Rob Boston: Freedom of religion is greatest gift

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25 December 2020

Judging by the diversity of holidays observed this time of year, humans seem to have a need for a communal celebration in early winter. As the days grow shorter and cold weather grips much of the northern hemisphere, it’s comforting to be reminded that sunlight and warmth (and the crops they nourish) will return. Thus, many of these festivals, from the Saturnalia of pre-Christian Rome to today’s Christmas, often feature use of evergreens and lights and encourage merriment and gift-giving.

Winter festivals have evolved over time, and as the centuries passed, the way people celebrate them has also changed. In previous ages, government sought to compel people to behave in certain ways when it came to religion. Theocratic European states of the Middle Ages believed there was only one “correct” expression of Christianity and forced everyone to follow the national or local model. But the right of conscience could not be squelched forever. Dissent was inevitable, and it came with righteous fury and, unfortunately, a similar spirit of religious intolerance. America’s early Puritans made it illegal to celebrate Christmas, considering it “popish.”

After America’s revolution, our Founders decided to chart a different course: They disentangled religion and government, putting each on its own path to secure its own destiny and success. In doing so, they gave each of us a great gift: the power to decide for ourselves what faith, if any, we will follow and how we will practice it.

Today, there are some people who, like those old theocrats in Europe, are convinced that only their mode of worship is right and true. At this time of year, we often hear them complain about an alleged “war on Christmas.” What these people are really saying is that they are angry that not everyone chooses to celebrate the same way they do.

For millions of Americans, Christmas is a deeply religious holiday that marks the birth of Jesus. They attend religious services, pray, sing hymns and listen to scripture readings. For others, the holiday is primarily secular, with figures like Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer taking front and center. And many Americans mix the secular with the sacred and embrace elements of both.

But there are other choices. Some Americans celebrate holidays such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Diwali, and others don’t celebrate at all. It’s a wonderful time of the year, really, because we have the right to choose.

The Christian nationalists among us who enjoy playing the role of the “Christmas Police” would love nothing better than to compel the rest of us to celebrate the holiday in just one way — theirs. They press government officials to display Christmas symbols in public places. They seek to infuse our public schools with pageants and events that elevate the spiritual elements of Christmas — something better done in a church. They even complain when they fail to hear “Merry Christmas” from a clerk in a big-box store or their coffee cup doesn’t look Christmas-y enough.

These people seem to think that unless the government, culture and even big business are actively endorsing their faith, then it’s under attack. In fact, religion does best when left to prosper on its own; it does not need the interference of the state. America’s tradition of separation of church and state has gifted us a vibrant, diverse religious life marked by thousands of Christian and non-Christian faiths. You are free to choose one. You are free to create your own, highly personal spiritual experience. You are free to reject them all. You are also free to change your mind, to argue, to debate and to contend for your ideas. What you’re not permitted to do is employ the power of the government as your theological enforcer.

During this time of year, let’s reflect on one of the greatest gifts we, as a people, enjoy: complete religious freedom secured by our constitutional promise of separation between church and state. That freedom gives you the right to worship or not as you see fit, as long as your actions don’t harm others or take away their rights.

This means that Dec. 25 can be a deeply moving and profoundly spiritual experience — if that’s what you want. Or it can be a day to watch silly holiday movies and open presents. Or it can be just another day on the calendar.

Freedom of conscience gives us the right to make that choice. What a wonderful gift it is. Let’s be thankful for it all year ’round.

Rob Boston is editor of Church & State magazine, published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in Washington. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

Sandu promises to preside over Moldova’s European integration

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Newsdesk

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25 December 2020

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Sandu promises to preside over Moldova's European integration

08:56
25.12.2020

Moldova’s new President Maia Sandu has promised to be the “president of European integration,” lead the country out of international isolation and turn it back to “face the partners.”

“I will ensure that Moldova has a clear, firm and predictable position for all our partners. I will to seek to ensure that our interests are understandable and respected. I will advance the foreign policy, build bridges, not walls, attract new investment and create jobs, open doors for our citizens and goods,” Sandu said during her inauguration on Thursday.

She intends to “put Moldova back at the negotiation table with developed countries.”

“Over the coming days, weeks, we will begin a battle for the transformation and development of Moldova. I have no doubt about a positive outcome, if we are united, above all. We will remove those trying to spread lies, provoke conflicts and thwart progress. The biggest achievement so far is unity. It is on this basis that we must move on,” Sandu said.

The new president has officially assumed office. She was sworn in on Thursday.

In the election held on November 15, Party of Action and Solidarity leader Sandu won 57.72% of the vote and then President Igor Dodon won 42.28%. Dodon refused to attend the inauguration but met Sandu at the Presidential Palace and handed her a bouquet of flowers.

Why Christianity remains an in-person religion, even in a pandemic

By

Bob Smietana

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25 December 2020

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Why Christianity remains an in-person religion, even in a pandemic

(RNS) — On Christmas Eve, members of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, Florida, will gather in the parking lot for a service that’s part tailgate, part worship and part family reunion.

