The politics of faith

One of the reasons I'm happy about yesterday's nationwide election results is that now, perhaps, government will go back to being more secular.

I am a Christian, and my faith infuses my beliefs and how I vote. However my Christianity does not jibe with what the Religious Right tells me my values "should" be, and I find that insulting and disturbing.

For example, stemcell research. I am for taking fertilized embryos that would otherwise be destroyed and using them to find cures for catastrophic diseases. This is completely in keeping with my faith, and with conversations I have had with clergy. I am not convinced that IVF is God's will (which is not to say I think it should be illegal or curtailed; as with abortion, I think every woman should have reproductive choice so she can follow her own conscience and her own faith). Therefore I celebrate that these embryos can be used in such a positive way.

Then there's the death penalty. I am simply against it. Regardless of the crime. In this world of plea bargains, it is not fairly assigned. It is an unfair burden to put on a juror. Taking a life does not bring back the one that was lost. As a citizen and as a Christian, I am against it. And yet the Bush Brothers, as governors of Texas and Florida, have signed many a death warrant and seem to feel that squares with their Christianity. But you see, that's my point: THEIR Christianity. Not mine.

One of Chicago's most famous crimes, the Leopold and Loeb thrill killing in the 1920s, ends with what is, for me, a wonderful example of Christian redemption. After serving decades in prison, Leopold was paroled and spent his middle and late years working with missionaries in Puerto Rico. I think that's beautiful. These dedicated Catholics accepted and forgave this Jewish murderer and let him spend his last years in the service of the Lord. This is a far better reflection of MY Christianity.

Gay rights. One of the dearest, most committed couples I know is gay. They love one another, have been together for decades, and now take tender care of one partner's 93 year old mother (and she can be quite a handful). Yet there are those who will say with absolute certainty this love is wrong. Well, my faith tells me otherwise.

And what about Muslims or Jews or agnostics or atheists. Shouldn't their government reflect their values? As Lincoln said, "of the people, by the people, for the people."

So hopefully now one group will no longer govern as though they have a hotline to Jesus. Perhaps now we will be able to search our own souls in privacy and reach our own decisions. And government will serve us and reflect us, rather than preach to us. My spiritual house is in order. I don't appreciate Washington white guys telling me how I should feel, and how I should relate to my Lord.