Gomes, Hudnut Talk Politics, Religion

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes and Bill Hudnut, former mayor of Indianapolis, discussed the delicate nature of the relationship between politics and religion at a brown bag lunch at the Kennedy School Friday.

Both speakers said it is impossible for religious individuals to separate their beliefs from their political views, but the speakers said they always try to keep the two apart in their public lives.

Gomes, who is Plummer professor of Christian morals and minister at Memorial Church, said he has neither held nor aspired to public office.

But Hudnut, who began his career as a minister, was in Congress between 1972 and 1974 and was mayor of Indianapolis between 1976 and 1991.

Gomes said he is careful where he discusses politics. He said he will not address political issues during Memorial Church services.

But Gomes dismissed the notion that church and state are not at all related. "They have everything to do with one another. It's the propriety of the relation that is the issue," he said.

Gomes said this dynamic is often very tense in America. "The relationship between politics and religion has been turbulent and divisive," he said. "Religion is not uniting factor, except for those it unites. It tends to be a dividing factor."

According to Gomes, these divisions cannot be overcome through secularization, but rather must be addressed by using the positive effects of religion.

"I'm convinced that religions are here to stay and the conflicts between them will not be easy to solve," he said. "The health of the republic depends on harnessing the positives produced by these religions and reducing the negatives."

Hudnut spoke more directly of the role of religious beliefs in political decisions. "Religion should be invisible. I don't think you should wear it on your sleeve," he said.

Hudnut said that he nonetheless felt his political decisions had to be guided by his religious principles and his conscience.

"Authentic biblical religion does somehow have to inform your decision," he said.

Both Gomes and Hudnut spoke of the need for a vision and a greater sense of personal morality in America today, but did not relate this morality directly to religion.

"We can no longer assume that there is a built-in private ethic" Gomes said.

Hudnut said he hoped that the recent riots in Los Angeles would serve as an "alarm bell for America" and bring back a sense of ethical responsibility.