BLOG 1/31/17. OF THE FOUR FREEDOMS, ONE IS ‘RELIGION’

BLOG 1/31/17. OF THE FOUR FREEDOMS, ONE IS ‘RELIGION’

To jog our memories in the midst of this distressing and chaotic moment in our national history, … we would do well to remember that in 1941 as these United States were seeking to cast off the isolationism that pervaded the country after World War I, our then president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, heralded our role as the champion of ‘Four Freedoms’ that should be the guarantee of all humankind. They were: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship/Religion, Freedom From Want, and Freedom From Fear.  These four freedoms were heralded as this nation’s calling as a light to the nations of the world, and were memorialized on a famous Saturday Evening Post magazine cover, and ultimately in a national monument and national park on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan.

Note that it does not specify any one religion. It recognizes the mosaic of faith / or lack of faith positions that are represented in these United States and in the other nations of the world in this community of nations who are our neighbors. This noble calling has been tragically compromised in the recent actions of this new administration, in its diatribe against (particularly) Islamic peoples. It ignores the reality of the religious quest (or lack thereof) of humankind. There is a real sense in which everyone has some kind of faith presupposition, or faith position—even those who deny any affinity for religion are engaging in a faith position that there is nothing out there besides their own quest for self-fulfillment. Probe deeply, and one will find that there is, however, some quest after meaning, or true relationships, or some sense of what is their final destiny—all faith questions, often shuffled off to the margins in one’s busy life.

But then there is the contextual reality, to which our new president seems oblivious. Take greater metropolitan Atlanta, the city in which I live. A ‘southern city’? Far from it. Very international. Right behind the campus of Georgia Tech stands a handsome new Islamic mosque. Hindu Temples dot the area, along with meditation centers for all kinds of oriental religions and spiritual gurus. (maybe even a temple to the Atlanta Falcons!). I live next to the small city of Clarkston, which is part of the metropolitan complex, and is reputedly the most international city in North America. My remarkably gifted congressman is a Buddhist. In my subdivision of (mostly) wonderful neighbors are representatives of several world religions, of the traditional institutional Christianity, so prominent in former days, along with energized followers of the life and teachings of Jesus. I would not be surprised, however, if the most of my neighbors would fit appropriately into the poet T. S. Eliot’s definition of “decent godless men” for whom God is hardly at all in their thoughts—but that also is a religious position if the truth were known—and they are my neighbors whom I am to love.

Then it would be interesting for this president to recall that President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Award for his Camp David accords, when he got Anwar Sadat (a Moslem) and Menachem Begin (a Jew) together upon the basis that they were both of the lineage from theirs ancestor Abraham.

President Roosevelt’s four freedoms should always be this nation’s quest in its relations with our global neighbors. There are over sixty-three million refugees in the world at this tumultuous moment, and they are from many ethnicities and religious persuasions. Their welfare is much on the heart of the God whom I serve who has expressed his infinite love in Christ, and in Christ did not come to condemn the world and its inhabitants, but to save them and to make all thing new.

I will add my voice to those who protest this administration’s inhumanity to humankind, and to throw light on his total ignorance of the mission of God in the world, … or even to the basic calling “to love justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8) … in the midst of every kindred and tribe and nation. Yes: the four freedoms are more germane than ever. We must not be silent at such a moment as this. To be continued …

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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