Churches tread carefully in election process

By Marni Pyke, Daily Herald
 

It's a typical coffee hour at First Congregational Church.

Toddlers careen around the room, glad to let off steam after the formality of the service. Neighbors exchange family news while plates of home-made goodies evaporate rapidly.

Upstairs at the Naperville church, the fate of the nation is up for debate.

Half a dozen congregation members sit and tackle such questions as tariffs, taxes, education and the Iraq war.

While a discussion of political issues may seem incongruous in a church setting, it's become a familiar phenomenon this campaign.

With a sharply divided electorate and the country at war, an increasing number of religious institutions are getting involved in the electoral process.

But how to educate voters without alienating some parishioners and how to avoid crossing the line between church and state are delicate balancing acts.

No litmus test

Religious organizations with tax-exempt status are prohibited by the Internal Revenue Service from endorsing candidates, making donations or doing anything that could help or hinder a political contender.

There are even a number of watchdog groups, including the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the conservative Rat Out a Church, that report to the IRS any infractions they observe.

Diane Herr, who moderates First Congregational Church's political discussion group, is well aware of the ground rules.

"Remember to avoid discussion of specific candidates, and focus on the issues," she tells parishioners.

The prohibition doesn't stop a lively debate.

"Our foreign policy is really opposed to the teaching of Jesus that said, 'Love your enemies, pray for your enemies,'" says Gene Wollaston.

Paul Spangler agrees, citing a case in which American troops mistakenly fired on a wedding party in Iraq.

"We're not helping our cause," the parishioner said. "The military does a lot of things that don't make sense."

The idea that faith can be applied to decisions in the ballot box on Tuesday is shared by other religions.

"In the teachings of the Quran, we find guidance how to vote," said Ahmed Qadeer, who heads up the Interfaith Relations Committee at the Islamic Center of Naperville.

"The Quran teaches to be good to yourself, to your family, your community and country and to the world at large," he said. "It teaches us to stand for justice. From that point of view, it gives guidance on how to select the most qualified people for an office of trust."

Getting involved in election issues cuts both ways for Rabbi Moti Rieber of Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville.

He says values that Jews cherish, such as self-defense, humility, human dignity and civil rights, are relevant when judging who to vote for and he's addressing those concerns in sermons.

"I think if candidates express the values they hold that underlie their political positions, it's helpful for people of faith," Rieber said.

But historical persecutions by governments in Europe and Russia have made separation of church and state a central belief for Jews.

And that's something to keep in mind this election season, Rieber said.

"The reasons Jews have done so well in the United States is that there is no established (state) religion," he said. "There's not a litmus test."

Abortion issue

More than ever before, this particular election has galvanized the religious community, contends the Rev. Ted Jennings, acting dean at the ecumenical Chicago Theological Seminary.

It's a wonderful thing, he believes, as long as faith isn't used to promote "wedge" issues like abortion and gay marriage.

These subjects can be a distraction from topics that people of all faiths can agree on - including caring for the poor and peace, Jennings says.

This election season, he said, "there's a tendency to focus on hot-button issues rather than think about questions that are central to faith traditions."

The U.S. Senate race between Republican Alan Keyes and Democrat Barack Obama has included a number of those hot-button issues, causing controversy in the Roman Catholic community.

Keyes opposes homosexuality and abortions, while Obama supports abortion rights and civil unions for gay couples.

First Congregational Church, along with a coalition of other religious institutions, including the Islamic Center and Beth Shalom, hosted the two men in separate speeches.

The candidates later appeared at Benedictine University in Lisle, where Obama's abortion stance brought protesters to the campus.

It also resulted in a barrage of hate e-mails to University President William Carroll from people against abortion who said the Democratic state senator had no business at a Catholic university.

Hearing both sides

Carroll isn't backing down.

"How can students be informed if they don't hear from both sides?" he asked. "Not bringing in people of various opinions is brainwashing our students."

The question of how Catholics should deal with political contenders who support abortion rights was taken up by Tom Garlitz, director of the Peace and Social Justice Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet.

If you believe a candidate's position on other issues outweighs the difference on abortion, it's not considered sinful to support that person even if he or she is supports abortion rights, he concluded in a recent article.

The opinion created some controversy at area churches such as St. Petronille Parish in Glen Ellyn, which published it in their church bulletin.

"I got a lot of complaints from those who saw it as too weak on the abortion issue," said Garlitz, who opposes abortion.

The Joliet Diocese did not oppose the Obama visit to Benedictine or Garlitz's article, said John Cullen, diocese director of communications.

Evangelical churches, like Catholics, are philosophically opposed to abortion and homosexuality.

That didn't stop Wheaton Evangelical Free Church from hosting a candidates forum that included county and statewide candidates with views contrary to its tenets.