Are There Bad Beliefs?

“Religious tolerance” wasn’t popular in the early days of colonial America. It began with an experiment launched by Protestant theologian and activist Roger Williams. In the 17th century, Williams, with help from the indigenous people (Wampanoag) of what is now the state of Rhode Island, established, with tremendous resistance from “mainstream” colonial Christians, a settlement that welcomed people who held variant beliefs, particularly Quakers, Baptists and Jews. Williams’ vision and courage helped shape the ideas that ultimately were written into the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

“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.”

Thus, the government is constitutionally restrained from taking any action to promote or obstruct any exercise or expression of anything that presents as “religious”.

Federal, state and local governments sometimes act in ways that some believe transgress the boundaries defined by the First Amendment. Recall the controversies around the fed’s attack on the Branch Davidians in Waco in 1993, or the attempt by Roy Moore and his Christian Nationalists to retain the statue of the Ten Commandments at the Alabama state courthouse. There continue to be Americans who view these intrusions of the government to have violated Constitutional religious liberty. We need to stay vigilant, of course.

I’ve been stunned this week by the stir created by a guy with a religious moniker and the means to make a big banner. How is it that someone like Terry Jones can announce plans to burn copies of the Quran on 9/11, and attempt to extort the Islamic community in New York City to relocate their planned building project, without consequence? Plenty of more moderate religious leaders have decried Jones’ actions, and as I write this, there is still the possibility he may cancel his plans. Yet, he still could follow through with it. And there may be significant, painful consequences for people far from Jones’ church in Gainesville, Florida.

Ideologues disguised as “messengers of God” have, throughout history, always pointed to a convenient enemy to organize the frightened masses they depend upon for their power. These days, with instant media coverage, if you do or say the most outrageous things, you get the most hits on the google search, and attract seas of sensation seekers. In a culture that appears more and more to cultivate and glorify ignorance disguised as “access to information”, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we are witnessing an escalation of outrage. The frightened masses are massing and desperate for someone, anyone, to point them toward the most available enemy. Religion stands ready as the perennial hose through which the gasoline of xenophobia fuels humankind’s conflagrations.

Yes, I believe there are bad beliefs. And, like bad water, bad air or bad food, they can make us very sick. Our American freedoms grant us full exposure to all of it. How critical, then, to our well-being today that we be very careful about what we breathe, what we eat and drink. And what we believe.