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August 4, 2000/3 Av 5760, Vol. 52, No.47
Thanks, GeorgeEditorialLet George do it, goes the saying. And so he has.He's raised the emotional issue of religion and mixed it with politics to make a potent brew. Gov. George W. Bush's now-widely publicized declaration of Jesus Day in his home state of Texas earlier this year has alerted church/state watchdogs to scrutinize his position on a raft of hot button issues. The proclamation demonstrates the success of various faith constituencies in gaining official government endorsement of particular religious leaders and religious texts. It flies in the face of constitutional bars on state promotion of religion. In Texas, the Jesus Day proclamation challenged individuals to "perform good works and follow Christ's message of love and service in thought and deed." Locally, Gilbert's recent Bible Week, currently at issue in the courts, encouraged "personal reading and study of the Bible." Such statements exclude non-believers and use the "power and prestige" of the state, in the words of the Arizona Supreme Court, to promote, or appear to promote, religion. This is precisely what our founding fathers sought to constrain when they wrote the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution limiting church/state entanglement. And precisely what should worry all those who value religious freedom. The Jesus Day brouhaha has spotlighted Bush's support of school prayer, school choice and charitable choice, and his predilection for increasing governmental intrusion into other areas of intensely personal choice. His deeply held personal religious convictions may provide a welcome aura of wholesomeness and integrity to his candidacy, yet if allowed to reach their inevitable conclusion, bespeak of imposing a dangerously narrow religious agenda on all Americans. Particularly for American Jews, who have worked so hard to scale the walls of opportunity and equality and who understand why religion and politics don't mix, this is cause for alarm. If we continue to close our eyes to the erosion of religious freedom, the walls may come tumbling down. |
