If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Much of leaving was a clean break, but much of it was a slow, brutal tearing apart. The last six years have been a great experiment as I re-learn who I am, who God is, and how the world functions.
There is always a temptation to appeal to the sectarian interests of one's audience. America's leaders must resist that temptation and teach that people of all faiths, and those of no faith at all, are equally valued and respected.
Delivered with aplomb, the speaker took an adeptly right-handed swipe at President Obama. The response from the crowd was a predictable smattering of applause and boos, and while most sat in stunned silence, I was flabbergasted.
As he stepped into office, President Obama was without a primary spiritual mentor, without a spiritual home and still bruised from the religious bludgeoning of the campaign. Some administration officials report that it was just at this moment that a change began.
Every religion, every ideology and every construct of self implies a perspective on what constitutes the good life, as well as some kind of critique of the bad. But what are we to do when our ideals are in conflict?
As the political camps throw mud this week over a super PAC ad campaign that hasn't even run, close your eyes and dream for a moment about an America that rose to the occasion.
Americans must decide whether they support or oppose recognition of same-sex marriage in our civil laws, but they also must determine how religious objectors will be treated where same-sex marriages are recognized.
So rogue are most Roman Catholics when it comes to papal teaching, that Catholic dissidence often seems the norm.
Yes, we all need guidance as to what constitutes a moral approach to contentious issues. But we aren't helped by resolutions that force people to be either insiders or outsiders, driven even further apart in a society that's already politically polarized.
I believe in exacting change from the inside out by trying to make things better rather than abandoning them. But unless I can find a way to express my opposition to all forms of bigotry within the confines of my Church, I'm going to have to sit that pew out.
Fairness, kindness and love seem like ethereal notions empty of force in a world of power politics and free wheeling capitalism. Those who seek to order public life by "the soft" private virtue of love are said to be naïve or downright foolish.
While I agree in good measure with President Obama's statement and feel that our community is honored to have a heritage month of its own, I fear that such a month may reduce the religion-state separation that enabled the Jewish community to thrive in the first place.
Our nation has to understand that denying marriage rights to same sex couples is not uplifting religious freedom. Religious freedom is secured when every religious group's understanding of marriage is acknowledged and respected.
Regrettably, recent religious decisions in both countries are unfortunate reminders about the hurdles and pitfalls in the implementation of religious reform.
"In this electoral year tensions are particularly high. Polarities are strong. Many people think that the future of our country ... is at stake," Miroslav Volf says. "Honoring everyone contains the promise of possibility."
Whether our lives are deemed "incompatible with Christian teaching" or our loving relationships are deemed sub-par to straight marriages, the message is clear: there are some among us who do not believe queer people should exist.
