I just started reading True Compass by Teddy Kennedy this weekend and thought I'd share what Senator Kennedy identified as the core of his religious and political beliefs:
"My own center of belief, as I matured and grew curious about these things, moved toward the great Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25 especially, in which he calls us to care for the least of these among us, and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned.
It’s enormously significant to me that the only description in the Bible about salvation is tied to one’s willingness to act on behalf of one’s fellow human beings. The ones who will be deprived of salvation – the sinners – are those who’ve turned away from their fellow man. People responsive to the great human condition, and who’ve tried to alleviate its misery – these will be the ones who join Christ in Paradise.
(True Compass, Page 29)
Excerpts Of "True Compass: A Memoir," By Edward M. Kennedy
One does not have to be Christian to agree with the core goodness of this passage:
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, ' I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:34-40 (New International Version)
I read that yesterday and thought of all the fundamentalists who elevate the pursuit of wealth and despoiling our planet into the core of Christianity. The ones who fight against health care for all, who rail against helping others, who yell out "You Lie" when they are the liars. They obviously missed or choose not to hear the message in Mathew 25, for it is in direct contradiction to their lives.
I'm not very religious, but I like Mathew 25 a lot. Heard it as a kid in Catholic school and was influenced by it.
I'll close with a personal story. My daughter is 22 and now in law school. I talked with her yesterday and she told me an interesting story. She was at party Friday night talking to someone, I think a finance major, and she said something like this: "Obama is okay but he's a little conservative for me." The person she was talking to freaked out, saying, "conservative? He's way too liberal." Then he asked her," Do you want to spend your hard earned money giving health insurance to people who don't earn as much?" She said, "Yes. Of course." End of dialogue.
We did not raise her religiously. In fact, I suggested to her as a freshman in college to tell people she was "NPR secular" when they asked what religion she was, and she told a few that as a joke. Her answer was in keeping with the core concept of compassion for others that underlies Mathew 40, as well as many precepts of Judiasm, Islam, Buddhism, etc.
I recommend True Compass. I'm about 40 pages into it so far and it's a great read.
2008 DNC Tribute and Speech by Sen. Edward Kennedy.
And I'll end with his enduring words from 1980:
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.