October 8, 2011

No means No: “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”

By Glenn

The “Values Voter’s Conference” has caused quite a stir.  A Baptist preacher called Mormonism a cult, and then he said that it disqualified Mitt Romney for the Presidency.  The preacher contradicted both the US Constitution and traditional American values.

Our First Amendment rests on the belief that we humans are fallible.  We are most fallible when it comes to understanding the mind and intentions of God.  Our ways are not God’s ways; our thoughts are not God’s thoughts.

We, the people, have no authority over the religious beliefs of another.   Our Constitution is quite clear: “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

In matters of public affairs, office and trust then, we are required to recognize our mutual folly.  We must tolerate our neighbors’ “foolish” ideas and only judge their behavior.   Voltaire expressed this simple idea in “Dogmas” (1765)

“”When all these proceedings were done, I heard promulgated the following decree: ‘ON BEHALF OF THE ETERNAL CREATOR, CONSERVATOR, REWARDER, PUNISHER, PARDONER, etc., be it known to all the inhabitants of the hundred thousand millions of billions of worlds it has pleased us to fashion, that we never judge said inhabitants according to their empty ideas, but solely according to their actions; for such is our justice.'”

You can find the same sentiment expressed in Matthew 25: 31ff

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Feed, cloth, visit and heal are all action words.  They speak to our actions not to our beliefs.  Faith should lead to action.  We can see a person’s action; we can’t see faith.

It doesn’t matter whether you approach this issue from the US Constitution, the French Enlightenment or the Gospels, the obvious conclusion is always the same. It is contrary to American ways to attack a candidate on their religious ideas. We must judge them based on what they do, and fail to do, for the American people.

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