave our religion behind and turn it into a universal ethic.

Tad - Disagrees “completely.”

Irvin - We do have a dichotomy in the group. We should not leave religion behind.

Paul - Progressive politics is not necessarily less violent than conservative. How does each teach non-violence? e.g. Iraq invasion was supported by both sides

Jenny - Non-violent dialog, e.g. LARA method taught by Quaker LGBT social activists.

Tad - How are my religious values/traditions expressed in terms of ethics? Seeking common ground here: e.g. operating out of hope, not fear/hate; e.g. operating from an assumption of abundance, not scarcity/zero-sum.

Irvin - This dichotomy can be useful. We in this group have expressed our differences with more thought and depth than many others: why we believe what we believe.

Tom - Having “In God We Trust” on our money is an example of obstacles to progress.

Sean - Example of Martin Luther King Jr. and African-American civil rights movement.

Abby - Jesus Camp movie showed blurring of faith and politics. Faith communities as an organizing tool.

Kelle - Young people shy away from the term “religion” - perceived as more divisive term than “faith”

Paul - Ethics rather than commandments.

Irvin - Ethics comes from a “home” too. Therefore not universal.

Odile - Example of Gandhi: acting from his ethics/religion. Not teaching his ethics.

Fran - What can we agree on? To lead us to: what to take action on?

Abby - Brainstorming ideas for programming/action?

Irvin - Respectful blog.

Sean - Reaffirming “endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights”. Talking as essence of democracy. Face-to-face meetings necessary.

Tad - Prefers in-person to electronic communication. Importance of talking.

Tom - We all have e-mail. Let’s set up a list.

Jenny - I’ll do it.

Odile - How about interfaith roundtable, discuss scriptures?

Bryan - College group - organize.

Fran - Involve Guild House.

Odile/Fran - Find/pick a topic.

Tad - Possible topic: Where do we see the contradictions between our faith traditions and the real world?

Fran - Interfaith Roundtable meets 12:30-2:00 at Genesis (Temple Beth Emeth/St. Clare’s) on 2nd Tuesday of each month.