"Take my Yoke Upon Me": Invitation and Promise Today

 Gospel reflection by The Rev. Duncan R. Wielzen, Ph.D., The Hague Netherlands. Colleague and friend, Dr. Wielzen is a parish priest and president of URI Europe Board, a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Mt. 11:28-30 – New KJV)

Hearing these verses – be it for the very first time, or after several times – may cause one to wonder about what Jesus means by the word ‘yoke’. It is therefore important to remember that His words are two thousand years old, and that He said them to simple, believing Jews, who were indeed burdened with a yoke, especially the yoke of the 613 precepts - 248 commandments and 365 Prohibitions - which made up Jewish law, and still exists today. Obviously, so many commands and prohibitions are burdensome to bear which made them a real yoke that weighed down on law abiding Jewish people at that time.

But yokes still exist today. So many of us too often suffer from the pressure of life. Under our workload, for example, because we have to deliver what is expected from us. Many of us experience societal pressure because of what commerce and media dictates for living so called happy lives. Entire communities are suffering from the yoke of violence and discontent that disrupt peaceful living together. The growing threat of gun violence, the reluctance to address local problems honestly and gently, the turmoil in Belarus, the insurmountable division among citizens in the wake of the US Presidential election… it's becoming a heavier yoke every day.

Compared to all of that, the yoke of Jesus is easy. He does not make hard demands, he does not impose heavy assignments, he does not expect the impossible. His words are an invitation and a promise. An invitation to learn and a promise to receive. However, as easy as His yoke is, it still requires a courageous heart and a brave spirit to encounter the full spectrum of His yoke: a yoke of love, humility and kindness. These are priceless, i.e.: they don’t cost a dime and won’t diminish our humanity. They are fundamental to healing and cementing justice and peace. In any case, we have the freedom to respond to Jesus’ invitation or not.

Beauty in the midst of Challenge

 Beauty in a tree just outside our deck. Remembrance of a creating and recreating God in the midst of climate change crisis, justice inequality, a continuing pandemic, threats to our democracy and peaceful transfer of power. Courage, my friends for such a time as this!

ELCA Church In Kenosha in Public Ministry

Grace Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Kenosha, WI, held an outdoor gathering and prayer service for community people of all races and religions on Wednesday "to address the fear, power, and powerlessness, confusion, anger, and the need for healing." ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod Bishop Paul Erikson addressed the people in attendance (all wearing masks). Grace Lutheran also was the setting for Joe Bidden, to listen to a broad range of Kenosha leaders on Sept. 3. https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/in-photos-elca-community-gathering-in-kenosha/collection_050acd93-d4c2-561f-8d17-6e5d510c6642.html#2

75 Years later: No More Nuclear Tragedies!

 The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing where more than 70,000 were killed. The Aug. 9, 1945, bombing came three days after the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima that killed 140,000.

On Sunday at the event at Nagasaki Peace Park, Mayor Tomihisa Taue read a peace declaration raising concerns that countries have moved away from using nuclear weapons as a deterrent.  “As a result, the threat of nuclear weapons being used is increasingly becoming real,” He said that “the true horror of nuclear weapons has not yet been adequately conveyed to the world at large.”  Today we work to make Nagasaki the last place of such nuclear bomb tragedy.

Final words from John Lewis

Final words from John Lewis, published in The New York Times the day of his funeral, July 30, 2020:

"While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity.

That is why I had to visit Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, though I was admitted to the hospital the following day. I just had to see and feel it for myself that, after many years of silent witness, the truth is still marching on.

Emmett Till was my George Floyd. He was my Rayshard Brooks, Sandra Bland and Breonna Taylor. He was 14 when he was killed, and I was only 15 years old at the time. I will never ever forget the moment when it became so clear that he could easily have been me. In those days, fear constrained us like an imaginary prison, and troubling thoughts of potential brutality committed for no understandable reason were the bars.

Though I was surrounded by two loving parents, plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins, their love could not protect me from the unholy oppression waiting just outside that family circle. Unchecked, unrestrained violence and government-sanctioned terror had the power to turn a simple stroll to the store for some Skittles or an innocent morning jog down a lonesome country road into a nightmare. If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah McClain.

