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PDF versionFaith should guide in all aspects of life, including politics
by Bill Tammeus on Jun. 15, 2011
The morning of the walk dawned crisp and spectacular, and our team collected in a church parking lot near the start.
More than 20 members of our congregation gathered with about 3,500 others for AIDSWalk 2011, the annual event that raises funds for the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Through our own donations and the pledges of others -- mostly gathered by our AIDS Ministry from other church members -- our team turned in nearly $4,000 to the cause.
This particular year we were walking in memory of our retired organist, who had died in February at a 24-hour skilled nursing care facility for HIV/AIDS patients that our church helped to create more than 10 years ago.
It was, among other things, a way of remembering that by the time this man told our congregation he had the HIV virus, our AIDS Ministry had been around long enough to do the necessary work of educating our congregation about the disease. The result was that no one in the congregation denounced the man, either to him personally or in public. Rather, he was embraced and supported and loved.
This is part of what congregations are called to do. They have to be the ones who process information about what’s happening in the wounded world and then help members respond in ways that are in harmony with the values of the faith.
So in the case of AIDS, those of us who became members of our ministry team first educated ourselves. Then we began to educate the congregation at large. Education does not, of course, mean passing along prejudices. Rather, it means knowing facts and sharing them. And it means hoping that facts eventually form the basis for wisdom, which can guide a measured and compassionate response.
The same approach is needed no matter what the issue is -- from sexual abuse to immigration, from race relations to peacemaking.
And it is faith communities -- my church and yours -- that should be at the forefront of helping to create wholesome, helpful, loving responses to all these issues.
Sometimes, of course, we find faith communities leading the charge toward prejudice, making major contributions to the worst of the culture wars. Thus you find such fools as Fred Phelps announcing that God is punishing the U.S. because Americans accept gay people. And we have Terry Jones burning the Qur’an because he’s convinced that Islam is the religion of Satan.
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But these are among the sad exceptions in the U.S. Much more often we find congregations seeking to educate their members about public issues so they can respond in a sensible way.
In my own congregation within the past year we’ve offered not just Bible study but also sessions on immigration, the U.S. Supreme Court case that gave corporations the right to make huge contributions to political candidates, inner city crime, interfaith relations and much more.
I’m sure you can create a similar list from your own congregation. If not, it’s time to ask why not.
That’s because our faith should guide us in all aspects of living, including how we respond to hot-button public issues. If we’re simply falling for what the divisive talk show hosts are spitting out and not running it through the filter of faith, we wind up contributing to the problem of a house divided against itself.
I’m not suggesting that our clergy or other religious leaders tell us what to think about each issue. Not at all. But I am saying that our leaders have a responsibility to help us imagine what we should be thinking and doing about education, poverty, war, abortion, homosexuality, environmental degradation and much more.
If our faith isn’t helping us live compassionately and lovingly in a world filled with crises, what good is it? Besides, sometimes pondering these issues means getting out on one of God’s most beautiful mornings for a good walk.
[Bill Tammeus, a Presbyterian elder and former award-winning Faith columnist for The Kansas City Star, writes the daily “Faith Matters” blog for The Star’s Web site and a monthly column for The Presbyterian Outlook. His latest book, co-authored with Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn, is They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust. E-mail him at wtammeus@kc.rr.com.]
Bill, you wrote: "If our
Bill, you wrote: "If our faith isn’t helping us live compassionately and lovingly in a world filled with crises, what good is it?"
.
Wonderfully said! To this I might add, if our faith becomes nothing more than legalistic theology, institution and rules for their own sake — the theology, institution and rules become the 'god' to be rigidly worshiped above all else — what good is it other than becoming just another impotent idol? In the fray of politics and the culture wars, some have listened to their higher angels of community and Christ-like compassion while others seem to have wandered into the worst of the human nature dark side where no love or compassion for suffering can exist.
