Life Together: Lamentations and Thanksgivings Uttered on April 24, 2005 in Louisville

Here are the lamentations and the corresponding thanksgivings that seemed appropriate to me on the occasion when religious life in Kentucky was in the national spotlight.

I lament today that our brothers and sisters in Christ at Highview Baptist Church believe those who do not agree with them are somehow anti-Christian, and I mourn that there are other Christians, probably among us here, who would characterize their attitudes and actions tonight as unChristian. I grieve that the Church is being further divided in our time. I am saddened deeply that I have brothers and sisters in Christ who believe that those who oppose a small number of President Bush's judicial nominees are conducting an "assault against people of faith."

Ecumenical accountability for mutual faithfulness requires us to remember the commandment that says: Thou shalt not bear false witness. In so far as I can determine, no one is waging a war against people of faith in these United States. No one is blocking these nominees because of their religion, or even because of their positions on abortion or the nature of marriage. I have spent hours this past week looking over the resumes of each of the candidates whose nominations are contested, and whose nominations may be subject to the Senate practice of filibuster. When I compare them with those who have been approved, I see nothing different about their religious affiliations and convictions that would constitute the charge of religious persecution and religious bigotry. I do see many reasons why Senators could object to appointing them to a lifetime on the bench. Therefore I grieve that my brothers and sisters in Christ are making these accusations and causing deeper divisions within the Christian family of churches.

On the other hand, I give thanks that this nation was founded on the principles of religious liberty, and that the Constitution of these United States permits both the people of Highview Baptist and those who will join them there, and those of us here, to exercise these liberties to bring our religious perspective to bear upon matters of public policy. It is our right and I believe, as Christians, our duty to apply our faith and moral convictions to the issues of our common life together. Contrary to what the two largest newspapers in our state have said, to engage in such application of religion to political issues is not a violation of IRS regulations. I believe that America will be a saner and healthier place because of what we do here today.

I lament, however, that people are using each other in ways that do not build up our common life: religion and religious people are being manipulated to achieve political ends; and politics are being manipulated and used to achieve ends that appear to tend more toward theocracy than democracy. Let it be noted that, in human history, wherever religion and political partners have joined hands to defeat some presumed "moral relativism" or cultural pluralism, such efforts have resulted only in fascism, and political disaster.

An independent judiciary has been essential for the checks and balances of the American system of government and law. Although any one of us may not like particular rulings by judges, it is contrary to the American way to try to force them to act in ways that they believe are not in accord with our Constitution. To accuse judges of being "constitutionally defiant", and to urge Congress to reduce or eliminate the funding of federal courts that overstep their constitutional authority" debases and destabilizes the integrity of our system of government, and those who serve.

I give thanks for our independent judiciary, and for the men and women who bring their scholarship, their compassion, and their sense of justice to bear on terribly difficult matters for the sake of all of us.

Finally, I lament that people are using words of Scripture and words from the founders of our nation, frequently out of context or worse, inaccurately, as bludgeons against others who also value Scripture and the heritage of our nation. When Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council declares that "for years activist courts....have been quietly working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the night, to rob of us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms," I mourn for our country, that we have done such a terrible job of educating our citizens about the religious heritage of this nation, that such a vacuum of knowledge has developed that people misunderstand the philosophy and values on which this great nation has been able to grow and to address, however faltering, our own successes and failures to live into the high ideals and noble truths that are enshrined in our Constitution. Coercion will never yield anything other than rebellion and chaos. Christian reconstructionism, and the Declaration of Constitutional Restoration adopted at a conference April 4-5 in Washington, DC, are both efforts to remake this nation as a Christian theocracy.

On this matter, lamentation is not sufficient. People of faith, Christians, citizens-- all must stand up to defend the bill of rights and our Constitution. We do so thankfully, because this land of liberty and justice has been a place where religion has thrived, and has become the most religious nation in the history of the world.

With gratitude, then, for our liberties, for our freedom, we are empowered to deal creatively and positively with those things that grieve us and that frighten us, for the sake of the common good. Called to love our neighbor, let us do it. Called to love kindness, to do justice, and walk humbly with our God, let us no longer sit with our tongues tied but let us speak with care and respect to all our neighbors. Called to liberty, let us no longer submit to a yoke of slavery. We don't need "activist" judges, but judges who are wise, just, and committed to upholding our Constitution. Let us be citizen activists for the sake of freedom AND faith!

With hope for justice, peace, and unity, Nancy Jo