MINISTERIAL MUSINGS: Religion and Politics

The question about the relationship between Church and politics came to the fore of many voters’ minds during the last Presidential election. People were concerned with whether or not Barack Obama was a Muslim and they probed his relationship with his former pastor, The Rev. Jeremiah Wright. They debated the significance of Mitt Romney being a Mormon and how “Pentecostal” Sarah Palin actually was. We are obsessed with the line between religion and politics in this country — those two taboo subjects that your parents warned you never to discuss with friends.

One cannot read the work of an H. Richard Niebuhr or, more recently, a John Dominic Crossan without realizing that the line between Church and state is more of a carefully constructed safeguard, as opposed to an ironclad barrier between which “the twain shall never meet.” This is not to say that politics should dictate religion, or that any faith should have its beliefs legislated. (I like the First Amendment right where it is, thank you very much.  Keeping the two separate is pertinent.)  It is to say, however, that there are times when it is important (indeed, it is necessary) for the Church to raise its voice against institutional politics.

This is not an issue that is germane to Republicans or Democrats, to mainline religion or to fundamentalism. In his renowned 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday we just commemorated, aptly claimed that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” It is the job of all religions, which include Christians of every ilk, to stand for justice especially when it is perpetrated by the state.

In the latter part of the twentieth century, systematic theology saw the advent of Liberation Theology. This was a school of thought that grew out of the Latin America context and was given deeper expression in the writings of Roman Catholic thinkers such as Gustavo Gutiérrez. In his seminal 1971 work, A Theology of Liberation,Gutiérrez argued that in order to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, one must read it from the perspective of the poor and oppressed.  These are the people to whom Jesus ministered. Therefore, those forced to the margins of society are the ones with whom the Church should stand in solidarity to ensure that not only are they given a voice, but that the Church (in all times and places) stands on the side of justice as well.  Why?  Because this is what Jesus did and this is what Jesus would do! 

The first ten words of the First Amendment make it clear: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” In the same way, no faith should try to establish itself as the religion of the state. When the practices of the government (any government) subvert the rights of any people, though, it is the obligation of people of faith to put their voices where their spirits lie. It is the duty of people of faith to unite and to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, but to render unto God that which is God’s.

— The Rev. John Tamilio III is the new Religion Columnist for The Lakewood Observer.  JT3 is the Senior Minister of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Tremont. He, his wife Susan, and their three children live in Lakewood.

Read More on Religion
Volume 5, Issue 2, Posted 11:23 PM, 01.27.2009