The battle lines are being drawn. The opposing sides are massing behind the boundaries they have set to separate us versus them. But no, wait. This isn’t a war zone. It’s the legislative body representing We the People.
I don’t remember voting for someone to gird their loins to do battle. (Eek, hide your eyes at the very thought!) I checked that box on the ballot because he seemed to have a streak of clear thought, she sounded like a reasonable voice. I wanted them to launch ideas and make change, not launch rockets and declare war.
But whether it’s our national, state or city lawmaking bodies, we seem to be witnessing warriors on deployment mentality instead of reasonable people around a committee table. How often are we watching the clash of ideologies where it’s “I’m right and if you don’t agree with me, you’re not only wrong but evil and a threat to civilization as we know it.”
That, in a nutshell, is why I have always liked the idea of opening a legislative session with an invocation, a moment of pause before action, where a calm, thoughtful voice cools fevered minds. A time to be reminded, “I’m not the center of the universe here. There’s other guys around me; I wonder what they’re thinking.”
But, of course, the opening prayer itself has launched some battles, usually by the pious preacher type who relentlessly repeats the name of Jesus like rockets launched over what is, in Hawaii, always a crowd of mixed believers.
But there is a peacekeeping school of thought among blessing dispensers.
Here’s what the new Honolulu mayor and City Council members heard at their inauguration Jan. 2: “It goes without saying that elected officials should have the benefit and betterment of the people in mind at all times. It is said that when people are happy and content, class differences disappear, good deeds are promoted, virtue increases and people come to respect one another. A leader is a true leader when people abide in peace.
“Thousands of people may live in a community but it’s not a true community until all people know each other and have empathy for one another. A true community has wisdom that illuminates it. It is a place where people know and trust one another and there is harmony.”
Starting with the first convening of Congress, American lawmaking bodies have sought to spark that “wisdom that illuminates” by having a religion-based person pray for them as they enter their political fray.
In the city inauguration, it was Honpa Hongwanji Bishop Eric Matsumoto, head of the largest Buddhist denomination in Hawaii, who spoke the invocation.
The ceremony at the Mission Hall auditorium ended with a closing prayer by the Rev. John Heidel, a United Church of Christ minister who used a Hawaiian language translation from the New Testament First Letter to the Corinthians. The translation is a pithy distillation of St. Paul’s windy words. It goes: “Everything will be blessed if we work together.” That would seem to be simple enough for public officials to memorize and carry with them.
What the two clergymen had in common that day was their aim of inclusiveness, which meant they soft-pedaled the specific beliefs that separate them and could divide a listening crowd into insiders and outsiders.
Heidel, with years of public prayer experiences, said, “I try to express a meaningful prayer without the Christian language. I believe I can reflect my beliefs as a Christian without underscoring the separateness,” and that means being fine with not even raising the name of Jesus. “I reflected on the sacredness of all life, in the decisions we make, in our relationships. I offered my thoughts about ‘all that is holy.’ I can’t impose my belief on someone else in good conscience,” Heidel said.
Matsumoto said later that he refrains from referring specifically to Buddha, who was the founder of the Buddhist philosophy but is not viewed as god.
“What I talk about is based on Buddhist teaching, but I try to use words that make people comfortable. In Hawaii, where we have a diverse community, there are people who might feel left out if the focus is on a narrow terminology,” Matsumoto said. “I think it is most important to use more inclusive language and identify the idea of oneness and commonality.”
T
he two men reflected the philosophy of The Interfaith Alliance of Hawaii, an organization of people from a wide spectrum of religious organizations, including most of the mainline Protestant churches, Buddhist, Quaker, Bahai, an occasional Muslim, Hindu and Catholic. They mostly aim to support each other in common causes in the community. I like them because they are so secure in their own beliefs that they’re not fearful of associating with “others.”
So tolerant are they that they invited Mitch Kahle, the state’s most visible and vocal atheist, to be guest speaker at the Jan. 2 Interfaith Open Table. The session, open to anyone, is held on the first Wednesday of each month at Harris United Methodist Church cafeteria. I braved the dreadful 7 a.m. starting time just to observe the interaction of an atheist in the midst of church folks. But of course, I should have known, it was as civil as it can get.
Rabbi Peter Schaktman, who is active in interfaith activities here, said “Ideally, everyone should represent their own faith … and we would not have to homogenize faith” by avoiding buzz words. “Many don’t understand that there is a line between affirming what they believe and directly saying that Christianity is the only way.
“Jews are particularly sensitive because of the occasions of history when efforts to proselytize Jews were deadly.” (For Catholics, who may avoid or be ignorant about our role in that shameful history, there’s lots to read. Look up the Inquisition, pogroms, anti-Semitism. But that’s another column.)
The rabbi from the Reform — inclusive, liberal — branch of Judaism said, “I am a believer in separation of state and church. I’m of the belief that prayer is not required in government activities.” He said he has taken a turn at legislature and other public invocations “because I want there to a diversity of faith displayed. I want to demonstrate the inclusive view.”
He said “The better choice for public prayer may be the ‘message of aloha’ where a variety of leaders, not just from religions, provide some insight into values and the context where government performs.”
Echoing the Christian and Buddhist clergy’s thoughts, the rabbi said “I think to talk about values is important.”
This column goes to press before the Legislature convenes. Time will tell whether a new Senate leadership decides to reinstate an invocation, dropped in 2011 after a lawsuit by Kahle, or the new House leadership tinkers with its solution of having the session begin after a message of aloha is given.
And in the meantime, the Hawaii Catholic diocese will take its annual turn at addressing the government leaders at Thursday’s Red Mass. Everyone who chooses to attend the service in our own house comes expecting to hear the name of Jesus.
Maryknoll Sister Joan Chatfield, the sole Catholic to be a regular at the Interfaith Open Table said:
“There should be a time before the beginning of business for people to center their thoughts, realize they have the commonweal in their hands, and try to live lives in pono (righteousness).”
With a Protestant, Buddhist, Jew and Catholic to quote on the subject, what more can a columnist do but say “Amen.”
