January 14, 2005 - There are millions of us; people of faith who do not believe that God commands us to bar the door against any of His children. There are millions of us; people of faith who do not believe that we have been called by God to create a just society by cleansing it of dissenting voices. There are millions of us; people of faith who believe that God calls us to serve Him by lifting up the least of His children; by clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the homeless. There are millions of us; people of faith who believe that God commands us to love our neighbor with outstretched hands and not with raised fists. There are millions of us; people of faith who believe that when torture is used in our name it is a moral issue; that when people are cast into perpetual prison without trial it is a moral issue; that when we value a rich man’s gold more than the widow’s mite it is a moral issue.

When we are willing to ignore our promise that our neighbors will enter old age insured against want so that the money changers of Wall Street may prosper, then that is a moral issue. When we are willing to eliminate programs to lift up the least of our neighbors that we may spend billions to beat an alien people down it is a moral issue.

Millions of us proclaim our faith in private conversations with our God and in the work we go about; not loudly in public proclamations on the street corners and the campaign platforms where the Hypocrites presume to redefine morality to suit themselves invoking the name of God to sanctify their doctrine of exclusion and the accumulation of earthly treasure. Theirs is a partisan faith tailored to serve Caesar’s will, not the will of God. Their public piety is political, not pious. Their reward is counted in control of men through the transient favor of the mighty.

People of faith can build a just society, but not in silence. People of faith can serve God by lifting up our neighbors, but not in silence. People of faith can reclaim our national identity but only if we are willing to put our faith in action and express it at the polls and in the councils of our government. We cannot continue to leave the definition of piety to the Pharisees of the Right. We must reclaim our religious and national heritage defining the moral crisis facing this nation as a test of faith and a reaffirmation of our dedication to give God the service of our hands and not merely the movement of our lips.