You just can’t make this stuff up.  Today, the Texas State Board of Education voted on a variety of amendments to the state social studies and U.S. government curricula.  Get ready to be appalled at the outcomes.  As reported by the Texas Freedom Network, the Board voted to

1)      remove Thomas Jefferson from world history curriculum on the impact of Enlightenment thinkers

2)      include discussion of the right to bear arms in curriculum on First Amendment rights and free expression

3)      strike down an amendment that would have required students to “examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from promoting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.”

What is most unbelievable and emblematic of the Board’s far-right majority’s (lack of) understanding of the separation between religion and government in America is the third item in this litany of woes.  According to Cynthia Dunbar (one of the more prominent conservatives on the Board), the separation of religion and government wasn’t actually the Founders’ intent— they wanted to promote religion.  Therefore, said Dunbar, the proposed amendment was “not historically accurate.”

While (luckily), Thomas Jefferson isn’t out of Texas education curricula as a whole, there is no doubt that he is one of the preeminent American scholars of the Enlightenment era and it is a shame students will not learn that.  Also, last time I checked, the right to bear arms had its own section of the Bill of Rights, you know, the Second Amendment.

What’s more unfortunate is that such a narrow minded group of individuals have such power over what children learn across the country, that these are “guidelines that will affect students around the country, from kindergarten to 12th grade, for the next 10 years.”  Why? Because the state of Texas buys or distributes “a staggering 48 million textbooks annually,” which leads “educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State.”

To quote our friends at the Texas Freedom Network: “Let the word go out here: The Texas State Board of Education today refused to require that students learn that the Constitution prevents the U.S. government from promoting one religion over all others. They voted to lie to students by omission.”

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“Did you accomplish anything this week?” That question, posed to me every weekend by one or more people, raced through my head repeatedly as I spent most of Tuesday in a meeting in an office of the White House.  Often the answer to that query is “yes.” Tuesday’s response was “Yes, taking one small step.”  However, that small step involved far more than a single day. It required an investment of focused attention, persistent action, research, commentary, and advocacy that stretched from 1999 to the present moment.  And still more steps are required.

About a year ago I was asked to serve on President Obama’s Task Force on Reform of the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  The assignment of the task force was to recommend steps for bringing that office more in line with the Constitution.

I had opposed the establishment of such an office since 1999 when presidential candidates in both major political parties voiced support for allowing government funds to flow into religious organizations to support faith-based social ministries.  This new initiative within the executive branch of our government posed an unprecedented threat to our nation’s fidelity to the religious freedom clauses in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The Obama Administration knew they were inviting a critic on to this task force.  Indeed, U.S. News and World Report carried a story on my acceptance of the invitation on its blog.  Immediately after the presidential election I had met with the Obama Transition Team to request that they abolish the faith-based office in the White House.

Today the recommendations of our task force are being presented to cabinet members and other leaders in the Administration who will engage the president in conversations about the issues we have raised. Getting to this moment took time.  Members of the task force are incredibly diverse–racially, politically, professionally, religiously, economically, and ideologically.  Some members wanted a relaxation of emphasis on church-state separation while others, like me, were interested in strengthening the constitutional guarantees that have saved our nation from an entanglement of religion and government that has caused problems in other nations.

Our recommendations span several concerns—transparency, public postings of recipients of government money and for what purposes, attentiveness to religious freedom issues, and more.  From the first time we met, however, one question had loomed larger than all of the rest—whether or not to mandate or only suggest that religious recipients of government funds form a separate legal entity into which to receive that money in order to protect the integrity of the religious organization and prevent a merger of taxpayers’ money and tithes and contributions from offering plates.  For a year, the debate went on—passionate but civil.  In the end, the vote on the recommendation endorsed the mandatory position—by a majority of one.  Such is the divide on the meaning of religious freedom in our nation as well.

As I sat in a White House office, I wonder if all of the time and work were worth it to assure such a small step, to win what some would consider a minimal victory for religious liberty.  Yes is the answer that resounds inside me.  The fate of the big issues in our time are decided by hundreds of small steps taken, minor victories won, and the Constitution defended word by word one issue at a time.  At least for this moment, a slide toward government-subsidized religion has been stopped.

