(!) Collisions and Doubts
Sightings 5/16/05
Collisions and Doubts
-- Martin E. Marty
Where to draw "the line of separation between the rights of religion
and the Civil authority" (James Madison)? Or, less felicitously,
where to maintain or breach "the wall of separation between church
and state" (Thomas Jefferson)? When to make use of the line? Those
questions are older than 1787, and today more than ever there are
"collisions and doubts," as Madison called them. The line has always
been messy, the wall has always had breaches, and this will always be
so, as long as a dynamic republic shall last. Two newspapers on May
12 offered new examples of this fact.
In a Chicago Tribune op-ed, David McGrath, an expert on English
literature and Native American affairs, complained about a 198-foot
tall crucifix towering at the junction of I-57 and I-70 ("The Art of
Jamming Beliefs Down Our Throats"). It stands "as close to the
highway" as the state will permit, its glistening surface serving to
"shout and bully with its message of Christian morals." McGrath
welcomes civil controversy but finds this uncivil. And a photo of
the cross suggests that it may be just this; it is overbearing,
triumphalist, and more. What would Jesus do? He'd probably call
such use of his cross "tacky." But where it is, is perfectly legal.
If it is even as close as one inch from the legal boundary, all we
can do is put on our dark glasses, glower with McGrath, and take
refuge in more chaste visions of the cross and expressions of piety.
Why? Because the cross is on private land. On public land it would
be claiming privilege for faith over non-faith, one faith over
others. Where it is, "any number can play" on equal terms.
Most misplacements of the Ten Commandments and crosses occur on
courthouse lawns or classroom walls. Are these about religion?
Since religion can be expressed on most private lawns and on church,
home, and store walls, aren't these courthouse and classroom
placements saying something political and primeval? "We belong, and
you don't! We set the terms and you are marginal, unpatriotic, or
wrong!" Such forms of "shouting and bullying" may be detrimental to
faith and civic life.
As for the "when": The New York Times and then the Associated Press
(on May 14) ran stories about Air Force Academy personnel, programs,
and privileges, as well as pressures against most religions that do
not focus on the "born-again" experience and orthodoxy. Details
remain controversial, but charges are that anti-Semitism and
anti-other religion mark some of the teaching on the premises of the
Academy (the wrong "where") and during classroom and other teaching
and publicizing time (the wrong "when"). Air Force Academy Chaplain
Melina Morton -- who has to be trusted, because she's a fellow
Lutheran -- says, "I realize this is the end of my Air Force career"
because she protested and pointed to wrongs. In fairness, we have to
hear more from Major General Charles Baldwin, Air Force chief of
chaplains, who said the higher-ups merely sent Morton to Japan, far
from Colorado Springs, and changed her duties, assigning her to serve
there in her final chaplaincy days.
The Pentagon is looking into more than fifty recent complaints of
religious intolerance at the Academy, and is assessing a report by
Yale Divinity School professor Kristen Leslie. Leslie quoted an Air
Force chaplain during basic training who warned that "those [cadets]
who are not born again will burn in the fires of hell." Off premises
and off time he can say that. On premises? Wrong.
Page two: Last week we commemorated Will Herberg's
Protestant-Catholic-Jew fifty years after its publication, claiming
that like all of us men in 1955, he made slight mention of women.
But reader Bob Miller scanned the bibliography and footnotes of the
book and found a dozen pioneer women's names, and a closer reading
finds Herberg quoting British leader Barbara Ward on the first page.
We are glad to issue this correction. Good for Will!
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events,
publications, and contact information can be found at
<http://www.illuminos.com>www.illuminos.com.
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The May Religion and Culture Web Forum, featuring "Red Medicine, Blue
Medicine: Pluralism and the Future of Healthcare" by Farr A. Curlin
and Daniel E. Hall, is now available at
http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
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