Rather than a reading from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament, and a Gospel — as you would hear in a liturgical Christian service — there were readings from the Torah, the Sutra Nipata, the Koran, and more from the Old Testament. No New Testament. It is unsurprising that no reading contained a claim of exclusivity or, for that matter, any claim that adherents of a different religion would disagree with. Rather than using proper names to refer to prophets or deities, clergy tend to overload on pronouns and non-descript names. “Lord,” rather than “Jesus.” “The God of Leviticus” becomes “Holy One of Blessing.”
Huge screens displayed the gathering’s logo — vaguely reminiscent of Luther’s Rose. The multilayered mandala incorporated sunbursts and geometric shapes. Throughout the liturgy, the layers were unpeeled to show a candle, a dove, the Statue of Liberty, and the earth.
Even though Daughtry’s father is a noted black-liberation theologian, it was white Roman Catholic nun Sister Helen Prejean (of
Dead Man Walking fame) who fired up the crowd with her allegation that the practice of the death penalty “reveals the soul of America” as “racism, the assault on poor people, and readiness to use violence to solve social problems.”
She said that only white deaths cause outrage in the United States and tied the practice of the death penalty to a general desensitization toward killing and torture. She cited Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan in her litany of American tragedies. She hoped that $800 billion in defense spending would be reallocated to affordable housing, health care, global warming control, and jobs. Sister Prejean was one exception to the vague pronoun rule. She invoked Jesus’s name repeatedly, including once when she wondered whether the Biblical account of Jesus’s crucifixion was a “projection of our violent society.”
Though the congregation strongly applauded and gave standing ovations throughout her keynote address, there was momentary silence when she challenged them about the Christian account that God allowed his son to be sacrificed for the sins of humanity. “Is this a God or is this an ogre?”
Perhaps the loudest applause came when she suggested Americans follow Australia’s example of apologizing to Aborigines, by apologizing to Native Americans for stealing their land. The congregation went wild; all the more notable for the smattering of support Bishop Blake received when he said that some Democrats have philosophical, theological, and humanitarian objections to abortion.
Will the interfaith gathering help more religious voters feel comfortable with the Democratic party? Only time will tell. It’s somewhat difficult to imagine which religious voters would be swayed by a worship service with such liberal political advocacy. One thing’s for sure — despite the media hype to the contrary, religious outreach efforts up to this point have failed to yield any movement in the polls.
The overall religious contours of the campaign are little changed from 2004. For instance, 24 percent of white Evangelicals supported Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry in August 2004. This August, the same percentage support Obama. Some 68 percent of white Evangelicals support Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. That’s down only three points from Bush’s support in 2004. And it’s nine points more than Bush had in September 2000.
In her welcome, Daughtry said, “We didn’t need to bring faith to the party. Faith was already here.” Indeed, this newfound approach embraces the faithful who already are a part of the party. Whether others, particularly cultural conservative believers, will feel welcome is another matter.
— M. Z. Hemingway is a writer in Washington. < Back 1 2 
