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Background
In
1934, one hundred thirty-nine (139) ministers, fifty-three (53) church members,
and six (6) university professors signed the Barmen Declaration, opposing the
NAZI dismantling of democracy and rule of law and urging German Christians not
to allow the Church to become an organ of the NAZI State. The Barmen Declaration
I
have been engaging in a process with Friends to develop a shared religious declaration for the present moment. This document reflects some broader background thinking in
this process and is offered to cultivate a conversation leading to a shared declaration
of people of faith.
We
are led to ask these queries and assert shared values and concerns in the face
of the present MAGA Christian Nationalist movement that aims to make the State
an organ of Christian nationalism. This Christian Nationalism is an idolatrous
political theology which seeks to bring culture, family, economics, and the
government under the dominion of a narrow and militant Christian sect. We urge People of all Faiths to join us in considering
these values and queries.
1.1 Truth, Unity and Love
We believe the power of Truth is
rooted in Love and Unity. We aim to live a life that exemplifies these values.
We believe the sinful Idolatry
of political power and economic wealth manufacture false division within the
Human Family and exploits prejudice to seize power and accumulate and
concentrate wealth for the Few. We are against the way political Idolatry leads
to babel and the confusion of speech, “alternative facts,” propaganda, and
lies.
We
oppose efforts to manipulate and control people with lies and propaganda. We
believe the Truth will set us free from efforts to distort reality with false
narratives of the past and present.
How
does Truth prosper among us? Do our lives reflect and embody our deepest
values? Are our beliefs rooted in evidence and experience and tested in a
community where people can have different opinions? Do we value love and unity
over self-righteousness and self-interest?
1.2 Human Dignity
We believe that all people are
created with the Divine spark, a holy Seed, the Light of God within them, and endowed
with unique purpose and vocation in Creation. The full human dignity of each
person is achievable when basic material, intellectual, and spiritual needs are
met in the context of loving community.
We believe everyone is equally
deserving of love, acceptance and the chance to achieve the fullness of their
vocation in Creation. Our own dignity is dependent on others reaching the full
measure of their human dignity. And no one is beyond our love.
Human rights are essential to
realizing and naming the conditions necessary to achieve human dignity. We
believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is helpful framing for
the kind of rights necessary for human dignity.
Do we walk cheerfully over the
world, answering that of God in everyone we meet? Do we see the Light of God in
each person? Do we engage in service and self-sacrifice to help others achieve
their own potential? Do we experience the web of mutuality connecting our
well-being to others and to Creation?
1.3 Human Conscience
We believe each person is given
insight into the Truth of Love and Unity. We believe freedom of conscience is
essential to human dignity and the fullness of life.
We
oppose efforts to limit the freedom of conscience by the censorship of ideas, banning
books, and State preference for one religious belief over others.
We
believe the separation of Church and State is essential to the protection of
freedom of conscience. Separating Church and State protects the sanctity and
integrity of the Church and the multi-religious diversity of the democratic
State.
We
also oppose restraints on academic, artistic, and political freedom of speech.
Do
we speak Truth to Power? Do we stand up to efforts to diminish the freedom of
speech and belief of others? Are we silent or complicit in the face of
oppression and exploitation?
1.4 One Human Family
We believe in the love of our
neighbor, the life and dignity of one human family, and the great variety of
peoples and beliefs in God’s Creation.
We believe we are part of the
human family world-wide, interconnected by a web of mutuality and
interdependence of fate.
We believe the Common Good aims
at Care for Creation and meeting the material and spiritual needs of people
living in loving community fully achieving human dignity. We believe it is the
vocation of government at every level to achieve the Common Good.
We oppose the view that there is
a “them” who deserve less than “us.” We believe in one human family.
We
oppose efforts to sew division, mistrust, and prejudice among our brothers and
sisters through lies and propaganda motivated by the sinful Idolatry of political
power aimed at the oppression of some groups to benefit the Few.
Do
we love our neighbor? Can we see our neighbor in every member of the human
family, regardless of their race, class, gender, sexual orientation, politics,
or national origin? Do we feel a redemptive good will toward those who disagree
with us, and seek to build bridges across difference?