Like so many young people today, I was searching for a way out, or some might say a way in, and then I heard the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on an old radio. He was talking about the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence. He said we are all complicit when we tolerate injustice. He said it is not enough to say it will get better by and by. He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself.

Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.

You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.

Though I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.

When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

30th anniversary of the ADA: The Intersectionality of Racism and Disability

We mark the 30th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) this Sunday, July 26. What is the intersection of Racism and Disability? We need to address all isms in the work to eradicate systemic racism.

The summer issue of “Voice of the United Methodist Disability Connection” discusses the intersectionality: “Many of us are working for the end of the killing of unarmed black men and women by police. Thirty to 80 percent of those killed were persons with some type of disability. (The exact number is unknown because no one tracks these statistics.) There are instances of Black Deaf men being shot because they didn't hear the verbal command to stop. At least a quarter of victims were experiencing a psychiatric crisis and unable to communicate their needs. If one's disability causes slower or atypical speech or reactions, a person is at a higher risk of being injured or killed.”

We are trying to eliminate the school to prison pipeline. Black children are disproportionately punished, suspended, arrested, and incarcerated, and the rates for children with disabilities are even higher

Participating in antiracism protests, we need to make sure they are accessible as was a recent Milwaukee march. “The route was level and the march led by wheelchair users who set the pace. Sign language interpreters were stationed throughout. . . Ear plugs were available at rest stations for people sensitive to the noise level.”

There have been a lot of wonderful structural changes since passage of the ADA, Paratransit or buses with lifts didn't exist before, and there were no curb cuts in the sidewalks. Now people with disabilities can use power wheelchairs in public. People’s use of service dogs is accepted. Students receive extra time for tests and other accommodations to help them do well.

But attitudes change slowly. Former Iowa senator Tom Harkin, prominent co-author of the ADA and today still a strong advocate, recently said in a PBS special that the percentage of people with disabilities being employed is no higher than it was 30 years ago. People of color continue to face discrimination in employment.

Churches were exempt from the ADA. We have learned that having loud worship isn't always good for people with autism; others with disabilities also need a quieter environment. Many congregations now do have assisted listening devices, large print bulletins and hymnals, lever doorknobs, even some chancel ramps. Some have lowered their welcome center counters, redesigned a bathroom, installed better lighting, fixed the sidewalk, and installed automatic door openers to the sanctuary, fellowship hall, and restrooms.

What has not changed? We still have assemblies and conference meetings scheduled in inaccessible spaces, with no one questioning that choice. Parents still tell their children not to look or ask about disability, teaching them that disability is a bad thing.

Some churches are still stuck in ableist theology that says disability is either a blessing or a curse for sin. Candidates for ministry who have a disability often are discouraged from proceeding, or their application is simply “lost.”

Businesses still often do not comply with anti-discrimination policies/laws in regard to racism nor with accommodations for people living with a disability. There are few adverse consequents for such exclusivity. However, together we can help dismantle racism and confront ableism.

John Lewis Still Guides Us

John Lewis: a gentle, strong Civil Rights leader until the day of his death, last night. He bore on his body the scars of beatings as he followed Jesus every day of his life. He was clear that Christ called him to work for justice and that meant sometimes you had to be in the midst of, "good trouble."

For many years I would say to seminary students: "When you get into trouble--and you will--make sure it is for the sake of the Gospel."

We carry John Lewis' legacy with us this very day: federal officers, unbidden by city or state, in unmarked cars, with no badges, in the streets of Portland. Systemic and blatant racism. Voter suppression. John Lewis knew the struggle would be long. May we, as he, have the strength of the Risen Christ, to continue on and on and on.

We Tear Apart Prejudices

(Last of six excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

We begin prayerfully, explaining, sharing, upbuilding. We begin everywhere racism sneaks in an ugly word, doubt and fear. We begin everywhere growing Christians open their hearts and minds.

We tear apart prejudices, fallacy by fallacy. We talk. We write. We help. Yes, we march. And when the time for marching slows, with eyes wide open, seeing this world and its people in the Creator’s will, trusting in Christ unafraid, we will continue to let God’s love conquer sin in whatever way God opens to us.

