Letter: Cut it Out!

Politicians, particularly those of you on the right wing, please stop maligning my faith, and the faiths of others who share a liberal religious tradition!

I am a Reform Jew, who strongly believes and acts according to the teachings and tradition of liberal Judaism. I agree with the prophet Micah who, when asked what God wants of us, responded simply, "to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."

Unfortunately, justice, mercy, and humility have somehow eluded politicians who profess to speak for people of "faith," all while they judge as "false" the faiths of people with whom they disagree.

Liberal faith traditions share a long history in this Country, and span a wide variety of religions, including Judaism, Quaker, Unitarian-Universalism, and a number of Christian denominations. None of these faiths demonizes people who disagree.

Adherents of our rich liberal faith traditions understand that, while we were all created in God’s image, we are not clones of God. They understand that we were endowed with the gift of rational thought, in order to use our minds, not to close them. In fact, we argue and disagree about important matters of faith and theology because God’s advice is not always clear, and because none of us has a direct pipeline to God.

Our liberal faiths teach that people of all backgrounds should be able to live together in peace. They teach that we should be doing God’s work here on Earth, and not using the limited time and energy that God gave us to question the legitimacy of anyone else’s faith or practice.

This means that, while any religion can stake its claim to divine truth in the sphere of theology, no religion can use the levers of government to impose its theology on the rest of society.

This view is not new. Our nation’s Founders saw the division and discord sowed by fights over religion and faith in pre-Revolutionary Europe. They devised a system of government designed to avoid those clashes.

To that end, Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom to prohibit state support of any house of worship. Our Constitution includes Article VI, which states that there shall be no religious test for holding public office. And yet some who would seek to lead our Nation seem to have forgotten these fundamental truths about its founding. 

Which brings me back to my reason for writing this piece – the illegitimate co-opting of the concept of "faith" by the right wing in American political discourse.

Like many people in our society, I am a person of faith, a modern faith informed by ancient tradition. I implore politicians on the right to stop demonizing the adherents of liberal faith traditions, just because you disagree with them. Our work on Earth is too important. Our time on Earth is too short. Our collective faith as a Nation will not abide it. 

Cut it out!

Stu Gibson

Reston