Tolerance the reason religion, politics don’t mix Susan Estrich Susan Estrich is a nationally syndicated columnist.
Here’s a nice news flash: Most people really are religious and tolerant, faithful and open, altogether American. That’s the conclusion this week of a major Pew Research Center study of religion in America. They call it “non-dogmatic.” In what feels like an increasingly dogmatic world, it is ultimately our greatest strength. Among the key findings: “A majority of those who are affiliated with a religion do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And almost the same number believes that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion.” The point is not that religion doesn’t matter for most people — actually, it does. It’s that as seriously as they take their own religion, they are also tolerant of the view that others can pursue their own path to salvation. Additional findings: “Among those who are affiliated with a religious tradition, seven in 10 say many religions can lead to eternal life. ... Only among Mormons (57 percent) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (80 percent) do majorities say that their own religion is the one true faith leading to eternal life.” And “more than two-thirds of adults affiliated with a religious tradition agree that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their faith.” The only exceptions, again, are Mormons (54 percent) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (77 percent), with majorities believing that there is only one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion. And those two groups, both of which have what are actually surprisingly high rates of “non-dogmatic” types, total some 2.4 percent of the American public, which leaves a lot of tolerant people out there. The argument that religion has no place in political life is really that religious faith has no place in the messy business of politics, which depends on give and take. It’s easy to play give-and-take with debating points — less so with matters of faith. But it’s just not possible to draw the line as brightly as you’d like it to be when you hear pro-choice politicians denounced as evildoers of the devil’s work because they support Roe v. Wade or marrying gay couples, which will test tolerance in the next election. Religious people can’t help but be influenced by their religion in the doing of politics. The very same Pew survey shows that this is true, with all kinds of data correlating the intensity of religious practice with more conservative views on various values questions. Of course we’re all influenced. The point is that tolerance for the views of others is built into our faith, which allows us to bring our religious values to politics without always having to win. It’s the “having to win” quality that makes faith a danger in politics, the “knowing you’re right” to a greater certainty than anyone else, to enough of a certainty that you ignore the actual count of winners and losers. That’s what makes the “use” of religion in politics a cause for concern to those watching from other parts of the world who have lived through the havoc religion in politics can wreak. In the public discourse about religion and politics, what and whom you hear most of the time are the extremes. Denouncing somebody else is bigger news than tolerating them; fear has more energy than peaceful coexistence. And when people talk about religious voters, they usually are talking code for conservative-values voters, who will vote those issues, as opposed to the majority, who don’t think of them that way, which is in most cases a very good thing. So it’s reassuring, at least, to be reminded that most people are what you would hope your neighbors would be: diverse in their own views, but united in their tolerance for and acceptance of the validity of the religious views of others. If you don’t hear as much of that on television and in the public discourse, it may be because, for most people, it’s your own business. We really believe that.
Freedom group sides with Amish LA CROSSE, Wis. — A national group dedicated to religious freedom is joining a fi ght between Amish farmers and some Wisconsin towns. The National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom has filed a brief asking for permission to intervene in a Jackson County court case involving Albion farmer Samuel Stolzfus. Stolzfus and other Amish have been fined thousands of dollars for failing to get building permits. New York attorney Robert Greene, who is helping the religious freedom group with the case, said the Amish won’t sign applications for building permits because it is against their religion to lie and they might not be able to keep a promise to comply with building codes.
New York attorney Robert Greene, who is helping the religious freedom group with the case, said the Amish won’t sign applications for building permits because it is against their religion to lie and they might not be able to keep a promise to comply with building codes.
If the Amish can't build something to comply with the building code....Wisconsin better recheck what is actually in their code, cause the Amish are known for their articulate craftmanship!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
South Carolina started taking online orders Thursday for Christian-themed license plates that are the subject of a lawsuit by a group that tries to keep religion out of government.
The new plates depict a stained-glass window with a cross on the left hand side and the words "I Believe" across the top. The Department of Motor Vehicles said in a news release that it will begin making the plates after it gets at least 400 prepaid applications or if a sponsoring organization makes a deposit of $4,000 by May 1.
If the department does not get enough orders, the plates will not be made and those who did send in money will get refunds.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer pledged this summer to pay the deposit upfront and get reimbursed after the tags began selling. Bauer helped push the measure through the General Assembly, saying it gives people a way to express their beliefs.
But Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State disagreed and sued state officials on behalf of two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi in South Carolina, along with the Hindu American Foundation.
The group's executive director, Barry Lynn, said until the state began taking orders, some could argue his group's lawsuit was premature.
"Now the court can find a state-produced Christian license plate to violate the Constitution," Lynn said.
People who want to order the special tag can pay $5 in an online transaction to cover the additional cost of making the "I Believe" plates. The usual annual vehicle registration fee of $24 would also apply.
Lynn said his group would not have protested if the plates had been requested by a private organization willing to sponsor it like the state's other specialty tags.
A similar proposal in Florida failed before South Carolina passed its measure this summer. Lynn said other states may be watching the outcome of the South Carolina case before deciding whether to try for their own religious-themed license plates.
"There has not been a wave of initiatives to put more Christian plates out there," Lynn said.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican's newspaper has finally forgiven John Lennon for declaring that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, calling the remark a "boast" by a young man grappling with sudden fame.
The comment by Lennon to a London newspaper in 1966 infuriated Christians, particularly in the United States, some of whom burned Beatles' albums in huge pyres.
But time apparently heals all wounds.
"The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll," Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.
The article, marking the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' The White Album, went on to praise the pop band.
"The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians," it said.
Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980.
(Writing by Deepa Babington; editing by Keith Weir)
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