{"id":686,"date":"2010-10-03T23:28:10","date_gmt":"2010-10-03T23:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2010\/10\/my-talk-at-the-interfaith-observance-at-the-presidio.html"},"modified":"2010-10-03T23:28:10","modified_gmt":"2010-10-03T23:28:10","slug":"my-talk-at-the-interfaith-observance-at-the-presidio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/10\/my-talk-at-the-interfaith-observance-at-the-presidio.html","title":{"rendered":"My Talk at the Interfaith Observance at the Presidio"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was asked to give a talk this afternoon, October 3, at the Interfaith Center at the<\/a> Presidio chapel in San Francisco.  This was an annual gathering celebrating its founding, and this year’s topic was “Reclaiming the First Amendment,” a subject dear to my heart.  I spoke alomg with members of the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh, Mormon, and Baha’i communities.  There was supposed to be a Muslim speaker as well, but last minute difficulties prevented his coming.  Another Muslim participant contributed some very good improptu remarks in his stead.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
My talk and some thoughts that arose is below the fold.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n


\n<\/p>\n

The First
\nAmendment is one of the crowning achievements of the American Revolution, and
\nbecame a beacon of hope for millions who saw that a people could become strong,
\nwealthy, and creative while acknowledging that universal agreement is neither
\nnecessary nor even desirable.<\/p>\n

Even so, becoming
\nPagan led me to a deeper appreciation of the First Amendment, especially its
\nsignificance for today’s gathering: Its spiritual meaning. <\/p>\n

Today religious
\ntoleration is under attack from many directions, even here in the US, long its
\nmost secure home. I think a Pagan perspective has something important to offer
\nus all by emphasizing the difference between toleration and celebration.<\/p>\n

Toleration can be
\ngrudging.  <\/span>There is a dog next door
\nthat likes to bark much too much.  <\/span>I
\ntolerate him.  <\/span>But I wish he were
\nsilent or gone. I do not celebrate that dog when he barks. But I tolerate him.<\/p>\n

Religious
\ntoleration began in the West when contending sides realized they could never
\nprevail over one another.  <\/span>People
\neventually tired of killing, and toleration began.  <\/span>Memories of that time added strength to the arguments for
\nthe First Amendment.<\/p>\n

But if we really
\nunderstand it, the First Amendment carries us far beyond religious toleration,
\nto the celebration of religious differences.<\/p>\n

People long
\ninvolved in Interfaith work often report a new sympathy and even admiration for
\nother faith traditions, all the while acquiring a deeper appreciation of their
\nown.  <\/span>We gather not to seek a
\ncommon denominator, a single religion acceptable to all, but to celebrate
\nhumankind’s spiritual mosaic. This gathering today goes beyond toleration to
\ncelebrate spiritual diversity.<\/p>\n

We learn that
\nreligious differences no more imply a hierarchy of superior and inferior than
\nthe color red is superior to the color blue, an oak is superior to a redwood,
\nblue eyes superior to brown.<\/p>\n

For myself and for
\nmany Pagans, a central insight is that our path is not intrinsically better
\nthan other paths.  <\/span>It is our path
\nand we love it.  <\/span>But there are
\nothers, equally loved by those who walk them.  <\/span><\/p>\n

This insight goes
\nbeyond toleration in the same way as when a culture shifts from family loyalty
\nbeing interpreted as my family is better than others to saying my family is MY
\nfamily. I love them as other people love their own families.  <\/span>This second approach can celebrate
\ndiversity in families because no single family is a complete expression of how
\nwe relate lovingly between and within generations.<\/p>\n

The same is true
\nin religion.  <\/span>The Sacred is
\nsuperior to us all and we can never adequately encompass it.  <\/span>Each faith tradition represents one way
\nin which some people come together to honor and relate with it.  <\/span>The sum total of all traditions does a
\nbetter job than any single one because they honor more dimensions in more ways,
\nand so we celebrate diversity.<\/p>\n

This is the deep
\nmeaning of the First Amendment. 
\n<\/span>Those with only a superficial understanding think it means better
\ntoleration than annihilation.  <\/span>But
\nwe cannot build a lasting society on that ground.  <\/span>Sooner or later someone will decide to dispense with
\ntoleration because they think they are strong enough to get away with it. Once
\nthey do a fatal logic ensues.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Today our Muslim
\nbrothers and sisters are experiencing hateful discrimination, and worse.   <\/span>We Pagans know well what happened
\nin our past.  <\/span>Native American
\nreligion was suppressed despite the First Amendment.  <\/span>Some of us now living have experienced serious religious
\ndiscriminarion.  <\/span>But Dominionists,
\nbe they Christian or Muslim or something else, enter on to a fatal path when
\nthey act this way.  <\/span>Their
\ntraditions are also diverse.  <\/span>No
\nsingle interpretation of their founding teachings has proven acceptable to
\neveryone.  <\/span>And so once the most
\nvisible diversity is annihilated, attention turns to making sure there are only
\nthe “right kinds” of Christians or Muslims.  <\/span>And we will return to the Wars of religion or the deadening
\nnote of a single drum beat, a boot stamping monotonously on the spiritual face
\nof humanity.<\/p>\n

A lasting society,
\na “New Order for the Ages” such as our Founders hoped would arise here grows
\nwhen we see that we are all threads in a wonderful tapestry of faith that far
\nexceeds in beauty and profundity the capacities of any of us singly.  <\/span>But each of us weaves an important
\nthread that adds to that beauty. 
\n<\/span>May we see that what we celebrate is not just what we inherited from the
\nwisest of our forefathers, it is also to fulfill the promises and potentials
\ntheir wisdom made possible.<\/p>\n

Postscript<\/b><\/p>\n

While I had written out my talk in advance, the talks were a perfect illustration of my point.  They all shared a respect for one another, but each speaker used very different emphases to make a complementary point.  The whole was indeed greater than the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n

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