Out of context, this line can be seen as an invitation for constant judgment on the faith of others. Compare this to the words of George Washington who wrote in 1795, “In politics, as in religion, my tenets are few and simple the leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and jsut ourselves, and to exact it from others; meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved.”
\nIn full context, Pope Benedict XI iss not saying that people should intrude on the beliefs of others but rather that one’s faith is less meaningful unless it permeates your actions.<\/p>\n
Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Out of context, this line can be seen as an invitation for constant judgment on the faith of others. Compare this to the words of George Washington who wrote in 1795, “In politics, as in religion, my tenets are few and simple the leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted" - Steven Waldman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/04\/any-tendency-to-treat-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted" - Steven Waldman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Out of context, this line can be seen as an invitation for constant judgment on the faith of others. 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He's also the author of the Founding Faith: Politics, Providence, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America, which has been published by Random House. Before co-founding Beliefnet in 1999, Waldman was a political journalist, serving as National Editor of U.S. News & World Report and National Correspondent for Newsweek. 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