This small step, this minor victory, likely will go virtually unnoticed.  But, without it, the news would be big—journalists reporting a sea-change, a major shift, in which legal and religious leaders endorsed a position contrary to the United States Constitution.  So goes the work of a lifetime—tracked one step at a time.

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But not necessarily for the beaches…

According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Jamaica is adding a new attraction to draw tourists: its Jewish history.  The  island’s tourism board hopes to draw more visitors by highlighting the history and cultural impact of 17th-century Jewish immigrants who fled to Jamaica to escape the Inquisition.   And, equally fascinating are the Jewish pirates (like Moses Cohen Henriques) who trolled the Caribbean attacking Spanish ships carrying silver.  I may have to add Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean to the State of Belief reading list, but in the meantime, check out the article for some info (and travel tips like the island’s sand-floor synagogue).

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The Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith forum this week asked if U.S. foreign policy should get religion? Rev. Gaddy responds in part by saying:

Respecting religion abroad is as critical in U.S. foreign policy as respecting religion domestically; entanglement between any agency of our government and any religious entity at home or abroad is a mistake moving toward a crisis.

Read his entire response here.

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On Bill Moyers tonight (2/26/2010) an interesting discussion on the debate over same gender marriage that brought together a well known liberal and  conservative.

“We’re not advocating any recognition of a new right. The right to marry is in the Constitution. The Supreme Court’s recognized that over and over again. We’re talking about whether two individuals should be treated equally, under the equal protection clause of the Constitution.”
- Ted Olson

This week on BILL MOYERS JOURNAL (check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/about/airdates.html)
They battled it out as legal adversaries in 2000 before the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. But what’s got these two prominent lawyers – one conservative and one liberal – working together in court now? Theodore Olson, one of the nation’s premier appellate and United States Supreme Court advocates and David Boies, one of the country’s preeminent trial lawyers, argued opposite sides for the fate of the 2000 election but are now teamed up in the fight to overturn California’s Proposition 8 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage. The unexpected pair discusses why they’ve taken on the hot-button issue – even as some gay rights activists objected – and why they don’t believe that same-sex marriage is a right or left issue.

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New York Times contributor Russell Shorto asks – “How Christian Were the Founders?” -  in a recent article about the controversy heating up in Texas over Christianity, public schools, and what should be included in text books.  Did you read this Sunday’s NYT Magazine cover story? What do you think of the claim that ours is a “Christian nation” and of the Texas State Board of Education’s attempt to make Christianity part of the social studies curriculum?

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This morning, President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. His remarks highlighted the need for a return to civility in our national dialogue. Civility has been an ongoing theme of Interfaith Alliance’s work since its founding, equally important as its work as been protecting the boundaries between religion and government.

The New York Times has an interesting article about the organization – known as “The Family” – behind the prayer breakfast. The president can and should engage with the faith community, and is free to speak about his personal faith. However, enough legitimate questions have been raised about The Family and their secretive nature and connection to right-wing causes, that the president should think twice about participating in the future.

A group of  progressive organizations have come together this year to offer an alternative forum called the “American Prayer Hour.” It will be interesting to see if their efforts gain any traction.

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When I read the headline “Religious leaders worry that Obama’s faith council is for show” in The Washington Post this morning, I imagined the story might have something to do with how concerned people are that the faith council may not be able to convince Josh DuBois to rein in the activities of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, an office with both a title and an agenda tweaked only slightly from the disastrous Bush Administration office of similar name.

Upon reading the full text, however, I discovered that the article’s focus was, instead, on those who think the faith-based partnership isn’t doing enough to entwine our domestic agenda and our country’s religious organizations.

Apparently, “critics” are concerned about the fact that the council hasn’t been allowed to weigh in on issues like religious hiring and abortion. They’d really like the council to be able to tackle those, because they want religious organizations that receive federal funding to be able to turn away job applicants on the basis of their religious beliefs, and because they want to influence the president’s reproductive health agenda with their religious views on abortion.

