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Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) gave a talk today at K.A.M. Isaiah Israel temple in Hyde Park, Chicago, at the invitation of their Church/State Affairs committee. It was a full house, especially considering it was a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon. Durbin was introduced by Judge Abner Mikva, who chairs the church/state committee. Mikva said that the issue struck a nerve with the congregation, as it became the temple's most popular committee in its six month existence.
Durbin started out his talk by reviewing some history. He mentioned the Massachusetts Bay Colony experiment in theocracy, Roger Williams' dissent and the founding of Rhode Island as a beacon of religious freedom; the drafting of the Bill of Rights; how Patrick Henry's proposal of a tax for Christian teachers was defeated; Jefferson and Madison's views and how they made their way into the Constitution. Durbin says that religious expressions in political life such as 'In God We Trust' or the Senate chaplain leading the body in prayer doesn't in his view violate this separation, but that governmental endorsement of a specific religion or government monies supporting religious practice does.
Durbin then discussed the present issue of faith-based initiatives and how they take us in a new direction. He is particularly concerned about discrimination in hiring in organizations accepting federal funds, and about the use of such funds to support proseletyzing and religious activities, as opposed to delivery of social services. He asked rhetorically, "What's wrong with the current law?" Current law sets appropriate bounds in issues of hiring--religious organizations not supported by federal funds may discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion, for example. He suggests that the proposed changes under the faith based initiative would make establishing standards for preventing discrimination very difficult. He discussed an example of a Methodist children's home rejecting a candidate for counselor because he was Jewish.
He said he serves on the Judiciary Committee--"an assignment I asked for, so I can't complain when I have a bad day at work, and I have had a few of those recently". He said than in committee hearings for a judicial nominee whose name I didn't catch, Orrin Hatch asked an unprecedented question--the religion of the nominee. When some committee members had reservations about the Catholic nominee, Hatch and his contingent attempted to turn it into a case 'anti-Catholic bias.' Durbin found that strange, considering that Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy and he are all Catholic, and said that he found several Protestants and a Mormon on the committee telling him what a good Catholic is was a little "hard to take."
He also asked, "How do you define a religion?" How does the government determine what is, and what is not, a religion? He brought up as an example Matt Hale's World Church of the Creator. Should the government accept this as a religion? To demonstrate that Bush's backers were not disinterested in the question, he brought up the religious right's negative reaction to Bush's recent statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. He contrasted it with the reaction of an imam, who pointed out simply that Islam has always held that Allah is the God of Moses, Jesus and Mohammad.
After his speech, he took some questions. My little contribution to the affair was my question, "When John Ashcroft, speaking in support of Patriot Act II, said that 'Liberty is bestowed by Providence,' was he referring to Roger Williams and Rhode Island?' That got a laugh from Senator and audience, and then he answered, "I can't say what's going on in the mind of John Ashcroft."
Durbin is always a wonderful speaker, a genuinely nice person, a stand-up guy in the Senate and our party's best-kept secret. If ever you get the chance to hear him speak, even if it's just on CSPAN, listen in.
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