Church as a Redemptive Community

Church as a Redemptive Community

(Fifth of six excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

As a Church we begin each week in repentance, and then having worshipped as the Body of Christ, we begin to be the Church, functioning as a redemptive community. . . to make the Body One.  Love is not easy, but it does not count costs. Tokenism, “middle-of-the roadism,” gradualism, and calculated love have no place. Wisdom does.

We begin each day, not fearing “What might happen”: “We might offend,” “Some might leave the church,” “The Negroes [African Americans] might take over,” “The value of my home might go down.” We begin each day, not despairing: “The White community might not accept me,” “There’s no hope, why ask for trouble?” “Things will never be better.”  

We begin in the most real pessimism, knowing how sinful our hearts are, which no program of social justice, no national tragedy will cure.  And yet we begin with the most real optimism, trusting confidently that Christ has conquered sin and Satan, and the power of the Holy Spirit in the “Sleeping Giant” of the Church can indeed do more than we could possibly dream.

We are Freed from Building Barriers

We Respond to Racism Because We Are Freed from Building Barriers (Fourth of six excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

We don’t respond to the present racial crisis because it is in the news, nor because of America’s image abroad, nor even because “democracy must be preserved.”

We don’t respond out of Christian “responsibility.” We respond as new creatures, freed from the bondage of having to provide for ourselves, having to be somebody, having to judge other people, having to pride ourselves on our accomplishment, having to love only paternalistically.

We are freed to accept people as people, to spend ourselves in love feeding on the means of Grace, so that our old selfishness may be defeated each day. In repentance of our attitudes and words which have built barriers, each day we begin anew to love people as God loves.

Love is Never Easy

Love is Never Easy (Third of six excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

The Christian’s answer to racism will stem from the will of God. And this answer is unmistakably clear—not easy, but clear. Love is never easy.

God created all people to be God’s creation. God created variety to exist together in harmony. God created the personalities of people to live together in love. God saved us through the boundless love of Jesus Christ to be a new creation, that the barriers of pride, hate, fear, unconcern, and sin that separate us from God and each other might be forever gone. God recreated us through the cross to worship and to live together NOW.

Racism has been Laid Bare Before Us

God’s Will – Clear but Not Easy (Second of six excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

The issue of racism has been laid bare before us. Often, we have been so afraid to become involved in social problems for fear that our Lutheranism might be misunderstood, disarranged, theologically distorted, that we have stifled church members, disabling their love and thus disarming the heart of our theology.

We ARE involved. The immensity of articles, books, speeches, while seemingly making research on racism easier, only shows us clearly the complexity of the problem. Now our task, with all the repentant and redeemed wisdom we have, is to study, to work, and to love.

God’s Will – Clear But Not Easy (First of 6 excerpts from an article I wrote in 1964)

There is a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking, and a time for acting. And there is a time when keeping silent speaks and acts. Our eyes, ears, mind, and tongues have been saturated with the topic of race relations.

Ignoring the subject no longer works. At this time our silence speaks. Too often it says, “I am afraid!” Afraid of what? Insecurity, discomfort socially and economically? We can no longer escape into silent inactivity because silent inactivity shouts “unconcern.”

God’s message of love for us is clear. As Christ’s death and resurrection fill us with new life, so too God’s power to be Christ’s action in this world means our love must permeate the world. As real as Jesus’ incarnation, so real must be our action of faith and love. It must dare to take on flesh.

Sixty Years of Ministry: White Supremacy Continues

In marking the 60^th anniversary of my consecration as a deaconess (June 6, 1960), I reflect on my first call to a congregation in St. Louis. I was well accepted, liked. However, people said Norma had one problem: “She likes Negroes!” I began my call to public ministry a few months before John F. Kennedy was elected president. I was serving during the March on Washington August 28, 1963, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I have a dream” speech.

 Three weeks later white supremacists bombed a Baptist church in Birmingham, killing 4 Sunday School girls and injuring 22 people. Burton and I joined a protest demonstration in St. Louis. It so happened that members from my congregation saw a picture of me marching and brought a complaint. When the Voters’ Assembly met to decide if I should be fired, I was not allowed to be present because women then could not vote in that church.