1.5 Care for Creation
We believe in the magnificent
mystery of God’s Creation, and our solemn and sacred duty to be good stewards,
cultivators, and caretakers. We celebrate the wonder and variety of Creation,
its beauty and brilliance.
We
oppose efforts to spoil Creation through pollution, extraction of non-renewable
resources, and the killing of God’s creatures great and small.
We believe there is a natural
balance, harmony and cycle of Creation that can guide us in sustainable and
healthy living.
Are we mindful of how our
consumption impacts the environment? Are we good stewards of our property and
resources such that we living towards a sustainable life style for all
creation? Does our life reflect a balance and harmony with our good health, and
the health of the community and Creation?
1.6 Abundance of Creation
We believe in the abundance of
Creation, that there is enough for every human to have enough food, shelter,
clothing, health care, education and meaningful work to achieve their full
human dignity and vocation.
We believe in sharing resources to assure
health and well-being of the entire human family.
We oppose those with a scarcity
mindset who accumulate more than they need while others suffer without
necessities.
Do we share what we have with
those who need help? Do we encourage political and economic policies which
re-distribute wealth and resources from the Few to those who need more?
1.7 Variety of Creation
We believe we are enriched by
the great variety of Creation: beings, religions, customs, traditions, ideas,
beliefs, cultures, artistic expressions,
groups, sexualities, and cultures.
We oppose
efforts to limit, demean, vilify, exclude and destroy the rich diversity of our
world. We oppose the destruction of species, and the fear of diversity and
inclusion within the human family.
We
oppose the ideologies which suggest one religious group should dominate the political,
economic, cultural, and domestic spheres of life to the exclusion of people
with other beliefs.
Do
we celebrate the wide variety of diversity in our humanity and Creation? Do we
lift up differences as a source of creativity and growth? Do we help people see
that efforts to limit diversity are selfish and self-defeating, by encouraging
dialogue and understanding?
1.8 Peace
Our belief in human dignity
prevents us from supporting violence against other people. We oppose the fear
which leads to a false belief that “fight or flight” is the only response to
conflict.
We believe the Divine is present
in every moment, beckoning us to a third way to diffuse conflict and resist the
sin of violence. We believe the practice of nonviolence requires study,
practice, discipline and courage.
We believe in peace and
nonviolent resistance to Evil. We believe in the love of our enemies, the
turning of the other cheek, the laying down of weapons.
We
oppose all coercive violence by soldiers and police on nonviolent peoples. We
strongly denounce the use of Militias, Guards, Police, Immigration Officers as
tools of a police state to oppress and limit the freedom of our human family
and deny human dignity.
Do
we live in that life and power that takes away the occasion for war, violence,
and coercion? Do we stand with and support people who are the victims of
political or economic violence? Do we oppose all preparations for such violence
and coercion, and live in the Spirit of loving our enemies?
1.9 Healing Conflict
We believe there is a way to
handle conflict that listens deeply to all sides, discovers common ground within
the interdependence of fate, respects and cherishes differences, heals harm,
and holds people accountable who have caused harm and strengthens community.
We
oppose efforts to inflame conflict, refuse to compromise, and ignore our
calling to the Common Good.
Do
we take opportunities to ask people how they have been harmed? How could their
harm be healed? How can we hold the people accountable who caused that harm?
And how can we include the community in a shared process to heal this harm with
meaningful accountability? Do we see conflict as an opportunity to clarify our
shared values and learn more about each other as we seek the Common Good?
1.10 Hospitality for Immigrants
We
believe in welcoming the stranger, assisting the alien, setting of a feast
before the immigrant. We oppose efforts to demonize and criminalize people
seeking a better life for their families across national boundaries, for no
wall built with human hands can make immigrants anything less than our brothers
and sisters.
Do
we welcome immigrants and support their needs as they live in a new place? Do
we lift up their humanity and celebrate what they bring to our community? Are
we ready to learn from them new ways of thinking, speaking, working and living?
