To the Editor: e all come from traditions in which prayer features heavily as a way to connect to God, as well as our own capacity for gratitude, the necessity for care and help, and our interconnectedness. Our faith lives are enriched by this practice, be it personal or communal, and all of our traditions speak of living our lives as if each moment were a prayer.
We believe in prayer. And, we are also citizens of this democratic republic, which has worked over centuries to forge “one out of many” and to live up to the high ideals set in our founding documents. The founders understood that this lofty aspiration of democracy would require deference and mutuality, nowhere more so than when they established freedom of religious expression. The languages of faith are particular and individual. They envision God in different ways, with different powers, and different prerogatives. We should not impose these visions on one another or strip them clean of their individual character. That would result in a bland porridge of consensus, without the power to move our hearts. We want to live in a lively democracy where we hear our neighbors speak the truth of their hearts in our beautiful diversity.
All of this means that we should be vigilant in protecting the neutrality of the public sphere. For hundreds of years, American religious institutions have understood that intermingling personal faith and public institutions would bring unwanted compromise to both. Maintaining a boundary of separation between church and state is absolutely crucial to a free society. We need no other evidence than to look across the globe where the opposite has been orchestrated and freedom has been compromised. First and foremost, this begins in our public schools.
Our public schools represent diverse communities of people who should not be required to honor symbols of a particular faith tradition. We have to tell the history of this country in all its complexity, including the role of dissenters and skeptics. And we have to be careful about setting up opportunities for coercion by insistently respecting those boundaries.
We, the undersigned clergy of Tulsa, call upon our fellow Tulsans, and our fellow Oklahomans, to proceed with respect for each other’s faith traditions, to honor the principles that have kept us free, and to hold our rights alongside our responsibilities. The strength of E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one, is in honoring and protecting the many, so that our “one” doesn’t come from forced uniformity, but chosen unity. There is no better way to honor the dreams of our founders and to sustain the culture of individual freedom.
Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Rev. Ray A. Owens, Ph.D.
Metropolitan Baptist Church Senior Pastor Rev. B. Gordon Edwards General Presbyter Presbyterian Church (USA) Sean Jarrett Senior Pastor New Jerusalem Baptist Church Rev. David Wiggs Senior Pastor Boston Avenue UMC Marc Boone Fitzerman Rabbi Rev. Lucus Levy Keppel Co-Pastor Trinity Presbyterian Church Rev. Kathy Brown Lead Pastor St. Paul’s United Methodist Dan Kaiman Rabbi Fr. Dewayne Messenger Pastor All Saints/Todos los Santos Catholic Church Rabbi Michael Weinstein Temple Israel Rev. Dr. Marlin Lavanhar Senior Minister All Souls Unitarian Church Rev. Chris Moore Lead Pastor Fellowship Congregational UCC Aliye Shimi Executive Director Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Rev. Bill Hemm Forest Park Christian Church Rev. Betsy Stewart-Dooley Boston Ave UMC Rev. Dr. Eric J. Gill Executive Pastor Antioch Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Andrea Clark Chambers Senior Pastor Restoration Community Church Rev. Olivia Lane Senior Pastor Southminster Presbyterian Church Rev. Kelli Driscoll Crews Disciples of Christ Clergy Rev. Twila Gibbens St. Paul’s United Methodist Rev. Todd Freeman College Hill Presbyterian Church Rev. Emily L. Robnett Associate Pastor St. Paul’s United Methodist Brother Ray Knapp, ofr Deacon All Saints/Todos los Santos Catholic Church Rev. Randy Lewis Assistant Minister All Souls Unitarian Church Rev. Tamara Lebak Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma Rev. Heather Scherer Senior Pastor Faith UMC Rev. Dr. Rodney A. Goss Senior Pastor Morning Star Baptist Church Bonnie Lebak Senior Pastor House Church Tulsa Evan Taylor, MASJ Social Justice Freelance Minister Rev. Andy Campbell Senior Minister Yale Avenue Christian Church Rev. Kara Y. Farrow Rev. Cathey Edwards Retired Unitarian Universalist Minister
