A nation of many faiths—and none

By Mark G. Toulouse

Special to the Star-Telegram

I teach American religious history at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. I’m a scholar who studies religion and public life in America. But I am also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

In other words, I am a Christian, a person who takes Christian faith seriously. And like millions of other Christians in this country, I believe strongly in the benefits associated with the separation of church and state. Americans possess both freedom for religious belief and freedom from religious belief.

From the beginning of American history, religious diversity has existed in this country. And as Diana L. Eck’s 2001 book, A New Religious America, has shown, the United States of today is the most religiously diverse nation on Earth.

Eck’s work reveals that there are nearly 6 million Muslims in this country—a population about equal to that of American Jews, and larger than the membership of the Presbyterian Church (USA) or the Episcopal Church. Hindus number nearly 1.3 million. There are probably about 4 million Buddhists.

This healthy diversity has resulted from America’s historic commitment to religious freedom. You don’t have to take a religious test to become an American, to run for public office, to vote, to join the military or, for that matter, to die somewhere in the deserts of Iraq wearing an American uniform.

Look around you. There are good Americans who represent every kind of religion and no religion. You do not have to be a Christian to be a good American. (Believe it or not, you don’t even have to be a Christian to be a good Republican.)

The Constitution guarantees that government can’t dictate to American citizens in matters of faith and conscience. Majority rule can’t dictate in these areas. The actions of state or federal legislatures can’t dictate in these areas. The president can’t dictate in these areas. And (contrary to the hopes of some today) the courts can’t dictate in these areas.

On April 24, members of the religious right hosted an event at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky. The publicity for “Justice Sunday” claimed that Democratic senators who oppose the confirmation of a handful of judges are acting “against people of faith.”

Sen. Bill Frist chose to accept an invitation to speak. Unfortunately, his video presence appeared to be an official endorsement of their ideas.

But Frist knows the truth. Use of the filibuster, and opposing these few remaining judicial nominees, is a political act, not an act of religious bigotry. Opposing the filibuster, and supporting these few nominees, is a political act, not an act of Christian piety.

People of faith have every right to speak for or against political objectives because of their faith. But as a person of faith, I take strong exception to the idea that a person’s opposition to a judicial appointment can be used to judge whether that person is authentically Christian—or worse, to claim that the person is attacking “people of faith.”

That kind of connection between faith and politics perverts both faith and politics. And when government officials climb on board with such thinking, it violates the separation of church and state.

The fact is that the Senate has already approved 205 of President Bush’s judicial nominees. As you might expect, most of those approved justices are people of faith.

Opposition to the handful of remaining justices has nothing to do with their religious faith. Rather, it is about their political positions, their legal philosophies and, in a few cases, their narrow understandings of First Amendment protections.

The Democratic filibuster is not about religion—it is about protecting diversity in this country. It is not an act “against people of faith”—it is about protecting the rights of every American, regardless of religious affiliation or the lack of same.

America is the land of “both/and,” not the land of “either/or.” America welcomes both people of faith—of all faiths—and people associated with no faith. America is not the land of either/or: Either you are a Christian or you are not a true American; either you are a particular type of Christian or you are not a true Christian; either you support all of President Bush’s nominations or you are a religious bigot.

Democrats understand that America is the land of both/and. Republican rhetoric these days seems inclined toward the either/or philosophy.

The land of both/and also means you can both be a Christian and express your opinions on politics. Many have used their faith to act and speak loudly in public ways to work for racial and gender equality or the rights of the poor. Faith can speak loudly against the notion of preventive war.

Unfortunately, Democrats seem these days to find it difficult to welcome those who are comfortable with the language of religious faith—whatever faith it might be—to the conversations around the party table. At least that is the way the public perceives us.

I’m sure this is because we have responded so negatively (as we should) to the rhetoric from the right that too easily connects God’s will to particular political solutions. But the Democratic Party stands for an America that protects both freedom for religion and freedom from religion.

Democrats need to help the rest of America understand what that “both/and” means. Mario Cuomo, Martin Luther King Jr., Jimmy Carter and Texas’s own legendary Barbara Jordan knew how to do that well. They, among others, have shown that the insights of religious faith, even when spoken in the language of faith, can serve the public good. But their expressions always respected the freedom of conscience belonging to all Americans.

Secular Americans can, and should, express their commitments by using the best of the secular reasoning that stands behind them. This, too, serves the public good. Together, we can model what it means to be a pluralistic America—an America where people representing a vast diversity of faiths and people with no religious faith can live and work together in peace.

This was the hope of the Founders and the wisdom behind the First Amendment. America needs that hope and wisdom more today than ever before.

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Mark G. Toulouse is a professor of American religious history at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School.
Mark G. Toulouse is a professor at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School. 

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Originally published in the Star Telegram and reprinted with permission of the author.