Hillary Clinton: Get Off Your High Horse, and Apologzie to Barack Obama
As persons of faith, specifically Episcopalians, we are apalled at Hillary Clinton's high-handed and self-righteous comments in her March 25 interview ith the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."... We believe that ones faith, and specifically, one's choice of churches is very personal and should not become a political football. More importantly, we believe that churches are the community of Christ, not the rector/pastor or any one individual. Furthermore, this statement comes dangerously close to the constitutional prohibition against any religious test for public office. Therefore, we call on Hillary Clinton to retract her statement, apologize to Barack Obama for her statement, and vow to keep discussions focused on the issues, and not religion or one's choice of faith community.
We, the undersigned, were shocked and dismayed by your March 25 comments to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in response to the Jeremiah Wright controversy: "He would not have been my pastor," Clinton said. "You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend."...
As Episcopalians who are active in the church, we believe that one's faith, and specifically, one's choice of churches is very personal and should not become a political football. More importantly, we believe that churches are the community of Christ, not the rector/pastor or any one individual. Every one of us has disagreed with our rector, and specifically, statements made by our rector, other clergy and lay preachers from the pulpit. As you are aware, one does not check one's brains at the door of the church. Our churches are our spiritual families. Many, if not most, of us have been members of our parishes/spiritual families through several rectors. We don't leave our parish because our rector says something we dispute, and not even because we dislike our rector. We believe Senator Obama has, in fact, displayed a mature understanding of his Christian faith and the meaning of Christian community by remaining with his church. He has demonstrated the meaning of the Baptismal Covenant to "seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself" and "striv(iving) for justice and peace among all people, and respect(int) the dignity of every human being" (Book of Common Prayer, p. 301)
Furthermore, this statement comes dangerously close to the constitutional prohibition against any religious test for public office.
Therefore, we call upon you, as a Christian who takes her commitment to Christ seriously, to retract your statement, apologize to Senator Obama for this statement, and pledge to keep discussions focused on the issues, and not religion or one's choice of faith community.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
