Domination of Beliefs

By Daniel Webster

The waitress made my day. I had just heard John Kerry was conceding the election. I went to my favorite breakfast place in Salt Lake City for some comfort food.

It wasn't that I was sad, angry or upset that my candidate had lost. It was why he lost.

Values. That was what a reporter in Ohio said cost Kerry the election. She said mega-churches had been working with the Bush campaign for months to get out the vote. Other commentators said Karl Rove's strategy to get out the evangelical Christian vote had worked very well.

And therein lies the problem. Fundamentalist religious beliefs are instigating wars, occupying countries, shaping foreign policies and motivating terrorists. Now those beliefs are shaping elections. I know a little bit about that here in Utah. Bush won 71% of the vote in a state that is about 75% Mormon. There was much debate here during the recent campaign about whether you could be a faithful Mormon and ever vote for a Democrat.

The United States now has voted to join the rest of world in the war for the domination of beliefs – Israelis over Palestinians (who are both Muslim and Christian), radical Muslims over Christians, Buddhists or Hindus.

If the vote was indeed about values then it was a vote about only those values that serve some in our country.

Bush presented himself as the ‘pro-life' candidate opposing abortion and stem-cell research. He will fight for an unborn child but cut the programs that help single mothers or hungry children.

He will claim to be ‘pro-life' and yet start a war that has killed more than a thousand U.S. and other allied soldiers, and may have caused the death of 100,000 Iraqi men, women and children.

He claims to be ‘pro-life' but presided over more executions than any governor in Texas history.

“Don't Mess with the U.S.” seems to have resonated with voters who feel George W. Bush will support their values. That kind of an attitude cannot heal a nation, or a world, divided. We are not split between “blue and red states.” We are split ideologically – those who are tolerant and embrace diversity and those who wish to impose their values on others.

He has brought the “Don't Mess with Texas” attitude to the rest of the country and the world. “Don't Mess with the U.S.” seems to have resonated with voters who feel George W. Bush will support their values.

That kind of an attitude cannot heal a nation, or a world, divided. We are not split between “blue and red states.” We are split ideologically – those who are tolerant and embrace diversity and those who wish to impose their values on others.

I know something about this. Again, I live in Utah. The Mormon Church influenced a key ballot measure in this state election. The measure will change the state constitution by defining marriage as between a man and a woman and denying any civil union the same rights as married couples. The ballot measure won big, receiving over two-thirds of the votes cast.

My church already defines marriage as between a man and a woman. It also allows for blessing couples who are not attracted to the opposite sex. Why? Because no one knows the mysteries of God's gift of sexuality to humankind. My church believes it should extend God's blessing to faithful, monogamous, committed couples who experience God's love in another human being.

Utah has tried to bridge the divide that is usually described at Mormon vs. non-Mormon. The most recent attempt, the Alliance for Unity , has given lip service to the growing diversity in the state. But the civic, religious and political leaders making up the Alliance cannot seem to agree on anything more substantial than, “Can't we just all get along?”

“Celebrating diversity” has become a buzz phrase that most people in power use to impress those who really believe there is strength in our racial, ethnic, religious and cultural differences.

So my breakfast ended about the time Kerry conceded. The waitress made my day because she had offered me Canadian bacon and an English muffin with my scrambled eggs. So I left her a 60% tip. Tipped employees make $2.13 per hour under federal minimum wage laws. I hope it helped her have a better day.

The Rev. Daniel J. Webster is director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Utah. A media veteran and peace activist in the church, he writes a regular column for “A Globe of Witnesses.” Dan may be reached by email at dwebster@episcopal-ut.org .