July 11, 2005
Somebody that I ought to know, but don't, is a pastor in Charleston. He is a fine and Godly person and I'm sure I would feel very comfortable worshiping in his parish. He was asked to deliver, once upon a time, the invocation at the commencement of the Medical University - the initiation of tomorrow's healers and multi-millionaires.
Shortly afterward, he wrote to a friend of mine, he received a nice parcel including "a most delightful cover letter" and a memorandum from the Office of the President called: "Guidelines for Invocation and Benediction at Public Functions."
The good pastor quotes,"They asked me to appeal to the larger spiritual virtues that all faiths have in common: love, faith, hope...peace, goodness. Use inclusive language: forbears rather than fathers..." all of which was a little syrupy, but digestable. It was the next point which stuck in his craw.
He was asked, in so many words, to set a tone of reverence at our public assemblies, to bear testimony to our richly diverse religious and cultural heritage, and, in summation, make some kind of generic and inoffensive public benediction. The good pastor said it reminded him of "American pop-religion - a tray full of cafeteria-style faith..."
"Steer clear of parochial, exclusively defining religious names, concepts, practices, and metaphors. A good rule of thumb to remember is that you come representing the entire faith community, not just your own group. The prayer should therefore not be offensive to anyone, whether Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, Muslim, etc. For example, when opening or closing, an inclusive choice would be 'Holy God, Holy One, Creator, Sustainer,' rather than 'Al[l]ah, Jesus, Holy Trinity,' etc." How, he asked, is this even possible, much less desirable? Why pray at all?
Well, I had no answer for that. But in lieu of a meaningful explanation, I wrote to my friend by way of his bulletin board and he published my note under my nom de gripe. This is what I wrote:
Many of South Carolina's learning institutions use the wives of famous or powerful South Carolinians as their PR flaks. Some are merely women who will work for less. Some are just women who, in their youth, allowed their baby sisters to be beaten senseless, rather than become less popular. These are the precious people. They come up with "cute" sayings like, "Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places." They all go to the same PR seminars which are all run by the same people, who run all the same sensitivity seminars. You know them. They're the ones who proclaim, "it doesn't matter what you say, it only matters how someone hears it"(!)
It is no surprise, therefore, that such a document was forthcoming from MUSC. I am proud of [your friend] who prayed his prayer, anyway. Once MUSC knows that their selective sensitivity gambit failed, simply because people now know about it and are sure to complain, they will most probably invite him again. Not under any overt pressure, but rather to show that they are also sensitive to [his particular denomination], a growing minority.
Remember that South Carolina has always been inclusive, I wrote him. While other Southern states were busy throwing out Roman Catholics as well as Jews, South Carolina accepted both with open arms as early as the 1680's. Later, our doors were open to Muslims (who later converted), Chinese, Japanese, Irish, and yes, even French Roman Catholics. We also allow people who participate in immature sexual practices - we just ask them not to talk about it or try to rationalize it.
I did add this suggestion, though: It still seems to be a good idea to wear an outrageous ecclesiastical garment during working hours - especially strange head gear. This tends to make South Carolinians feel the cleric belongs to a minority and deserves some extra sensitivity. I often wore a cassock and a broad brimmed hat to the hospitals in Charleston when lay-reading. They assumed I was either Jewish or Orthodox. Actually, I was just allergic to sunlight and didn't have time to argue with officious nurses about whether or not I needed to be in that room at that time.
Having said all that, I will point out that as South Carolinians, we have the right to do stupid things. And that includes enlightened institutions, being led by the wives of the rich and powerful, asking people to pray to nobody so that nobody will be offended.