Do we help protect them from racism and prejudice?
1.11 Government for the Common Good
We believe in the vocation of
local, state, federal, and global governance to achieve the Common Good,
support human dignity and freedom, and care for Creation.
We
oppose the sinful Idolatry of powers, principalities, leaders, institutions,
organizations, and ideologies which dehumanize people and destroy Creation
concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the Few.
Do
we participate in local, state, federal, and global politics with an eye toward
the Common Good? Do we support policies which are life giving and contribute to
human dignity and opposing dehumanizing policies which hurt people and
Creation?
1.12 Rule of Law, not Edict
We believe government should be
operated by the Rule of Law with equal protection for all people, in the fair
and impartial application of law for the benefit of the Common Good. We believe
in democracy and the right to vote, undiluted by political favor. We believe in
laws aiming to achieve the Common Good.
We
oppose the sinful Idolatry of a cult of leadership, rule by edict, executive
order, and personal preference, aimed at benefiting some over others. We oppose
the manipulation of law to achieve personal gain, and the rigging of voting
rules to undermine majority rule.
Do
we oppose authoritarian efforts to rule by edict and not by democratic majority
rule? Do we exercise our own political power in a way that contributes to the
rule of law and strengthening of human dignity around us?
1.13 Global Governance
We believe in one human family
and the importance of self-governance from the local level to the entire world,
recognizing that some challenges must be solved locally while others can only
be solved globally.
We affirm international
statements of Human Rights, the Care for Creation, and support efforts to
cultivate practices of global governance.
We
oppose hateful and divisive ideologies of nationalism which place one country’s
interests over others.
Do
we take opportunities to learn about and participate in global governance,
following efforts to restructure trade, finance, and environmental protection
in a way that shows a Care for Creation and equalizing the fair use of the
World’s resources for communities in need worldwide?
1.14 Trade and Work
We believe in the dignity of
work and the importance of trade and exchange of gifts.
We
oppose malignant forms of unregulated capitalism which generate gross
inequality, concentrate resources in the hands of the Few, exploit and demean
workers, spoil and destroy Creation.
Do
we support policies like rent control, unions, worker health and safety
measures, consumer finance protections, social security, health care for all,
affordable housing, quality education, and other measures which reduce
inequality and support the human dignity of all people?
1.15 The Church
We believe the Church is a
community of People of Faith engaging in
self-reflection and mutual encouragement to manifest Divine Love and Healing in
a broken world by making the Kingdom of God alive within and among us.
We understand that the path of
Love may lead to persecution by the Powers and Principalities because we
embrace conversation over coercion, unity over division, sharing over
inequality and love over prejudice.
We
oppose churches that manufacture religion into consumer products. We oppose
churches that engage in the sinful Idolatry of wealth and political power, re-packaging
political propaganda as religious truth.
Do
we cultivate a welcoming faith community rooted in Love? Does the love in our
community inspire service of people in need? Does our faith lead us to support
the sanctity of life for all people at all ages and the Common Good?
1.16 Cruelty
We
oppose arrogant and self-righteous judgment. We do not support threats or
bullying or meanness for the sake of cruelty. We do not agree with punishing people because they disagree with us. We are against words and actions
which harm, denigrate, or dehumanize people.
Do
we live a life of Love and Truth and Unity? Do we avoid harmful and judgmental
language? Do we reach out to people who disagree with us, acknowledging our
shared humanity and seeking better understanding of our differences?
Conclusion
We
share these Queries with each other and with the wider world to let our lives
preach Love in the face of Idolatry and Evil and to speak Truth to Power, as one
way we can preserve our own conscience and resist the present onslaught of
inhumanity.
We join with our brothers and
sisters as we encourage, awaken and fortify our conscience. We give each other
support and encouragement when we are feeling the reactionary sickness of Lies.
We can live in the Kingdom of
God in the present, together celebrating with gratitude the gift of Creation,
its wonders of diversity and variety, and the pursuit of the Common Good.
Scott Holmes
Conservative Quaker
West Grove Friends Meeting
Snow Camp, North Carolina
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