I have now concluded a seven-column series concerned with
what is currently taking place in the religious world, and the rise of an
emerging church. When I return from my summer break, I will again try to make
sense out of what is happening politically in American society. Someone
recently asked if I had trouble finding material for these weekly
investigations. My answer, “I have trouble finding enough weeks!” Nevertheless, this summer I’ve got
other fish to fry, watercolor paintings to complete, a summer invested in working
with our community’s homeless, a garden to tend, a pile of books to read, and
lots more. So in July and early in August I will be taking a break from writing
my columns.
These columns appear in four publications plus, my blog The Bayer Essentials. They are also
reprinted in a few thousand e-mails—both mine and others who send these columns
to their own lists. From all this I receive
anywhere from 30 to 60 responses a week.
I try to answer those who raise solid issues and whose response is more
than a sentence. All this takes about 26-28 hours a week. What money do I earn
from all this? Nada! I don’t even
copyright these columns, so anyone who wants to use them is free to do so. In the
last four years plus there have been over 200 entries. Most of them are well-researched
and hopefully accurate. But they are personal opinions, not the result of some
divine revelation, or the product of my omniscience. I have occasionally been wrong. When I am there are those at the ready
to point it out.
A friend of mine carefully proofreads what I have written,
and not only corrects my grammar, spelling and other results of my dyslexia,,
but occasionally challenges how I say things. His name is Don and his support
is terribly important.
Before I sign off for a few weeks I want to raise a question
and next week take a stab at answering it. Here is the question. Is there a
legitimate relationship between religious belief and what goes on in politics,
or is the wall of separation between church and state so solid that no person
from a religious perspective has any right to meddle in public affairs? There
are those who legitimately feel that no religious body or even religiously
motivated person ought to wander outside the ecclesial walls. On the other
hand, there are those who believe that to separate religious ethics from public
policy is to be false to both.
The issue has recently been broadened with the IRS
investigation of certain 501(c)(4) bodies on the right. Tea party and “patriot
“ groups and even groups connected to Billy Graham’s evangelistic organization poured
tens of millions into last Autumn’s election. While their amounts were much less, tax-exempt organizations
on the left were also politically involved. In both camps, money flowing from these
501(c)(4) bodies helped make the dollar glut overwhelming.
Jim Hightower, and others, have suggested that all such
groups be prohibited from political involvement. That, of course, includes
religious bodies as well as their more secular partners.
So what is the role of tax-exempt social service and
religious bodies in public affairs? Let me know what you think and next week
we’ll tackle that difficult subject.
Charles Bayer
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