United States 250th Anniversary

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of US independence, we pause to give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy because of the civil rights guaranteed by our Constitution. One of the important freedoms is the freedom of religious expression.

The first amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1791, guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. It is a right that we might well take for granted, but clearly the early patriots did not. They had come from European nations which at the time operated state-sponsored churches in an atmosphere of religious rigidity and intolerance. Dissenting views on religion were not only suppressed, but they were also cause for persecution.

Far from insisting on conformity to any particular version of the Christian religion, the founders wanted to ensure that a diversity of religious expressions were not only tolerated but supported by constitutional law. And there certainly was a variety of religious views that existed at the time! Our traditional motto, E pluribus unum (Latin for “out of many, one”), lifted up a deep desire to create a respectful unity out of the diversity of people who sought to establish a new nation. It has been a long process to live into this value, but it continues to be an important one.

Today in our nation there is a troublesome tendency in the public square to forget this fundamental freedom of all. It is a fallacy to proclaim that only Christians are “true Americans”, or that the USA is a “Christian nation”. Our history and our constitution declare that we are a nation founded on the fundamental right of freedom of religion.

The ELCA, in our 2019 policy statement A Declaration of Inter-religious Commitment, urges us to interact with our fellow Americans of diverse religious views not with fear or derision or superiority, but rather with a respect and welcome that defends their civil right to diverse religious expressions. We urge our elected officials and fellow religious leaders to join us:

In faithful response to God’s love in Christ Jesus, we are called and committed to: seek mutual understanding with our neighbors of other religions and worldviews, cooperate with our neighbors of other religions and worldviews as instruments of God’s justice and peace, and defend the full participation of all in our religiously diverse society, strengthening public space as a just place for all, regardless of religion or worldview.                                                                                                             (You may find the full statement at https://resources.elca.org/wp-content/uploads/Inter-Religious_Policy_Statement.pdf)

May our celebration of 250 years of Independence be an occasion for us to re-commit ourselves to the principle of religious freedom endorsed by the Bill of Rights and to mutual care for the diversity of the people of God who have made this place their home.

Pastor Annette

P.S. I highly recommend a little “inter-religious journey” by means of the book Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, by Barbara Brown Taylor