Legislating in God’s gym

Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed two bills -- one that

requires parental consent before girls can receive an abortion, and

one supporting an amendment to the Texas Constitution that, if passed

by voters, will ban same-sex marriage. He did so at the gymnasium of

Calvary Christian Academy, a private school operated by Calvary

Cathedral International, a large Fort Worth church. The ceremony drew

around 350 protesters, some angered by the choice of location. Barry

Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church

and State, threatened to file a complaint with the IRS, charging the

church with getting involved with partisan politics. Church officials

said they were in the clear, because the event was at the school, not

the church. Should the school have hosted the ceremony, given its

relationship with the church?

What I find most discouraging is the reality that politicians ally

themselves with fundamentalist or evangelical Christian churches

because they believe it will help them to get reelected -- and they

are so often right. The distorted idea that moral values are taught

only by certain religious groups and the insinuation that the beliefs

of everyone else, including other Christian denominations and

different faith traditions, are immoral or not equally committed to

an ethical society is especially disturbing.

Although it would be best in most cases for girls to seek the help

of their parents in making a decision about abortion, the reality of

abandonment, divorce and sexual abuse cause me to believe that laws

should not require parental notification. Many religious

denominations support the option of legal abortion and the lack of

restrictions, especially since teenage girls may be in situations

where the ability to get parental consent is most difficult (for

example, incest by the father or stepfather, or rape by the mother’s

boyfriend). I also believe that same-sex marriage is a moral choice

and that it is ethical for our society to at last acknowledge it.

Again, an increasing number of religious traditions support the full

spectrum of gay rights.

Laws should be signed at the state’s capitol building or its

governor’s mansion, not churches. The governor is elected to serve

all the people of his state, not one religious group. Signing at a

gym in a church-sponsored school, rather than in the church building

itself, may or may not satisfy IRS technicalities, but it certainly

is opposed to the spirit of the law.

Religious organizations receive public support by being exempted

from paying taxes (on income and property) and also by giving their

donors income-tax deductions for charitable contributions to them.

This is based on the recognition that churches, temples, synagogues

and other not-for-profit organizations are providing services that

benefit society. It violates this trust (and IRS regulations) to use

the religious organization for political lobbying. If a religious

group wants to lobby, they have the right to do so, but they must

give up their tax-exempt status and participate in the political

process like any other lobbyist.

The governor e-mailed his supporters, asking that the church be

filled with “pro-family Christian friends.” At this event, whether in

the gym or the church, both the governor and the church were not

respecting the community they are expected to serve.

REV. DR. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

Aside from one’s position on the legislation itself -- and

regardless of the church-state issue involved in the venue for

signing the bills, and beyond taking advantage of a house of worship

for political ends -- is the statement of religious leaders that was

more factual than truthful. They countered criticism that the

enactment of the laws was unjustifiably celebrated in a church

facility by noting that the governor did not appear in the church

itself, but in the church’s school gymnasium.

Facts can obscure the truth. Three times does the New Testament

condemn living by the letter of the law and not abiding by its

spirit. The excuse offered here, that a building owned by the church

and dedicated to the church’s advancement, but not literally a church

itself, was the venue for the signing, is a hairsplitting legalism

where a forthright truth is demanded.

Is this the moral response parents would want from their children

in other contexts? Wouldn’t we want them to be more straightforward?

Is this an answer of which to be proud, or a devious end run around

the truth? It may be ingenious to be disingenuous, but the letter of

the law is about a minimal framework.

Religion should call us to a higher response than what we can get

away with.

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I am reminded of an observation by

Arthur Conan Doyle: There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious

fact.

Another favorite thought was offered by Nobel Laureate Nadine

Gordimer: The facts are always less than what really happened.

The fact that the signing did not take place in the sanctuary does

not lessen the truth that church property was exploited for a

political goal. When religious leaders parse words to win an

argument, avoid unpleasantness, or exercise damage control, truth is

dishonored and all those involved are diminished.

“Just the facts, ma’am,” may have been all that was needed for

Sgt. Joe Friday on “Dragnet,” but any reasonable observer can see

through this evasion of reality. These misleading leaders have not

covered themselves in glory by covering up the truth.

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

It was definitely not a good idea, from the governor’s

perspective. He should have known that it would distract from the

real issue.

I think the opponents are trying to use it to defeat the measure

they couldn’t defeat otherwise. It is not illegal to sign a bill in a

church or school. The opponents of the measure said that it was

illegal to use a nonprofit’s resources for campaign purposes. It is

also illegal to use government property for campaign purposes.

Most bills are signed into law by governors and presidents on

government property, many with much pomp and circumstance. Many

others are signed in locations that are symbolic of the bill or in

places significant to promoters of the bill.

If a bill can be signed on government property, there is no reason

it cannot legally be signed on the facility of a nonprofit. So much

hullabaloo about a nonissue.

But is the issue really the issue? The opponents of the bill seem

to be trying to label the bills and conservative Christian religion

that is being forced on others. They believe if they can succeed,

then maybe a backlash in public opinion will force the government to

rescind the bills. It is not an honest strategy, but it may be

effective if the press continues to forget that sometimes the issue

is not the issue.

SENIOR ASSOCIATE PASTOR

RIC OLSEN

Harbor Trinity

Costa Mesa

While I do not personally support the legislation being proposed

by the Governor of Texas, I do believe the church in question has the

right to voice its support or opposition without losing its nonprofit

status.

I also believe that any organization that wants to go on record in

support of any point of view should have the freedom to do so. I do

not see this as a church-state issue. A democracy can only function

if all its citizens and groups have the freedom to express their

points of view.

The real question about church and state is if the church has

interfered with the political process in an unlawful manner, i.e. if

the church has restricted any other point of view and not allowed its

own members to present different points of view. There is nothing

wrong with healthy and respectful debate, but there is something

wrong when only one side of the issue is presented.

Not everybody in my church shares my political point of view, but

I don’t make my religion about politics. My religion is about my

relationship with God and how I live in that relationship. We are all

God’s creation, even the people I disagree with.

The challenge is to love everyone as you would love God, without

judgment, criticism or envy. This is not easy. It requires that you

look past the behavior into the soul, that you find the goodness in

all and resist the temptation to condemn.

SENIOR PASTOR

JAMES TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

This question immediately raises more questions. Were the leaders

and policy setters of both school and church, as well as parents and

parishioners, consulted? And did they consent to hosting this

ceremony? What are Calvary Cathedral International’s theological and

political positions on restricting abortion and banning same-sex

marriage? Is Gov. Perry a member of Calvary Christian? What is the

relationship between Calvary Christian Academy and Calvary Cathedral

International; that is, what does “operated by” really mean? Is the

gymnasium where the two bills were signed on property that is

tax-exempt?

If Gov. Schwarzenegger approached this Episcopal Parish Church

about a ceremony in our gymnasium, All Angels’ Court, to sign bills,

say, increasing funding for public education and maximizing justice

in our state’s immigration policies, I would want to be supportive.

After expressing gratitude that he would think of us, I would find

a tactful way of saying, “Please, why All Angels’ Court?” Then I

would consult with everyone I could, beginning with the bishop of our

diocese and the board of directors of our church.

Finally, I think that regardless of our support of or opposition

to the issues involved, or Gov. Schwarzenegger’s intent in asking to

sign legislation here, the reality that All Angels’ Court is on

tax-exempt property would force us to decline our governor’s gracious

request.

(THE VERY REV’D CANON)

PETER D. HAYNES

Saint Michael & All

Angels Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar