[1] If it is true that many people consider it impolite to talk publically about religion or politics, then perhaps no topic is going to be more improper to discuss than the topic of the proper relationship of church and state. Yet, both articles in this issue all call Lutherans to talk publically about their religion, about their political views, and about how the two intersect.<\/p>\n
[2] This is a timely topic, not just because of the upcoming election and the several issues before the Supreme Court regarding religious freedom. The top issue in the news in\u00a0March,\u00a02020 has been the unfolding pandemic of Covid-19. While the government scrambled to put new policies in place to encourage the social distancing urged by the Center of Disease Control, the church was preaching messages of community hope. More than once these included references to\u00a0Luther\u2019s 1527 sermon\u00a0Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague<\/em>.\u00a0 Our faith that teaches us to come together, to eat together, and to touch one another with hands of compassion, at times, feels directly at odds with the words of science and politics that urges us to quarantine the sick and isolate ourselves. There is hope that new technology will let us bridge the gap, allowing us to meet via social media and put educational opportunities, sermons, and services\u00a0on line. There is more hope that through faith and politics we can work together to promote flourishing lives.<\/p>\n [3] Indeed, this has been and is clearly a time when we need sound public policy and faithful preaching.\u00a0Now is a time when we realize how important both kingdoms are in caring for ourselves and our neighbors.<\/p>\n [4] This issue publishes two of the papers that were presented before the pandemic at the Lutheran Ethicist Gathering in Washington D.C. this January on the topic of the relationship of church and state. These long and thorough papers include a Korean Lutheran scholar\u2019s theological look at Luther\u2019s view of this relationship and what this means for people today and the ELCA\u2019s Director for Advocacy\u2019s description of the past, present, and future of ELCA advocacy for public policy in this country and abroad.<\/p>\n [5] Myung\u00a0Su\u00a0Yang, who was brought to the larger Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics which meets concurrently with the Lutheran Ethicist Gathering as a Global Scholar, provided the audience of both LEG and SCE, and now JLE readers, with a thoughtful summary of Luther\u2019s theology and its unique understanding of the relationship of church and state. Yang\u2019s article serves as a helpful reminder that at base, \u201cFor Luther, the state and politics can preserve the world but cannot save one\u2019s soul.\u201d (Yang, Paragraph 11)<\/p>\n [6] Yang\u2019s paper provides a thought-provoking examination of Luther\u2019s views for the scholar who is eager to debate different interpretations of the \u201ctwo kingdoms\u201d but more importantly reminds all Lutherans in the pews that they are part of a unique tradition that rejects both theocracy and quietism.\u00a0 In short, Yang says that no policy can turn the Unites States into the New Jerusalem, but policies do affect the day to day lives of citizens. Thus, Yang ends his paper reminding Lutherans, both in Korea and the United States, to reject the urge to sacralize any political office, politician, or policy and, yet, at the same time to engage politically and even to \u201cprotest not by physical power but by words which make judgment about what is right and wrong.\u201d (Yang, paragraph 22) These things, Yang suggests, Lutherans can do both as individuals and as a church community, for the \u201cthe weapon the church fights with is words clothed with spiritual and moral authority.\u201d (Yang, paragraph 23)<\/p>\n [7] Amy Reumann, Director of Advocacy for the ELCA, brought several ELCA employees in public advocacy to speak with her as she gave a presentation that began with the same Lutheran central theological position highlighted by Yang. Her article, then, quickly moves from the theoretical to the practical providing information of what the ELCA and its predecessor bodies have done, are doing, and hope to do. Readers will find that the ELCA has never been a quietest church. On one hand the ELCA has refused to succumb to \u201can ethic of triumphalism\u201d which advocates \u201cpublic policy advocacy built on an understanding of works righteousness.\u201d (Reumann, paragraph 31) And on the other hand, the church continues to play an important role \u201cin forming Christians who understand that their call to follow Jesus includes participation in civic life as a concrete expression of neighbor\u00a0love.\u201d (Reumann, paragraph 29) Readers will find great hope in\u00a0Reumann\u2019s\u00a0description of the current work the ELCA is doing to advocate for policies and structures that can help our neighbors flourish.<\/p>\n [8]\u00a0Reader\u2019s\u00a0of this issue of JLE should know that in addition to hearing these two presentations, participants at the Lutheran Ethicists Gathering also heard a paper by Robert Tuttle, professor of religion and law at George Washington University who explained the constitutional framing of the relationship of church and state and how this framing has been nuanced by Supreme Court judgments throughout the years. \u00a0He further explained several current issues about this relationship and how they may affect both political and faithful life.<\/p>\n [9] Additionally, participants attended a panel discussion focused on bringing this discussion and its fruits into the contemporary church and society. This panel was convened by Dr. Richard Perry, Professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and included the Reverend Joann Conroy, Chaplain and Chair of the ELCA American Indian Association and Ms. Trinidad\u00a0Ariztia, Program Director of Migration Policy of the ELCA.<\/p>\n [10] Throughout the Lutheran Ethicist Gathering participants discussed issues important for inclusion in the forthcoming ELCA social statement on the relationship of church and state. \u00a0Indeed,\u00a0as important as these JLE reflections are in themselves given the present social context, they also represent attention by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to the questions of government and civic engagement.<\/p>\n [11] In that regard it is important to announce that some fruits from the Lutheran Ethicists\u2019 Gathering in January 2020 invite your picking and participation.\u00a0\u00a0At this time and until May 21, 2020 the ELCA\u2019s Draft of a Social Message on Government and Civic Engagement is posted online for downloading and public comment.\u00a0\u00a0It is standard practice in the ELCA to have a period of response to a draft as part of the development of its social teaching documents.\u00a0\u00a0Simply go to\u00a0https:\/\/elca.org\/Faith\/Faith-and-Society\/Social-Messages\/Government<\/a>\u00a0to read and participate.\u00a0\u00a0Information about several forms of feedback can be found there.\u00a0\u00a0So, be informed by these JLE essays and then\u00a0compare and contrast\u00a0your insights with the draft of a document that is on its way to becoming a social teaching of the ELCA.\u00a0\u00a0Such participation would surely be urged by the writers of this issue of JLE.<\/p>\n