I'm not a particularly religious man. In fact, I could fairly be described as a rather atheistic man - although I prefer to think of myself as a humanist. (In my universe, the lives and welfare of human beings trump those of lesser creatures. But that's a debate for another day.)
However, even as a member of the non-deity believing folk, I've been disheartened lately by the religious debates here, if you can call them "debates." More like mud-slinging.
Its one thing to have healthy disagreement over issues of religion and politics and the intersection of the two. It an entirely different thing to compare one person's deeply held religious, cultural and personal beliefs to a belief in fat man in a red suit who hangs out with elves at the North Pole. Its not an appropriate analogy. If anything, its a downright insulting and disrespectful one. And it certainly has absolutely nothing to do with being a progressive.
More on progressives, God, politics and how we should treat each other on the flip.
I can understand the position that religion should not be involved in the activities of government, nor should the government effectively proselytize on behalf of one religious group or another. Its something I support. We don't want the government to be preaching to our kids in school, or to advocate on behalf of an "official" religion in government programs or to subsidize worship.
For the progressive community, I think this is a fairly non-controversial topic, believer or non-believer alike. Even for progressive persons of faith, I think it would be fairly obvious that such actions can lead to the suppression of religion in general, as one particular faith gets preferenced over another. Separation of church and state - church out of state, state out of church - is a core reason why we have such a diverse flourishing of religion in this country. Muslim, Jew and Christian alike (as well as Buddhist, Shinto, or Wiccan) all manage to worship in the same corner of the globe without killing each other or blowing up each others temples or churches.
However, it is a far stretch, and a seriously misguided one, to make the leap from the "seperation of church and state" to the "separation of church and politics." And its a potentially fatal one for the Democratic Party if adopted as our creed.
Religion and politics has a long history in our country - a sometimes tense relationship, but an ultimately fruitful one, as long as the principle of the marketplace of ideas continues to have merit in a democratic republic. Some of us in the progressive community are drawn to our political activism by virute of secular moral values - for example, we should help the economically disadvantaged because its the right thing to do, or we should protect the environment because its the right thing to do.
But for others, their faiths drive their system of values and its effect on their political activism. Faith and the values derived therefrom, are inseperable. You help the poor because God commands it. You protect the environment because God expects you to be a good steward of the world He has created.
Persons of faith have played a long and important role in the advancement of progressive causes in this country. For example, the Calvinist John Brown, the religious "zealot" of the 19th century, organized a liberation army of white men and black freemen on an attack at Harper's Ferry. His life and death galvanized the abolitionist movement and played a crucial role in leading this country to force the end of slavery in the slave states, even if at the end of a bayonet. The famous Battle Hymn of the Republic was lifted from the tune "John Brown's Body" - an abolitionist song that countless Union soldiers sang on their way to battle. Frederick Douglass once said of John Brown - "I could live for the slave, but he could die for him." It was a burning faith in God that drove John Brown - a faith he wore on his sleeve and everywhere else on his body.
A hundred years later, another man of faith continued that fight for civil rights. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as we all know, was a man of the cloth. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference played one of the principle roles in the civil rights movement. Dr. King's speeches are not just peppered with his faith - they are completely infused with it. The title of this diary is quote from Dr. King. Dr. King's movement was ostensibly political - but it was religious as well. A religious and political movement that was open to ALL. So open to all, and so vital to our nation's history, that a progressive man of color and of the cloth has a federal holiday in his honor.
Which is as we should be. My atheist/humanist skin is not so thin that I cannot handle someone wanting to talk to me about their faith and even try to get me to join theirs. I can handle it - and I might even try to convince you to become a humanist. Its a conversation I am willing to have. It may get tense at times, we may disagree on some important issues, but I will respect the religious aspects of your life just as you should respect the non-religious aspects of mine. At the end of the day, we will still break bread together.
I recall when I was a lapsed humanist, attending a progressive Lutheran congreation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. LGBT-friendly, gender neutral worhsip service, homless shelter in the basement, soup kitchen and all that. Eventually I un-lapsed back to humanism, but it still amazes me that those congregants got up early every Sunday morning, put on nice clothes and trundled across town to sit down and have a conversation about how to be better people, how to advance the cause of good in the world, how to help the downtrodden and afflicted, and to share peace with each other. Its far more than I manage on a Sunday morning most times.
I welcome my progressive brothers and sisters of faith as much as I welcome those with humanist beliefs like mine. Not just mere tolerance, but openess of arms to the conversation. Because what is important is what unites us - an abiding dedication to fighting the evils of the world - greed, violence, hatred, gluttony. We are united in our opposition to those who would put their own personal vanities and desires ahead of the good of our neighbors, our community, our republic. Sins against God, sins against Man, sins against Us all.
Peace be with you.
And also with you