Religious conservatives are drawn to the language of religious war, even if no such war exists.
This is a bizarre, dangerous and troubling phenomenon. I experienced it directly on Feb. 9 when I appeared on the Sean Hannity show on the Fox News channel as part of a panel of a dozen religious leaders, all of whom, except for me, were conservatives. During the hour long show, the panel was called on to respond to interviews conducted by Mr. Hannity dealing with government funding of contraceptives.
I was not distressed when my fellow religious leaders expressed their opposition to this funding and their belief that it violated religious liberty. I disagree on both points but felt that they were legitimate points to make. What shocked me, however, was hearing the panelists loudly proclaim that the American government is waging a war against religion.
We are used to this kind of thing from politicians, and so my quarrel was not really with Mr. Hannity or his political guests. It is best to be realistic about politics and cable news; in the midst of an election season, considerations of ideology, market share, entertainment and political advantage take precedence over all else. But when it comes to respected religious leaders, I have different expectations.
And the simple fact is that the idea of a war carried out by our government against religion is utterly absurd. Religion in America is vital, dynamic and thriving as never before. Roughly 150 million Americans go to a church, synagogue or mosque for prayer every week, and our houses of worship and related organizations receive far more charitable dollars and hours of volunteer service than any other civic institution. The Hannity panelists must know this. Indeed, in chatting with them before the show, several shared with me the extraordinary work they are doing in their own communities; one told me of the 15,000 people who come to his church each Sunday!
There are, to be sure, differences of opinion among religious people on matters of public policy. This is inevitably the case, and is a blessing in every way; it could not be otherwise in a country as religiously engaged and diverse as America. But what motivates religious leaders to jump from the reality of healthy religious debate in America to the paranoid claim of a government-led war on religion?
Such a claim, I suspect, masks a deep insecurity about the commitment of their followers. Our society offers many temptations to the religious seeker, and there is no better way to mobilize the faithful than to tell them that their faith is under attack. And this approach raises questions too about the theological self-confidence of those who call the troops to battle. In my experience, proclamations of militancy are indicative of a warrior who stands weakly on the ground of his or her own belief.
I also suspect that talk of religious war is an excuse for those of extreme opinions to circumvent the need for thoughtful religious dialogue. Substantive, serious religious dialogue is salutary; it does not deny conflict but encourages it, while offering a mechanism to clarify differences and promote understanding. But if we are in a war, then such dialogue becomes secondary, if not downright gratuitous. In wartime, screaming and venting drown out serious conversation. In wartime, fighting the battle takes precedence over civility and humility.
All this talk of a war against religion saddens me because it means we have lost touch with reality. And I can't help but think that it comes from those who glory in their victimhood and who prefer a deadening of the intellect to "the reasonableness of faith."
I am no pacifist. Wars are necessary sometimes, whether wars of words or of military might. God calls on us to fight for justice and to defend what is sacred and what is dear to us. But religions don't look for wars where they don't exist, and they never thrive on military metaphors. And I worry that religious people who fall too easily into military language are doing so more to sanctify their own interests than to sanctify God.
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Cardinal Dolan called on Roman Catholic worshippers to become more involved in politics as the church stands against the government in what he called a "freedom of religion battle," …We're not trying to impose our teachings on anybody We're simply saying, don't impose your teaching upon us and make us do as a church what we find unconscionable to do."
The first statement on Jewish law adopted by the Reform movement rejected the validity of the Mosaic legislation as well as rabbinical laws “foreign to our present mental and spiritual sate. “
The Renewal movement is substantially to the left of Reform.
Even further left are so called “secular Jews”, a statistically very large segment that don’t affiliate with any Jewish institutions and observe very little if any Jewish practice.
Traditional and Orthodox Jews feel under “assault” by the attempts to ban Kosher slaughter, ritual circumcision and the lack of accommodation for observance.
The religious platform of the “Jewish left” has been pejoratively referred to as the “Democratic Party Platform.”
Martial language is commonly used “metaphorically”. The Catholic Church does not use suicide bombers, cut off peoples heads or perpetuate any violence.
Rabbi you protest too much.
Thank you QuietProfessional. This is probably reflects the most important aspect of our world views. Respect and being real.
Apparently Christians are winning!
I have 4 Churches and a religious school within walking distance of my home.
In my local newspaper today there were a total of 17 articles regarding religion from Church weddings to bake sales to announcements of guest preachers’ as well as 9 ads asking people to attend a specific church.
I looked very carefully and didn’t find one article, ad or letter to the editor that was anti-religion.
On Sunday morning, every driveway on my street is empty as everyone goes off to church.
So, where exactly is this war? And who is fighting for the anti-religion forces?
Simple. Because your "h0ly" texts are utterly soaking in said w@r.
If they are legitimate points, why do you disagree?
I can't speak for your religion, Rabbi, but the majority of Xians in this country were raised singing hymns like:
"Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!"
and:
Stand up, stand up for Jesus! ye soldiers of the cross;
Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss:
From vict’ry unto vict’ry, His army shall He lead,
Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.
and:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of
Wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible
Swift sword;
I once looked at a site where you could search for hymns by key words, and put the word "soldier" in, and had well over 100 results.
stay in denial.
Exodus 15:3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.
Numbers 31:3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the LORD’s vengeance on them.
Sura 8:39 Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah's religion reigns supreme.
Sura 9:73 O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end.
Matthew 10 34-36 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.
jesus said to love and obey his dad, yahweh. Yahweh routinely asked people to kill other people. is it now impossible for him to order people to kill others?
So what exactly did Jesus change?
The biggest argument for ignoring fundamentalist Christians in the public sphere is that they want the world to end, and, according to polling, most of them think the world will end in their lifetimes. Doesn't make much sense to base public policy on the whims of people that don't care what the country will look like in a few decades because they don't think the world will be here anymore.
I do not think that mainstream religions are belligerent, but every monotheistic religion I know of has violence in its scriptures, often including prophesy of an end-times holy war. Look no further than the Torah and the prophets. Because of that, a manipulative preacher can build a militant theology, and there are always such sects. The sects attract those whose nature is fearful, hateful, and belligerent. Those authoritarian followers (See work of Robert Altemeyer) are usually activists, since their nature is to be threatened and defensive. I think these people are like that anyway, but they need a rallying standard, and radical fundamentalism provides it. So these sects will always be warlike - Muslim, Jewish, and Christian.
You say, "But religions don't look for wars where they don't exist, and they never thrive on military metaphors," but I say religions beget sects that do thrive on exactly that.
They're drawn to it because that's what they want.
It has to do with the constitutionality of obama care which for some reasons known only to holder etc certain "religions" are exempt.
muslims are not asked to participate here eithervia direct obama care or in funding contraceptives,sterilizations etc in any businesses they run and employ,why ? LOL.
You have to be kidding! Militant metaphors have a long and successful history in many religions, in particular, in Christianity. The "Church Militant." "Onward Christian soldier." There are many examples.