Life Lessons on MLK Day

I once had a best friend that really got me.  She and I worked together.  She was the cool girl - artistic, funny, and loved by all.

Our circle expanded to include a guy, who had a wicked wit and who was the life of the party.  All three of us were friends for a time, until the guy's wit turned on me.  When I told him his words hurt, he only increased the verbal assault, and left me in tears several times. 

I asked my best friend why she didn't support me; why she continued to hang out with him when he was so vicious to me.  She didn't like the abuse, she told me, but he was still nice to her, so she wasn't going to drop him as a friend.

I learned a really hard lesson that day.  And although it took months to break away, I did.  And unfortunately, I've had to repeat that lesson many times in my life.

Today, on Martin Luther King day, I honor the man who stood up for his friends when others persecuted them.  Life would have been so much easier for him if he ignored the injustices forced upon his friends.

Many years after that first lesson, I worked in Berlin, and on a rare weekend off, took the train to the concentration camp Sachsenhausen, where a Lutheran minister, Martin Niemöller,once a supporter of Hitler, was imprisoned.  After the war, he expressed his sentiments with prose that rings true even today.

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

My Views on Religious Freedom

I read a lot, and watch a lot of news and information programs.  Lately I hear a conservative view that says Christian evangelicals ignore the sins of the president because they are working to promote religious freedom, and it's the price they are willing to pay.

I always wrinkle my brow when I hear that, because I know that the very first amendment to the Constitution gives them that very right.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

So what do the evangelists mean exactly?  Based on what I see, I can only come to this conclusion: they want Christians to have freedom.  Freedom to make the government their own and formalize what so many already state: we're a Christian nation.  So that Christian beliefs can be taught in schools and posted on the walls of Congress.

What can possibly go wrong with that?  First of all, which Christian religion should rule?  Baptists?  Lutherans?  The snake charming one?  Or how about the one that protests at all the military funerals holding signs like "God Hates Gays"?  Should we start treating the Christian bible like our constitution and begin stoning adulterers to death?

You think we're divided now - just imagine if we really were a "Christian nation".  Catholics would be fighting Lutherans, Baptists would be fighting the Methodists, and mass chaos would ensue.  And snakes.  There would be snakes.

Here's what the first amendment means to me.  Our country was founded on the principle that our government stays out of religion.  Period.  It's the only way we avoid being a Theocracy, which is defined as:

"a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god."

Iran is a theocracy.  So is Saudi Arabia, and yes, Vatican City.  Where the rulers get to decide what you wear.  And what you think.  And who you love.

This great experiment we've got going here in the US has a strong foundation BECAUSE it was built on secular principles, allowing ALL people the freedom to live their lives in the way they choose.

Pray on, if you choose to.  Pray to God, Allah, Ishtar, Vishnu, or the Universe.  Or take a walk in the woods and give thanks for the everyday miracles surrounding us.  Or go worship the shiny new car at the dealer.  You have the religious freedom to do any or all of the above.  But please, no snakes, okay?

Goddess Ishtar