That’s all well and good, but the article all but skipped over the other half of the “critics,” whose concern stems from a very different point of view.

Faith plays a very important role in our country and is a large part of the diversity that makes us so unique, but it often plays a disproportionate role in public debate. People of faith have every right to speak out on the issues that are important to them, but a line is crossed when we put religious concerns about political issues before all else.

It may be impolitic to say so, but my concern with the role of faith in the Obama Administration is not whether or not faith leaders are being listened to. It’s the fact that the faith-based office is still operating under the rules of the Bush Administration, which are deeply flawed and of questionable constitutionality. We all need to keep in mind that, since the government accepts taxes from and represents every person in the country, whatever their beliefs, it is not free to create policies or pass laws that favor any one, or several, belief system or systems. That would be the establishment of religion, prohibited by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Which, guess what?, exists to protect religion as much as it does the government.

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January 31, 2010 Des Moines Register:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100131/OPINION01/1310317/1035/arc

Guest column by CONNIE RYAN TERRELL-executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. Contact: connie@interfaithallianceiowa.org

In any public conversation, that which defines us is the manner in which we debate. Do we do so with integrity and civility, or not? The Jan. 24 guest essay in the Register by Bryan English argued that Iowans have a right to vote to allow or to ban same-sex marriage. However, English’s article distorted important facts.

Regardless of the religious right’s attempts to rewrite history, marriage has always been an organic, ever-changing institution. Even Biblical literalists must acknowledge that marriage has changed throughout history as humanity and our critical-thinking skills evolved. What marriage looked like in Old Testament times is a far cry from marriage today.

One cannot honestly argue that “traditional marriage” is the only form of marriage ever to exist. Historically, women were, and in some countries still are, treated as property with no rights. In our country, interracial marriage was forbidden only a few short decades ago. The institution of marriage changed due to the pressure from those who understood a more progressive future. The government then interrupted the socially accepted norms by changing the laws. Thankfully, our society understands the value of change.

What role should religion play in this discussion? Let’s be clear. The public debate on same-sex marriage is about civil marriage, not sacred marriage. Those who argue against civil marriage equality do so solely from their particular religious perspective. They have a right to their religious belief, they just cannot write it into our civil law. Thankfully, the U.S. and Iowa Constitutions are very clear on this point.

History proves that differences in civil law and religious beliefs can cohabitate. For example, there are faith traditions that disagree with civil laws that sanction divorce. Our state and U.S. Constitutions protect the rights of religious institutions to handle divorce according to their beliefs. However, civil law stands as the law of the land. Religious liberty is our most precious freedom. If we can agree on nothing else, let us at least agree to protect faith and freedom in our state and country.

Those who publicly rally against same-sex marriage most often speak from their faith, usually as Christians. They typically assert that their faith speaks with one voice on the subject, and those who disagree are not true believers. It is an arrogant assertion. People of faith span the full spectrum of beliefs on this and many other social issues. Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian Universalist, Sikh, or any other, there is no unanimous understanding in any faith. We see things through the lenses of our life’s experience and we interpret from that.

Regardless, the differences between people of faith are secondary in the discussion on civil marriage. This is a societal conversation about access to civil rights and responsibilities. Do we as a society believe all people have equal protection under the law? Or, do we as a society believe in an institutionalized class system defining the haves and the have-nots?

Years ago, the Iowa Legislature passed a marriage law that clearly disregarded the Iowa Constitution’s equal protection clause. The Iowa Supreme Court used its rightful powers to dismantle that unconstitutional law. The religious right disingenuously asserts the Supreme Court overstepped its authority. Their current tactic is to contend that elected officials are blocking the public’s right to vote.

Since when has Iowa ever placed the rights of others on the public chopping block?

When have we ever dissolved the rights of a group of people by adding discrimination to our Constitution?

As the public discussion continues on civil marriage equality, let us do so with integrity and civility. Scare tactics, distorting history and perpetuating myths never serve the public’s best interest. This can only be ensured when the rights of all are equally protected by our government and by each of us.

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During this time of transition, keep State of Belief as part of your life! Sign up for own podcast.

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