allfaiths

INTRODUCTION: In the Democratic presidential primaries last year, the contenders were all seeking to gain identity and momentum. In the process, the media created the hype that any candidate who hoped to win should talk openly and candidly about his religious faith. Several TV-talking heads were sure that one of the reasons George W. Bush was doing well in the polls was because he talked openly about his Christian experience and how it had helped him break his addiction to alcohol. In fact, in the previous presidential debates with Al Gore, when Jim Lehrer had asked him who was his favorite philosopher, without any hesitation, he said, “Jesus Christ.”

Four years later, the conventional wisdom was that every Democrat running for president should be clear about Jesus, as well. Starting with Iowa, Democratic presidential candidates who had never done so, began to relate how much their Christian faith mattered to them. They all were true blue believers, who were more than glad to come out of the closet about their long held religious, i.e., Christian, faith.

It even included Dr. Howard Dean, who had become one of the frontrunners by going against the stream. But now, it seemed, with the race in the balance, and with the wind blowing to the right, Dr. Dean joined in “I’m religious, too” parade. He said to the New York Times that his most favorite book in the New Testament was the book of Jonah. Plus, he made other ill-informed comments about Jonah that were bound to alienate the very bible-sensitive public he was trying to reach.

An hour later, he realized what he had said, but the damage had already been done. The most egregious was his mistakenly placing Jonah in what Christians call the Old Testament; most certainly, it could not have been his most favorite book in the New Testament.

I like Howard Dean. I’m glad he’s the chair of the Democratic Party. But his actions raise an important question, totally apart from his unfortunate interview with the Times. It’s this: Why has religion become such an important issue in our political life? And why should a candidate’s favorite Christian book even be an issue?

To my mind, on this Law Day 2005, there’s another bible we should be more concerned about as citizens. I’m referring of course to “bible” as Webster defines it in one entry, “a publication that is preeminent, especially in authoritativeness.” For certain, that designation applies to the U.S. Constitution. What does the American bible say about the religion of the candidates for political office?

Article VI, paragraph 3 reads, “…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

No test. To me, that’s the kind of religion candidates should be talking about…the freedom of religion…the separation between church and state, as Jefferson described it, between the mosque and state, synagogue and state. The Founding Fathers intended for one’s personal religious preferences to remain personal…and never to be a litmus test for public office.

Let me take the logic of that declaration one step further. In addition to its being unconstitutional for political candidates to be tested for their religious faith, when they go ahead and make a point to declare their faith it seems to me that it violates the clear spirit, if not the intent, of the law. If one shares his faith, it is a small step then to pressuring opposing candidates to do the same – exactly what the Constitution was designed to prevent. Whether it’s Howard Dean or George Bush, America would be much better served if candidates and politicians didn’t attempt to mix their faith and politics.

In the Appreciative Inquiry process, which we went through earlier this year, it asked us to focus on the good things that had happened. That can some times be a challenge to talk positively about our previous religious relationship. It’s a little bit like going through a divorce. How many of you have heard people who while going through divorce praise their soon-to-be ex-spouse? It would probably qualify for Guinness Book of World Records, were it to occur.

Ditto, for our former religious relationship. Why are we Unitarian? Well, let me tell you how bad my previous faith was…bang, pow, whop!

I understand that, and the reason I understand it, is because I’ve been there and done that…big time. In fact, I wish I could take it all back. In its place, instead of running down where I came from, I wish I had known how to express appreciation for all those in my past religious affiliation who tried to help me along the way.

Amanda was telling me of receiving a letter from one of her closest friends this past week. It contained a picture of the woman’s son, who is graduating from high school this year. It also included a note in which she mentioned that she was in the process of an “emotional Spring-cleaning.” She had experienced the deaths of three persons who were very close to her in a period of only three months. In response, she was no longer willing to take for granted that people she cared about would always be there.

Instead she was going to do an “emotional Spring-cleaning.” By that she meant she was going all the way back to high school to express appreciation to special people in her life, and to bring cloture to ruptured friendships and relationships. Where there was a rift, she was going to try and repair the damage.

I liked that phrase: emotional Spring-cleaning…powered by appreciation and the willingness to make amends.

What if we took that attitude towards our religious past? I’m aware that we all have some “done-me-wrong” songs we could sing. But what about moving beyond the negative and the corrosive and that which was wrong? What if we focused on the good that was given to us?

And maybe we also include any people we may have hurt or who hurt us. Maybe we write them a letter that offers no justification for what we did, but rather appreciation for what they did. Skip what they did wrong…that’s their problem. Grab hold of the good and don’t let go.

One of the spiritual experiences, which the Summer Services Task Force has recommended for us this summer, is to keep a “Gratitude Journal.” In fact, Midge Magstadt is securing little spiral notebooks for all of us to have and to write down each day – the one, two, or three things we’re grateful for. The Time Magazine issue that we used as a resource reported that such practices as Gratitude Journals actually elevate people’s happiness quotient.

The point is, gratitude is healthy. Being positive is beneficial to our whole self. Living with an attitude of gratitude can do wonders for us. So maybe we should be thankful for our religious past despite the parts that we were lucky to survive. Maybe there is another way to talk about religion.