Fast forward to my diaconal ministry of being a community organizer in Detroit during the “riot”—we called it a “rebellion,” the bloodiest of “The Long Hot Summer” of 1967. It began as a confrontation between black residents and the Detroit Police Department. Nearly 2,000 U.S. Army paratroopers were deployed, adding to 800 Michigan state police and 9,000 members of the National Guard, to “quell the violence.”  After MLK’s assassination in 1968, protests returned in Detroit. Nearly 200 cities experienced arson and sniper fire. It was Holy Week.

Pres. Lyndon Johnson had just released the “Kerner Report” investigating the 1967 “riots,” which stated: “What white Americans have never fully understood—but what the Negro can never forget. . .” The causes named were poverty, lack of housing, lack of economic opportunities and discrimination in the job market. “White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

Saturday I marked the 60^th anniversary of my consecration by being with deaconess sisters, via Zoom: a number in the Twin Cities, and others from all over Minnesota, the N.D. border, Wisconsin and northern Iowa. Diaconal ministry is a call for prophetic service. Sunday, Trinity Lutheran Church here in Mason City, via on-line streaming—included my anniversary in the announcements and prayers: “Dr. Everist was later ordained and taught for 41 years at Yale Divinity School and Wartburg Theological Seminary. She worked for social justice as a community organizer in the inner cities of Detroit and New Haven, CT. She served parishes in St. Louis and in New Haven and Hamden, CT. Her formation as a deaconess has shaped her entire career as a pastor, professor, author and servant leader.”

Sixty years later: the issues are in front of us today. We are all involved and called to activate change. As Pastor Gerrietts this morning prayed, “Continue to strengthen her, and each of us, to be bold in our proclamation of the Gospel.” Our calling is now—and urgent!

WW II Shaped Me for COVID-19

It was a different time. I won’t compare my childhood WW II years to COVID-19 today, but I do remember: shelter at home; shortages; united efforts; quarantine; racial discrimination; uncertainty.

I remember the darkness. My formative years from birth to six were in Des Moines. We lived less than a mile from the “War Plant.” (Solar Aircraft was a government-converted industry for wartime production.) During black-out drills we were isolated in our homes in total darkness at night for fear of being bombed.  Bombing in the middle of country?  That did not happen, but we did not know that then.  In the middle of a crisis, one does not know how things will turn out--when the war would end, or how. Mother put a tiny night light in our bedroom doll buggy so my sister and I wouldn’t be afraid of the dark.

Shortages.  Each family or individual was issued coupons for such limited supplies as butter, sugar and coffee. My Daddy ran a gas station. It was not a profitable time to run a gas station; petroleum was needed for the war effort.  People at home had to limit driving; they were issued gasoline coupons. Each night Daddy would bring them home; Marianne and I pasted them in booklets for him to turn in.

I remember the shortages and physical limitations, but I also remember being united under the leadership of FDR, a trusted president. President Roosevelt collaborated with allies and encouraged while he organized people at home. 

Entering kindergarten at age 5, I carried newspapers bundled together with string to school. School children collected scrap metal, and tin foil. (Recycling decades later would not seem strange.) We saved dimes in stamp books; $17.50 in dimes could be exchanged for a $25.00 War Savings Bond.

People planted  “Victory gardens.” This eased the burden of commercial farmers working to feed troops and civilians overseas. Fruits and vegetables were grown in backyards and on school grounds, and parks. By 1944 an estimated 20 million victory gardens produced 8 million tons of food.  (I think now of support for local organic farming and sustainable agriculture.)

Diseases did not stop for the war.  Before a vaccine for whooping cough became widely available, when I was 3 and my sister 5, Marianne, and I and our mother contracted whooping cough. We were quarantined inside our house for 10 weeks.  Mother almost died.  Daddy couldn’t come home. He did have two sisters in Des Moines. The health department put quarantine signs outside houses to prevent highly communicable diseases from spreading.  Though very young, I remember sleeping with a sheet over my crib with a humidifier providing steam for me to breathe. (Although widely considered to have been eradicated, outbreaks of whooping cough have returned in recent years due to not all people having their children vaccinated.)

But the war was the constant focus. An uncle and my older cousins served in the military overseas.  We listened daily to the news on our radio.

Yes, the United States came together. But not everyone.  I remember mother saying how upset she was that during time of struggle and sacrifice, there were people who made profits off the war. I learned early that during a time of crisis some will always look out for their own gain and gratification.

