Looking for my check!

The guy in this picture here, David Bradley of the Texas Education Agency made an offer last week... one of those proverbial "offers that you can't refuse."

Now $1,000 isn't all that much, but it's a nice a mount if your expectations aren't too high, and since Mr. Bradley (along with much of the rest of the TEA) is actively engaged in gutting a significant amount of the Texas educational program it would seem that keeping one's expectations in check would be the order of the day. So... I decided to set the Constitutional record straight for Mr. Bradley and request that he remain true to his word and cut a check to one of MY favorite charities.


Dear Mr. Bradley,

As a matter of introduction, I would like to let you know that I am formerly a Southern Baptist preacher. I am ordained and hold a Masters of Divinity with major in Social Work from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary - A Southern Baptist Institution. I am presently a member of Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco and a regular attendee at Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco. I am a member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, and a volunteer with (and the web administrator for) Churches Supporting Churches, an organization dedicated to the rebuilding of houses of worship in post-Katrina New Orleans.

With respect to your offer of a $1000 check to the charity of choice for the person who can find the principle of Church/State separation in the Constitution, I offer this.

It's in the very first line of the Bill of Rights ( a part of The Constitution, just in case you missed that). "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

This would indicate that Congress cannot make a religious principle (prohibition of abortion or gay marriage for example) a mandate of the government. That would represent a "law respecting an establishment of religion." It would also represent the prohibition of free exercise of religion by those (like myself a Methodist and Episcopalian) who personally believe, and whose church believes, in the religious right of gay persons to marry (marriage being a religious, and not a governmental, construct).

In contrast, Congress is (and since the specifics of Amendment 1 give this authority to the Congress, through the authority of the 10th Amendment, the states are) denied the right to prohibit " the free exercise..." of an establishment of religion. Thus, any legislation prohibiting the FREE EXERCISE of the religious belief of persons who wish to marry for whatever reason, is by definition "prohibiting the free exercise..." of religion.

To put it in simpler terms... The government cannot make laws that favor, or disfavor, the free exercise of any specific religious establishment. This would include both forcing a specific religious function (required prayer in school for example) onto a person or persons with beliefs that do not allow for the public expression of prayer (you might be surprised to realize that according to Matthew 6:5-6, this would include Jesus, who specifically spoke against public praying) AND the limitation of someone who wanted to pray privately in their own tradition. It would also preclude - as I mention above - any legislation that would outlaw the free expression of the religious institution of marriage, regardless of the persons being regulated.

Thanks very much for this opportunity to write to you and set the record straight (so to speak).

Please make my check payable to the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America - Katrina Fund. You can find information on where to send it at http://www.bpfna.org and/or http://www.cscneworleans.org

Grace, Peace & Education,

Rev. Thom Butler
3 Fair Street
Petaluma, CA 94952
415-215-2793
thom.speaklo@gmail.com



Note to blog readers: It's been over 8 months since something moved me enough (or at least in just the right way) to return to the Washingtons Cousin Blogspot.

I'm thinking this may be a watershed moment, because as I wrote this email, several other types of things like this came to mind. 've got some more thoughts on this church/state issue but I'll save those for a future blog... so please stay tuned.