The U.S. doesn’t need a federal theocracy

Editor’s Note: Voices is a weekly commentary by a panel of Maine columnists who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.

The solemn relationship between Creator and creation is being legislated, federalized and bureaucratized.

In 2000, Al Gore and George W. Bush supported using government to assist charities that provide social services. President Bush made good on the promise by creating the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In this year’s presidential election, candidates of the major political parties are again supporting a partnership between God and Washington.

At a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial service, the president said: “Many of the problems that are facing our society are problems of the heart. Addiction is the problem of the heart.” He spoke of the “miracle of salvation.” He added, “We ought to welcome faith-based programs and we ought to fund faith-based programs.”

The unintended result, however, could be a narrow, conformist, nonecumenical spirituality monitored by the government.

President Bush is crafting domestic policy based on his relationship with God. The loyal opposition has been silent. In some cases, Democratic candidates are shouting loudly about their faith. This raises several disconcerting questions. One of the most alarming is whether Washington is developing a federal theocracy.

Disease, mental illness and substance abuse are among the challenges that are treated and sometimes corrected by medicine.

Science is a gift from God. Faith, medicine and spirituality can complement one another. A much-needed discipline is evolving within the field of social work that combines these elements. The individual is allowed to find God on his or her own terms, without denominational prejudices, while benefiting from modern medicine.

Spirituality in this case is ecumenical. It does not impose a specific kind of religion. Faith in its most basic form is nondenominational. Yet it can include worship of a supreme, infinite power of goodness that transcends the temporal difficulties of life and challenges us to truly love and respect our neighbor as ourselves.

In the current political climate, Baha’i, Buddhist or Earth-centered denominations are not likely to comply with a rigid Washington definition of faith. James Towey, director of the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, has already dismissed the possibility of awarding money to an Earth-centered faith, several of which are independent affiliates of the respected Unitarian Universalist Association, which has a long history in the United States.

The president said that faith-based programs can “save souls” one at a time. The implication is that it can be done in cooperation with Washington.

Government has no moral legitimacy to save a soul. Only God saves souls. To suggest otherwise implies that God is an impotent deity whose breadth is drawn from the vanity of good-intentioned policy-makers manipulating political and governmental institutions with a skewed personal agenda.

Independent of the hubris and comedy, government’s attempt to help God uses a theology grounded in Americanism with a perverted Judeo-Christian wrapping. In the long term, the federalization of God cannot advance the common good because it will, as James Towey has already demonstrated by public comments, ostracize that which is different and does not conform to the ideas of those with power. An unintended litmus test could come about as to who is a patriotic, God-fearing citizen.

There is an important place for faith-based organizations in healing, nurturing and comforting those who struggle with homelessness, health issues or domestic violence. Religious groups, however, must never become beholden and dependent on a financial narcotic administered by a wasteful, inefficient and sometimes corrupt government.

The Bush administration is sprinkling more than seed money to religious organizations. It’s offering billions in grants to encourage dependence on the government that faith-based organizations are likely to later regret. A dangerous, politically incestuous alliance can form that tacitly approves of discrimination in counseling, evangelizing and hiring practices.

God, faith and domestic policy are becoming indistinguishable. President Bush and possibly the Democratic nominee will use God as an unofficial running mate to speak with moral authority that advocates government’s involvement in a person’s spiritual life. This must never be Washington’s function. Only God initiates and nurtures a relationship with individual souls, not a federal theocracy.

The Right Rev. Paul Peter Jesep, an auxiliary bishop in the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church-Sobornopravna, is studying at Bangor Theological Seminary. The views expressed are solely his own and do not reflect the church’s position. He may be reached at VladykaPaulPeter@aol.com.