And there was racial discrimination. We were at War with two enemies, I heard as the “Nazis” and the “Japs.” One the U.S. described as Hitler’s German National Socialist Party, with the  swastika symbol. The other the U.S. described and symbolized as a “slant-eyed” people.  Japanese Americans were incarcerated in concentration camps. German Americans, such as myself, were not.

I was in first grade when the war ended.  I vividly remember VE Day and VJ day, WW II ending in Europe and Japan. We celebrated downtown in Des Moines.  (We knew little of the devastation of our atomic bombs.) And I remember, too, listening to the radio, and for the first time hearing news other than about the War. I recall being surprised. All my formative years I had not experienced anything but war news.  As a child I was not shielded; this was my reality, even though Mother kept the small light hidden in our doll baby buggy. What had I learned?  What shapes our lives?

But, of course, times were different then.  It may have been a different time; however . . .  

"Until Iowa" Post 5 Cory Booker Really Listened

“Until Iowa” Post 5: I began to write this morning: “As I enter my Iowa caucus in 21 days, I’m in Cory Booker’s corner.” I’ve been meeting candidates for months now and had been most impressed with Cory. But at noon I received word from Booker, “It’s with a full heart that I share this news -- I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for president.”

He listened, really listened, and learned from us. He is deeply committed to bringing this country together. He is a man of faith, extraordinarily intelligent, street-smart, globally informed, and locally astute. I respect his collaborative leadership style. He lives his convictions, going home to his residence in Newark rather than “moving on up.”  He’s “in touch” with all economic groups, across color lines.

Cory gathered many of endorsements early in Iowa. He continues to be in the “second tier” of candidates in the polls, and actually went up in a poll 1 point today from yesterday. Yet he was rarely mentioned in the press, even his dropping out today. I would love to have seen him stay in through Iowa because this year the first round of votes will be reported out (whose corner you go to when you enter the room) as well as the second, realignment.  But lack of money, not qualifying for this debate and his responsibility in Trump’s impeachment trial made him make the decision today.

We will miss Cory. He has a deep understanding of farm issues and foreign affairs—and of their connection.   We need his aggressive plan on gun safety, his work on criminal justice reform, protection of reproductive rights, his advocacy for people with disabilities, and his standing up for people and communities that have been left out and left behind.

Race! It is still about race. It has been for decades and centuries. Cory would tell the story of how his parents tried to buy a home in a segregated neighborhood and how people of courage had to work together to challenge the system to make that happen during the Civil Rights Era. The Obama administration argued that to fulfill the Fair Housing Act of 1968 agencies still had to address disparities in housing, integrate neighborhoods and transform racially concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity. This January The Trump administration plans to propose pulling back Obama-era efforts to desegregate housing, saying they were burdensome.

This January Corry Booker and other candidates of color have had to drop out of the primaries. We need them.  I’m still in Cory’s corner.

"Until Iowa" 31 days: Homelessness

How many days “Until Iowa”?  “Iowa is” already but writing this snowy February 3 it’s 31 days until the Iowa Caucuses. So, here’s my second post on the subject.

A national news commentator whom I trust and admire recently was in mid-America doing a story. I was surprised the commentator was surprised to discover homelessness in the Midwest, saying, “I thought homelessness was in the big cities of the East and West coasts, not in rural America.” First, we in Iowa, know that here many people—many of us-- are without houses, without shelter, without homes, in our cities, towns and rural areas. Second, these United States should not be divided into rural and urban, nor into red states and blue states. On Iowa license plates are silhouette images of city buildings and farm structures.

Third, most important for contemplation of “until Iowa,” is that the poverty which leads to homelessness is a major problem everywhere.  AND, people who are poor, who are without an address, deserve to vote. Such votes of real people are needed! Homelessness, joblessness and poverty need to be alleviated. That’s the challenge for “until Iowa” and beyond.

Impeachment is not Just a Football Game

Why pay attention if we know how it’s going to turn out? I heard a man say, “This impeachment thing is like football game. If I’ve already heard the final score, I don’t want to watch the game later on TV.” But of course it’s not a game, not football, and not just a partisan “thing”—unless that’s the way one frames it. If one listens carefully, and reads, the impeachment process draws us back to the central idea and foundations of this country.  We are called to study again, or for the first time, the U.S. Constitution and to think deeply about Democracy and rule of law and governance by the people, not a monarch. Democracies across the world are in danger today. Leaders who want power for themselves, and an  atmosphere of fear of the “other,” threaten the world and the earth itself.

