On Not Abandoning Your (or Sen. Obama's) Church

I blogged yesterday about Sen. Obama's various reasons for sticking with a congregation whose pastor he surely disagrees with. Then today I read this comment sent to Andrew Sullivan's blog, then posted by him:

We left our synagogue recently, the synagogue at which both of our children were B'nai Mitzvah [the plural of bar mitzvah --MO], and whose previous rabbi officiated at our wedding. Why? Because we did not like the political tone that was being created by the new rabbi. Simple. We chose not to be associated with it! And neither of us is running for President!

Well, I could hardly have found a better example of how, in my opinion, not to interpret religious membership. As I tried to argue yesterday, it's a very limited view of religious membership that people in a congregation should all think the same way. It's not only limited -- it's a perfect recipe for a divided America, in which "conservative" congregations are anti-gay and Republican, for example, and "liberal" congregations are pro-gay, pro-feminism, Democratic, etc. Do we want our religious congregations to fit so neatly into categories? Do we want them to be country clubs with rigid rules for membership?

That's what Sullivan's correspondent is, in effect, arguing for.

If I disagreed with my rabbi's politics -- as I on occasion do -- I'd see it as my job to talk with him. Or maybe ask if I might preach a guest sermon arguing a different point of view. Or maybe accost him during the kiddush (the meal after the religious service) and explain why I think he's all wrong. What's more, I would see it as a strength of my congregation -- I do see it as a strength -- that I can't predict anything about its members' politics just because they are members. Most of them are left of center, but probably not all.

Beyond that, I hardly see my membership in the synagogue as a primarily political act. I'd abandon the Democratic Party if it departed from my politics too much. But my synagogue is not my political party. It has less money, for one thing. I don't think our rabbi would have pardoned Marc Rich, for another. Differences too numerous to count.

To the fellow who left his shul because the rabbi displeased him: Did you have no friends who made you want to stay? No attachment to the melodies? Was it just the local Democratic Ward Committee?

Shoot, no wonder you jumped ship.