Los Angeles Times
October 16, 2004
When Father Paul Raferty began a recent sermon on the Roman Catholic Church's
opposition to abortion, parishioners at his Eagle Rock parish thought his
explanation and delivery were lucid and effective.
Then the priest
digressed into what some saw as thinly veiled partisanship. First he spoke of
denying Holy Communion to politicians who supported abortion rights. But he
said taking a stand on the war in Iraq was not as clear-cut.
A number of
parishioners complained to Father Raymond Finerty, pastor of St. Dominic's,
that Raferty's "tone" seemed overly critical of Democratic presidential
candidate John F. Kerry, a Catholic who supports abortion rights. But Finerty,
who was on vacation at the time of the sermon, said he had not spoken with
Raferty about his talk. Raferty declined to discuss the issue with a reporter.
In a highly polarized nation in a presidential election year, the
incident at St. Dominic's might be an instructive tale for those in the pulpits
of America. Clergy of seve ral faiths said their congregants were paying close
attention to what they had to say.
"People have been calling me on the
carpet for several months," said the Rev. J. Edwin Bacon Jr., rector of All
Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, a generally liberal parish. He said some
parishioners objected to his negative critiques of certain Bush administration
policies, not realizing that he had done the same thing during the Clinton
administration.
"I think I am more sensitive these days. I am making
sure I am naming the values that are at issue. I'm being careful about naming
names, lest people not be able to hear the call to values," he said.
A
nationwide poll in August by the Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum on
Religion & Public Life found that 65% of adults were opposed to
congregations endorsing political candidates. Only 25% approved and 10% had no
opinion.
Compared to the 2000 presidential election, unverified
complaints of partisanship in the pulpit are up by one-thi rd, according to
Washington-based Americans for Separation of Church and State.
"I
think there are more churches that are getting close to or crossing the
forbidden line of candidate endorsement," said Barry Lynn, the group's executive
director. He noted that the Republican Party had raised eyebrows in July when
it sought church membership directories for campaign purposes.
Even
clergy and church groups that generally support President Bush denounced the
party's effort. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said he was "appalled."
Though
most congregants want to keep partisan politics out of houses of worship,
clerics might also feel more pressure than usual to either take a stand or keep
quiet.
"I think there is really a strong apocalyptic sense about this
election," said the Rev. Tom Ehrich, an Episcopal priest who writes a column
for Religion News Service. "Some people think it's the most important election
fro m a moral and ethical standpoint in a long time."
So where is the
line drawn?
The challenge, Bacon and others said, is to impart religious
values and leave it up to congregants to connect the dots.
The problem,
Bacon said, is that a misunderstanding of the separation of church and state
might lead some clerics to remain silent. "Unfortunately, too many preachers
let that scare them from preaching about the importance of religious values,
which is always a political stance" but not a partisan one, Bacon said.
Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills said that to
remain entirely silent is to consent to business as usual. "Some say that
religion is above politics and that the sanctuary is too sacred a place for
religious battle," Jacobs said.
"But if religion is supposed to be above
politics, then I say you're actually for the status quo — which is a very
political position," he said. "I don't believe in downsizing the demands of
biblical justice ," Jacobs said. But he does not endorse candidates.
But in some cases, presenting "values" can point unambiguously to one
candidate.
Last week, for example, Focus on the Family, an evangelical
Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs, Colo., issued a news release
saying that 71 ministry leaders, pastors and Christian professors had taken
positions that Bush shared on various issues. Among them were the composition
of the U.S. Supreme Court, terrorism and opposition to abortion, homosexual
marriage and embryonic stem cell research. But they did not explicitly endorse
him.
Meanwhile, Kerry could benefit from a "National Day of Action"
campaign set for today by "progressive" religious groups. "Some vocal religious
groups are trying to convince us that our faith calls us to vote only on a
narrow set of issues and values," they warned in a statement. Candidates also
should be measured, they said, by commitment to "truth at all times, justice for
all people and community among all nation s and faiths."
Though many on
both sides have refrained from outright endorsements, some, such as the Rev.
Patrick J. Mahoney, said they wanted no secret about where they stood.
But with tax-exempt status possibly on the line, he could understand hesitancy.
Recently, Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, spoke to a large
church in Lancaster, Pa., about the moral issues in the election. It seemed
obvious, the Presbyterian minister said, that the congregation wanted to pray
for Bush's reelection, but it stopped short of that.
Since then, Mahoney
said he had served notice to the Internal Revenue Service that he intended to
pray for Bush's reelection at churches where he is a guest preacher.
Tax
laws aside, there are practical as well as pastoral reasons for remaining
nonpartisan, clerics said. Offended congregants may leave. Partisan preaching
also may drive a wedge in the congregation that lingers long after the
election.
Jacobs, known as a passionate advo cate for liberal social
causes, said he learned the hard way how not to talk politics in the pulpit. In
1979, when he led another congregation, he endorsed busing to promote
integration in public schools. An influential member of his congregation was
former U.S. Rep. Bobbi Fiedler, who opposed busing.
"I came out on
High Holy Days saying there are racists in our community," Jacobs
recalled.
"I was not sophisticated enough to deal with that. The issues
were right, but the way I presented it … became a tear in the
congregation." He said Fiedler eventually left the synagogue.
Tom
Roberts, editor of the independent National Catholic Reporter, said some
Catholic bishops who have all but endorsed President Bush because of his stands
on abortion and embryonic stem cell research may come to regret their
tactics.
"The church has invested so much of its political capital and
energy and reputation now on defeating Kerry that if he wins, then, of course,
they're in a very awkward posi tion," he said.
"If Bush wins, they're
left with deep divisions within the church that are not just over the teachings
and how to apply the teachings, but they've become political. Now you have
Democrat Catholics and Republican Catholics for whom those labels become
extremely important. They become issues of faith."