 |
Faith & Religion
In today's society, and particularly in strong secular regions like the Bay Area, it can be tough to keep ones faith. Constant challenges are made both directly and indirectly via scientific advances and arrogant blowhards. I recognize the value faith can have in person's life, and cannot question their faith or legislate against it, regardless of what it is: Christian, Muslim, Wiccan, Buddhist, Jew - it matters not. Your faith is entirely that - yours - and you derive much from it. Furthermore, many religious groups work tirelessly in community-orientated programs. They help take care of those in poverty, those who are sick, orphaned, hungry, addicted or in other ways in need of a helping hand. I fully support faith-based groups dedicating time and resources to assisting those among us who need help. Any attempt to help the disenfranchised and poor must be given a hand as well. Regrettably, it has become a political cliché that the Left must not let the Right establish a monopoly on God. They must insert faith back into their message and, given the religiosity of the American people, this is good advice. Fortunately, the Right-Wing fundamentalists are still a minority among Christians, and many mainstream Christians and Jews are profoundly disturbed by the incursion of fundamentalist beliefs into the processes of government. All members of the Democratic leadership and an overwhelming number of the congressional Democrats are practicing Christians or Jews, but they also respect the separation of church and state and hold that the Constitution, not God's will, is the supreme law of the land. A dwindling majority of Americans, including myself, think the same way. How wide this divide has become is evidenced by the intensity with which conservative Protestants and Catholics wield two key issues, same-sex marriage and abortion, to attack Democratic candidates. One of the most recent and shameful tactics in this intensified religious/political war is the officially floated notion of priests denying communion to any politician who supports a woman's right to choose. House Democrats were surprisingly quick to respond to such threats. Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 48 Roman Catholics signed a letter to the cardinal archbishop of Washington, DC, saying the threats to deny communion were "deeply hurtful" and counterproductive and were "miring the Church in partisan politics." "As Catholics, we do not believe it is our role to legislate the teachings of the Catholic Church," the letter said. "Because we represent all of our constituents, we must, at times, separate our public actions from our personal beliefs." I cannot agree more. My platform is simple: I affirm freedom of religion, equal rights for all, and the separation of church and state. This means keeping the church out of the state AND keeping the state out of the church. Those constitutional basics - together with a commitment to deal effectively with the deficit, to institute a sound economic policy that will actually create jobs, and to join economic policy with enlightened and effective domestic and foreign policies - is the best and most fair approach I can offer. |
|