II. LEARNING TO EXPLAIN WHY WHAT WE BELIEVE IS MEANINGFUL AND FULFILLING SPIRITUALLY.

In an earlier lifetime, when I realized that at the very deepest level, I no longer believed what my parents and our church had taught, I was emotionally devastated. I had envisioned myself as a Pentecostal preacher from the time I was in high school. I sang in a gospel quartet, spent four years in an unaccredited Bible college, took four years of New Testament Greek, preached 319 times in one year, could quote entire chapters of the bible, and I loved to preach and sing and pray. And all my friends were that way too. They cared for me and I cared for them.

Leaving was one of the most freeing intellectual things I’ve ever done. But at a cost. My father wept when he read my book in which I rejected the importance of the spiritual experience so important to him and to Pentecostals.

So what is it that makes us leave what was so important…including friends and family…to practice something so rare as Unitarianism? How do we explain what we believe as meaningful and fulfilling spiritually, but without a need to be negative about the past or others who differ? I think there are these powerful ideas at work that we can consider as important:

I was taught that doubt was a sin and faith was a virtue. It is so fulfilling to realize that honest doubt is the precursor to faith. Because of doubt, we can explore without fear all kinds of options and opinions without worrying that they might lead us astray. Learning about our world, its past and the prospects for the future, are all a part of what it means to be human.

I still remember when I went to the University after going to bible college, of praying before going into my science class, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t disprove the bible. That was a tragic misunderstanding of both science and the bible. Faith does not have to be protected from other ideas. Honest doubt is an asset…a virtue.

That means we’re open to other religions. We do not see the great religions of the world in competition. We don’t need to demonize them. We won’t seek to prove them wrong. Rather, we will try to learn from them, what it is that they have to offer to us, and our world.

Haneef Ramay has been such an inspiring witness to his Islamic faith. He has a wonderful grasp of the Qur’an, an abiding respect for the prophet Muhammad, and such a deep appropriation into his life of what it means to be Muslim. I love to hear him call us to prayer. At All Faiths, we’ve learned that Islam has much to teach us.

Our meditation group was led the past few months by a Buddhist. Jerry Koenke has the credentials of a true pilgrim. Spiritual strength simply emanates from him. So many of us have been blessed by his spiritual leadership. We can learn much from Buddhism.

We have so many Jews in our congregation, many of whom go to Shabat at the synagogue on Friday nights and here to All faiths on Sunday mornings. Jews have an influence in our society far beyond their numbers. And most times it’s on things that matter, on issues of justice and equality. Judaism is a great witness to the capacities of the human spirit.

And so it is for other faiths as well, especially the Christian faith from which so many of us came. The message of Jesus has been transformative for so many.

As people of faith, we believe that all religions have something positive to teach us.

3. We believe it’s the journey itself which yields the blessings unique to faith.

Years ago, a friend of mine developed an advertising campaign for Campus Crusade for Christ that used the slogan, “I found it.” The “it” referred of course to Christian salvation. There were billboards, radio and TV, space ads and direct mail. It was hugely successful as a media campaign.

But if there is one thing that sets us apart as Unitarians it’s on this topic. We do not hold to the notion that there is a need for a once-for-all, done-for-ever, nothing-else-needed, hop-in-the-boat religious experience, but rather, life is a continuing series of discoveries, and of finding new and different ways to be the whole person we were meant by God to be. Instead, we believe that faith is a lifetime process. And because it is, we may change our beliefs many times. That’s good. That’s positive. That’s what life is about. It’s a journey.

We speak of the process of faith, rather than the articles of faith. That means when appropriate, we learn to say we believe in believing; but we’re not so sure about what. We believe in the commas of faith, rather than the periods. We believe in pauses for reflection, rather than stops of certainty. We believe that faith is like a river in which you can step, but never in the same place twice.

So how do we explain our faith? We do not fear doubt…we have great respect for all religions…and we see the life of faith as a journey, not a destination.

CONCLUSION

Back in the summer of 2001, I was just returning from a year in East Lansing, Michigan, when I read a racist column in the News-Press that Charlie Reese had written. I found it particularly offensive.

During the year I was gone from Ft. Myers, a new publisher, Carol Hudler, had just come on board at the News-Press, so I wrote her a letter and invited her to lunch to talk about dropping Reese from the stable of News-Press writers. I was tremendously influential as you can tell, by the fact that he’s still running, though I must say she too was offended by his column!

Nonetheless, that particular Charlie Reese experience made me enjoy all the more reading in the Mailbag yesterday, this letter from our Mary Ellen Taylor. She wrote:

Charley Reese’s April 28 column states that American Catholics who disagree with the church on such issues as celibate priests, no women being ordained and birth control should ‘get out and become Unitarians or whatever pleases them.’ I am a former Catholic who has done exactly that. My search has led me to the loving, accepting, rational and ethical spiritual community of All Faiths Unitarian Congregation in Fort Myers.

[1] Given on May 01, 2005, Law Day, at All Faiths Unitarian Congregation, meeting in the Foulds Theater at the Alliance for the Arts, 10091 McGregor Boulevard, Ft. Myers, FL, by the Rev. Dr. Wayne Robinson, minister.