Holy Comforter has been hosting indoor worship with strict limits on attendance since the beginning of the pandemic. But at this time in the liturgical calendar and this time in the pandemic, said the Rev. Jerry Smith, rector of Holy Comforter, people need to be together.

“We’re now Zoomed out. That’s part of the problem,” said Smith. “We don’t want to sit in front of the TV screen anymore. It’s not the same as being in each other’s presence.”

While many Christian congregations have moved services online and found new ways to build virtual communities, faith remains a tangible, in-person experience at its core for many.

For some churches, that’s meant going to court to challenge restrictions on in-person gatherings. For others, it means doing the best they can and keeping the faith till they can all be together again.

Holy Comforter’s leaders have followed advice from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local medical professionals to create services that are safe. Early in the pandemic, only 10 people were allowed in the church for one service a week. More recently, the church moved to three services, with a 25-person limit. The church also livestreams services.

The Rev. Jerry Smith. Photo courtesy of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church

Having a few more people in person gives people a taste for what they have been missing, said Smith.

“They can’t pass the peace, but we have this time in the liturgy where people are waving and smiling at each other,” he said. “There’s a need to do that. I think the danger is that people get so frustrated that they throw caution to the wind. And we can’t let them do that.”

The pandemic has been particularly difficult for immigrant churches, said the Rev. Dieufort Fleurissaint of the Haitian Evangelical Pastors Association. Already facing economic challenges, a lack of resources and sometimes issues relating to their citizenship status, many immigrants regard church as one place where they can gather to share their burdens while rejoicing as well. They rely on singing and prayer, as well as hugs and embraces from each other, to keep their faith strong.

Just holding hands to pray can be powerful, he said.

“We are a community of fellowship,” he said. “It brings great spiritual benefit when we can gather together.”

The Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, has been reminded in the pandemic that Christianity is not just a set of ideas, but a set of practices and relationships that have been muted or changed by the pandemic.

The past nine months have been the longest that Everett has been absent from a church since she had a conversion experience as an eighth-grader. She misses the chaos and the mess of worship services but particularly the common, small acts of grace that come from in-person connection: putting her hand on someone, for instance, who has been sick, and praying for their healing.

The Rev. Laura Everett. Courtesy photo

“I have missed that echo of voices when we say the Lord’s Prayer, those well-worn words where my voice will drop out sometimes because I am so tired or so sad and other people carry the prayer for me,” she said.

“I know that can happen on Zoom and it does. But I miss sitting next to them. I miss the smell of old lady perfume and the sound of cough drops being unwrapped, the smell of incense, the call and response and talk back.”

Kevin Singer attends and helps lead worship at a campus of Vintage Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. The church, made up of mostly younger families and young professionals, has a contemporary worship style and meets in the gymnasium of a Christian school.

The church has been meeting in person, with chairs set up in clusters, Singer said, and people conscientiously keep their distance.

That makes the longing for community and connection even deeper, he said. “There is always that feeling of, I wish I could take this mask off and give you a hug,” he said.

People dart out of the building after services, instead of hanging around for what he called “the mingling of souls,” which happens in more normal times. And during the service, he feels as if they are all passive observers rather than participants. He likens it to “Christian karaoke.”

Singer also said that COVID-19 has made people suspicious of each other as a potential threat to their health. That makes the intimacy and vulnerability among friends in a congregation difficult.

“You can’t be vulnerable without the sense that I should not be this close to you,” he said.

The Rev. Constance Cherry, professor emeritus of worship and pastoral ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University, said many worship leaders and pastors are concerned about the long-term effects of moving from in-person worship to online services. Will people return, she wonders, when bans are lifted? Or will they prefer to take part online?

Worship in many Protestant churches, especially evangelical churches, Cherry said, has become a spectator experience, something “leaders do for the congregation.”

“What you have ended up with, in hundreds of churches and across denominations, are people up front, on a stage, producing worship for the pleasure of the people,” she said. “To me, this has put an exclamation point on a problem we already had.”

Vanessa White, associate professor of spirituality and ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, said online worship has separated people not only from each other but from the rhythms of worship — of getting dressed, leaving the house and going to a sacred space at a specific time with a specific group of people.

She goes to her parish to serve as a lector one week out of the month, reading some of the Bible texts for Mass. The other weeks, she watches online — but not in casual clothes from her couch. Instead, she tries to set up a sacred space at home, as she does when leading virtual retreats.

Before Mass starts, she clears off her living room table and puts a cloth on it, then a candle and cross. She dresses up and picks up a book of Bible readings, so she’s ready to take part. White said that worship involves signs and symbols, along with prayers and other actions.

That’s something she wants other worshipers to remember.

“We are people of sign and symbol,” she said. “Just because you are in this virtual time frame, it’s like we are throwing out the signs and symbols. We don’t have to do that.”