Politics And Jesus

Yesterday CTK had an opportunity to comment on the Synod by answering any number of questions posed in preparation for that meeting.  Minister Robin Meyers makes a relevant argument in his book: “Saving God From Religion.”

(begin) “Today we hear preachers who mouth platitudes about justice but do not follow through by tsking any moral action, lest they offend someone in the congregation. They do not organize, they do not protest, hey do not create the non-violent tension that forced a crisis of conscience by shining light on injustice. 

Perhaps what is most insidious, however, is that they make an artificial distinction between partisan politics and the politics of the gospel. This is the illusion of separation Again. “Our message is religious, not political,” they say.  “We save souls, not the world, they remind us…I know of no pastor who has not heard: “Leave politics out of the pulpit.”  If this means avoiding partisan politics, as in telling people whom to vote for, or whose candidate has God’s endorsement, then this is wise counsel.  

But if it means acting as if the gospel does not have its own inherent politics, its own set of core values, its own demands that one choose love over hate, unity over division, hospitality over exclusion, and equality over hierarchy, then it is an impossible request to grant. (end)

CTK’s Draft Strategic Plan addresses this point.  It reads: CTK must address social issues tending to divide parishioners along political lines

1.  Provide additional opportunities for review and understanding of Catholic social teaching by themes provided by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services:

(a) life and dignity of the human person; 

(b) call to family, community, and participation; 

(c) rights and responsibilities; 

(d) option for the poor and vulnerable; 

(e) the dignity of work and rights of workers; 

(f) solidarity; and 

(g) care for God’s creation.  

2.   Expect preaching to focus on Catholic social teaching and forming consciences without referencing political parties and politicians thereby focusing on Jesus’ greatest commandment and papal pronouncements through encyclicals, other papal documents, and USCCB positions/guidance.

3.   Understand that the separation of Church and State is a Constitutional principle:

(a) originating from Thomas Jefferson during the founding of our nation;

(b) based on concern that an established Church of which the monarch was the head – to which every citizen was obliged to be a member in some form and, therefore, receive monetary support from the government – ran counter to freedom of religion; and

(c) preventing any one particular religion denomination from becoming the religion of the state thereby allowing the existence of all legitimately recognized religions to contribute their ideas and values and to labor in charity for the good of others in a pluralistic society.

4.   Understand there is no violation of separation of Church and State when we speak from the pulpit or in the public square about moral issues that also have become political.  To do otherwise is to misinterpret this constitutional principle in accord with overly secularist standards.  This principle sought to protect the rights of religious people to speak and to act in accord with their beliefs and consciences in a free society in order to contribute to its greater good.

One wonders what the CTK answers to Synod questions will reveal.

Deacon David Pierce