All Comments (11)

Sorry, Josh, no disrepect, but can't resist:
- Didn't God ask a father to sacrifice his only son in the Old Testament?
- Isn't one of the main narratives of the New Testament a father sacrificing his son?

If anybody's murdering anybody, we've got laws for that! No need for any particular religious beliefs.

This is foolish:

"I also want every president to know that this is a multi-faith nation and our leader must be respectful of all religious traditions and unwilling to impose any particular religious viewpoint upon the whole body politic."

So if a person is a Satanist, and thinks its okay to sacrifice their kids, it would be wrong if a religious politician (Jew, Christian, Muslim, or whatever) with contrary views tried to enforce a law punishing those who sacrifice children?

Thank you Bishop Spong for an excellent answer.
pjackson82

As long as those traditions FIRST AND FOREMOST respect basic rights and equalities.

Which means we have no respect for sexist, homophobic, hateful, dark-ages doctrines which are supposedly 'okay' because a supposed God said so!!!

The quicker religion vanishes into people's houses and nowhere else in society....the better!

I wish there were more like Bishop Sprong.

Spong seems to assume that the Bush Administration's "use of religion in the public arena" is a cynical attempt to manipulate religious voters. That is the argument that former White House staffer David Kuo made about the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

I believe there is more at work than simply an attempt to buy votes. I suspect that the evangelicals who dominated the White House sincerely believe that government should reflect their idea of Christian values. I find their sense of holy mission to be more uncomfortable than if they were motivated by crass cynicism.

Even if you walk that line perfectly well, it wouldn't make you a great president. It might however make you the most ineffective president of all time.

Dear Bishop Spong, again I find myself in agreement with Poster Bob. I have no problems with your standards. I would add that this Administration has gone so far as to claim the voice of God can be heard over the White House Intercom. I do not know how much truth there is in that. I fear it is entirely within the realm of possibility here. My point is that it is up to our Church Leaders to teach their flock how to recognize religious "Snake Oil" sales people when they come upon them. It is up to our Church Leaders to identify congregations that hide from religious scrutiny and degenerate into cult like factions. I call upon the Church to step up and to ensure religious freedom of all citizens. Who else is better suited??? God Bless you and yours Bishop. Thank you. You have restored a measure of faith I have in the church of my childhood. God Bless you. My heart becomes calm again.

You conclude:

"There is a fine line between religious devotion and the use of religion in the public arena to gain election. I want candidates for the presidency to know how to walk that line."

I suggest the fine line between "religious devotion" and the "use of religion" for any purpose is the level of stupidity (not IQ)of the religious believer.

More specifically, how poorly educated, he or she might be; how fearful of the world and the future, how easily manipulated.

But aren't these precisely the characteristics of "piety" in all religions? To be stupid, a supplicant, fearful and pliable?

Thank you!

I'll ditto what EF said. Good insight.

Bishop Spong -

As an optimist, I like to think that in a few years people who read this essay will marvel at the fact that any of this even needed to be said.