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Thank you for sharing how the gospel 'good news' is being lived within your own faith community.
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Alieen, there is a Cain and
Alieen, there is a Cain and Able in each of us, but a fearful leadership that responds to issues via false sense of authority is is actually the mind set of a tyrannical authoritarian. The mind set of the Bishops seems to be that of envious frenzy to the point of attempting to murder off any Person of God that might call into question an Episcopal need for control of newly hatched ideas. A large part of the Roman Episcopacy.is attempting to kill the carriers of those listening to the Holy Spirit in the present.
What a shame as it constitutes a schism of the leadership away from the People of God. The problem is the dark side manifestation of a Caine in the hearts and minds of so many Roman Catholic Bishops beginning with the one in Rome. To many the Bishop of Rome represents the Palpatine of social order, but to me he is a a fearful Caine figure that strikes out as if he were a powerful person but really shows us how small and weak and fallible he is. With these manifestations of foolishness, more and more people leave the Catholic Sunday pews. I can no longer stand to attend Sunday mass because of the dark political pictures painted by the bishops and only can stomach the mass of the weekday when there is no preaching.
I am not certain how that will change with the new translations. Maybe I will, as one of my Pre Vatican 2 mentors did, just sit in the last row and contemplate a better world. However, I find the beach or the mountains much more conducive of spirituality. I can even practice prayerful yoga in my own world with family and friends. Perhaps we should follow the Way of Christ with our own Eucharist as the Priesthood of Baptism is the important one practiced by the People of God for many years after Christ's death!
Pax,
R. Dennis Porch, MD
I'm very concerned with
I'm very concerned with 'immigration' and overcrowding, and the accompanying demands on resources and infrastructure, education, environment and health care. Wages and workers rights are very much affected by surplus labor.
If two people of good will can disagree on the this issue, how can the church involve itself in the issue without literally demonizing the other side?
Tell me, Mr. Tammeus, where do YOU draw the line on immigration?
Does Presbyterian thinking on
Does Presbyterian thinking on AIDS and HIV demonise the use of condoms, or worse, come up with silly nonsense like condoms don't work, as, to my great shame, happens in my own Church?
I'm not sure I get this next bit:
The result was that no one in the congregation denounced the man, either to him personally or in public. Rather, he was embraced and supported and loved.
Why would anyone in any congregation, anywhere, denounce someone who contracted a disease? Why would this be considered exceptional, or even worthy of comment?
I have a problem with many
I have a problem with many church sponsored programs on social justice issues. They are generally dominated by far left liberals and usually parrott the Democratic party line. As soon as they become identified with one political party, either one, or with special interests groups such as left wing organizations, they turn off the other side and independents. Both parties as well as conservatives and independents as well as liberals have something to contribute and should be included. However, it is usually extreme liberals who gravitate to those organizations.
"GUIDE" is the operative
"GUIDE" is the operative word, not "control" or "dominate." My faith is always growing and evolving; it's not the dictates of the magisterium.
"And it is faith communities
"And it is faith communities -- my church and yours -- that should be at the forefront of helping to create wholesome, helpful, loving responses to all these issues."
How about applying the Faith to the Catholic Schools?
A “preferential option for the poor” should be maintained in our Catholic
Schools. If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the
poor, the schools should be closed and the resources used for something else
which can be kept open to the poor. We cannot allow our Church to become a
church primarily for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the
poor. The priority should be given to the poor even if we have to let the
middle-class and rich fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and the resources
used for “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs which can
be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without Catholic
Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The essential
factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition, namely,
THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the
poor come first. (William Horan — w.horan@comcast.net.)
I hope that all these people
I hope that all these people who are involved in AIDS Walk-a-thons are also involved in Pro-Life in defense of the Pre-born. At this time, we all know how NOT to get AIDS but we don't know how NOT to get cancer. The money raised for AIDS would have been well spent on Cancer research. Cancer is the biggest killer in our modern day society.
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