We boldly go to war to “fight for our freedom.” So costly in lives! How noble. This is also a time for nobility, one that does not call for guns: nobility and  integrity, and wisdom. Democracy, our constitution, and freedom to care for one another, including strangers, as people and as nations together is at stake. We must pay attention.

The First Amendment: How Do We Exercise Freedom of Religion for All?

Lifelong Learning North Iowa Area Community
 College September 17, 2019, Constitution Day  

About 90 people came and engaged in wonderful conversation                                                                                         

 Norma Cook Everist, professor

Brief History of Freedom of Religion
 and U.S. Relationship of Religion and 
Government (“Church and State”)

1.    Disestablishment occurred gradually,
 state by state, over a 50-year period in
 the new United State of America.

2.    Disestablishment meant denominationalism
 and promised inclusion of all religions.

3.    Debate remains to this day as to the
 meaning of “separation of church and state.”

1^st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: 
Congress shall make no law respecting an
 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
 free exercise thereof; or abridging the
 freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
 right of the people peaceably to assemble,
 and to petition the Government for a
 redress of grievances.

1.    The establishment clause: The nation
 gives privilege to all religions without
discrimination.

2.    The free exercise clause: Religious
 freedom means that I and my neighbor
 both have religious freedom.

Various Positions on Religion and
 Government

1.    One Religion Dominating the Nation
and Over the Government

2.    The Government Dominating All Religions

3.    One Religion Privileged Above 
All Other Religions: A State Religion

4.    A Civil Religion: The Symbols,
 Shrines, Holy Days, Rituals and 
Creeds of Nationalism Linked to a Religion

5.    Institutional Separation and
Functional Interaction: Healthy Pluralism  

Kinds of Separation  

1.    Structural Separation

2.    Absolute Separation

3.    Transvaluing Separation

4.    Supportive Separation

5.    Equal Separation

Time to Talk with each other

1.    Why do you think that the no
 “establishment” clause” is important
 and how can we help understand
 and support all religions without
 discrimination?

2.    How does “functional interaction”
 take us beyond just “being nice” or 
saying “this is a free country” to caring
 about the problems of the world and
 the needs of our neighbors?

Encountering Religious Diversity

1.    Religious diversity has continually shaped
American society, starting with the
 indigenous peoples.

2.    We can make common commitments and 
accept new callings.

3.    We cannot really know another’s belief, but
 we can ask and respect and work together.

Religion in Public Schools

1.    God is not forbidden in the public schools
. Each student comes as a person with a
 belief system and perhaps as a member 
of a faith community.

2.    We need schools to be safe, trustworthy
, places to be different together, not
 places of fear.  

3.    We need schools to teach how the
 natural world functions; we do not look
 to science to answer religious questions.

4.    The schools approach to religion
 should be awareness and instruction
 not indoctrination or conversion.

5.    There should be equitable access
 to public/community quality education
 for all regardless of race, religion,
 social-economic background, etc.   

Current Challenges of Religious Freedom
for Living in the Public World Together

1.    Faith Communities Tax Exempt Status:
 Speaking on Political Issues, Telling
People How to Vote, Preaching on
 Social Statements

2.    Commerce in the public arena: 
religious freedom as a justification
 for discrimination against serving
 certain customers

3.    Religious freedom of employers
 and the restriction of the rights of 
employees

4.    Religious restrictions of
 child-placement
 agencies in regard to foster 
care and adoption

5.    Opening Municipal and 
Legislative Meetings

Time to talk with each other

1.    Share examples of public schools
 teaching about religion and being
 a place for people to appreciate
 religious diversity.

2.    Which issues of religious freedom 
and religion and government challenge 
you today? Select one to talk about
 together.

Other Important Freedoms in the First 
Amendment (all in the same sentence)

1.    Freedom of Speech

2.    Freedom of the Press

3.    Freedom to Peaceably Assemble

4.    Freedom to Petition the Government
 for a Redress of Grievances