At the LICC’s Annual Meeting at Temple Beth David in Commack, a panel explored questions of “Faith and Politics.” The panelists were Father Bob Smith, Sanaa Nadim, Rabbi Moses Birnbaum. The topic for consideration was how does one relate to partisan politics in a faith-based setting, or, how do we advocate for our beliefs and for the poor while also respecting the boundaries between Church & State?

Father Smith, pastor of St. James Church in Setauket, spoke about Pope Benedict’s first papal encyclical, which frames advocacy for social justice in the context of love. He explained how it fits into the Catholic Church’s history of thinking about social justice.

Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation to the Third Synod of Bishops said, “Actions on behalf of justice are essential for the preaching of the Gospel.” In 1971, Pope John Paul’s “Call to Action” said that every local church should identify critical social issues and take action to correct them. The task of Christians is to work to bring about the conditions that will allow each individual to reach his/her fullest potential. The “Call to Action” also stated that every church must build up the temporal order through political activity. Since 1976, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement each presidential election year on “Faithful Citizenship,” communicating and instructing the faithful on how actively to participate in the nation’s political process to promote social justice. Over the decades, the Church has taught that God exercises a “preferential option for the poor.”

Father Bob said the first part of the latest encyclical is about Love. Love of neighbor is the responsibility of every person. Institutionally, Love is the expression of God. It is at the heart of the nature of the local church and institutionally at all ecclesiastical levels. The ministry of Charity is the ministry of Love. Deacons are to take the responsibility to organize and spearhead the concrete expressions of Love/Charity.

The second part of the latest encyclical, Father Bob said, describes the interaction between the Catholic Church and the political sphere. Summarizing, he said that it’s perfectly acceptable for the two spheres to interact, but they represent two different areas of responsibility. Social responsibility is part of “natural law,” i.e., part of what it is to be a human being regardless of faith. While we should not take on the work of the State, the Church should be in the conversation and should be a leaven in society, animated by Charity/Love. The church’s task is to encourage the struggle for justice, but it is the political sphere’s job to create justice.

The essential elements of charity are:

• Readiness to respond to immediate and specific needs, e.g., the Good Samaritan.
• Efforts to promote social justice independent of party and ideology, and focused on Gospel values.
• Should not be used to proselytize – Love is free and there should be no strings attached.

According to Catholic social teaching, there are fundamental rules requiring us to build up human dignity and promote human solidarity, for we most definitely ARE our brothers’ keepers. Attending to the needs of the most vulnerable should be our highest priority, and there should be a preferential emphasis on caring for the poor.

Sanaa Nadim, a Muslim chaplain at Stony Brook, began by noting that it is not always easy to apply religious principles to political decisions. An Islamic state is supposed to derive its principles of governance from Islamic law, but the political systems of Saudi Arabia and Egypt have ended up completely different. In answer to the question, “Should we allow politicians to speak at our mosque?” she said, “The answer is, certainly, and we do.” In Islam, she explained, our nation, world, and God, are all one. The Koran addresses the obligations we have to those who are different from us, and differences are a given. God will judge us for what we fail to do, for what we should have done but didn’t.

Sanaa added that unfortunately, religion has been the cause of much destruction in the last century. She believes Muslims should have a moderate perspective, and that her duty is to work for social justice in the communities where they live. Every pious person must do social justice. For her, “pious” means “a good citizen, i.e., one who works for social justice and for dialogue with those who are different.”

She explained that “religion” did not cause the 9/11 attacks. Politics did. 9/11 represented religion and politics at their worst.

Moshe Birnbaum, President of the Long Island Board of Rabbis, explained that Jews have many different points of view, not a unified position as Catholics do. The Torah says we should encourage people to do what’s right, that the law of the land is the law, and that the leaders of the land have the authority to enforce the law.

In American Jewish history Jewish immigrants looked to rabbinic leadership for many political issues, and rabbis would routinely address political issues and take stands. They still do in Orthodox Judaism, but in mainstream American Jewish communities the vast majority of rabbis would never endorse a political candidate.

Rabbi Birnbaum said that although he’s reluctant to talk politics or about a controversial subject because he believes it can destroy the spirituality of the service and that’s his primary goal when he’s conducting services on Shabbat. However, if there’s a threat to Jews anywhere, or a threat to human rights (e.g., Darfur, the election of Hamas), he will speak out. He would not address some controversies from the pulpit but might instead write a column for his newsletter—and also print dissenting views. He recalled visiting another synagogue whose rabbi made political comments Moshe considered inappropriate: this politicking from the pulpit made him feel excluded, and he tries to remember this every time he deals with any controversy.

--notes by Sara Weiss & Tom Goodhue

WORTH READING: Preaching without Contempt