[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            THE 12 COMMANDMENTS ON MIXING FAITH AND POLITICS

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, we are spending a great deal of time 
these days discussing church-state relations, and one of the most 
practical examples of balance in this field has been provided by Andrew 
Herrmann of the Chicago Sun-Times.
  It is not a complicated treatise that people should have a hard time 
understanding but gives down-to-earth, practical advice that I believe 
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would find sensible.
  I ask to insert it into the Record at this point.
  The article follows:

              [From the Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 27, 1994]

            The 12 Commandments on Mixing Faith and Politics

                          (By Andrew Herrmann)

       Looks like God did want 100,000 more cops in America
       Must have, right?
       Just a few weeks ago, a panicky President Clinton was 
     pounding the pulpit in a Maryland church, asking the 
     congregation to pray for the resurrection of his stalled 
     crime bill. ``The will of God'' was how he described it.
       Well, it happened. We've got our crime bill, and that's a 
     good thing. But Clinton's abhorrent manipulation of religion 
     was the worst since the GOP charged the Democrats with 
     ``leaving God out'' of the last Dem party platform.
       Religion is a part of life; politics is a part of life. But 
     how much should the two mix? It's slippery, indeed.
       Consider: when Gov. Edgar was growing up, talking politics 
     in his Downstate Baptist church was considered bad form, he 
     said. But early in his political career, Edgar was invited to 
     speak at a black, Chicago church. He started giving a speech 
     about Martin Luther King Jr. ``They said `no, no--talk about 
     what you're going to do if you're elected.' I said this is a 
     pulpit. And they said, `Well, what are you here for?'''
       There are no unbreakable commandments when it comes to 
     religion and politics. But the People for the American Way, a 
     Washington-based liberal group, recently came up with 
     ``Twelve Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics.'' The word 
     rules makes me uneasy, but the list does contain some good 
     ideas.
       1. Religious doctrine alone is not an acceptable basis for 
     government policy. Because we all have different religions, 
     religious reasoning is not open to reasonable debate.
       2. No religious test for public office. You don't have to 
     be religious to run.
       3. Officials have the right to express their private 
     beliefs but no right to use their office to proselytize 
     others. Simply put, it's OK to ask for God's help in crisis 
     but not OK to force personal religious beliefs on the public.
       4. Government has a right to demand that religious 
     institutions comply with reasonable regulation and social 
     policy. Not only must priests pay their traffic tickets, 
     but--and this is controversial--when religions get involved 
     in the financial aspects of politics, they should lose their 
     tax-exempt status.
       5. Religions can cooperate with government in programs 
     supporting the common good. Religious social agencies do tons 
     of great work with government money.
       6. No government approval or disapproval of religion.
       7. Political discourse should respect religious 
     differences. No put-downs about ``Baptist thinking.''
       8. No politician should say he or she represents a 
     religion. He or she shouldn't say he speaks for, say, 
     ``Christians.''
       9. Politicians can discuss the moral dimension of public 
     issues. ``Murder is morally wrong.'' But . . .
       10. Morality is best applied to common good, not private 
     conduct. ``House the homeless, but stay out of their 
     bedrooms.''
       11. Don't claim to speak for God. Man cannot say that God 
     is on any political side.
       12. Religion should not be used as a political club. Pols 
     shouldn't compare religious beliefs to opponent's.
       As the authors of the guide correctly conclude: ``Those in 
     our political process who use religion to divide Americans, 
     or to create a hierarchy of faith for political purposes, do 
     violence to the political process [and] the institution of 
     religion.''

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