A large and demographically mixed crowd turned out for the event, including Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean. We enjoyed inspirational readings from the Bible, Torah, Sutra Nipata and Qur’an as well as liturgical prayers led by leaders from a variety of faith communities. Richard Smallwood & Vision had the crowd on its feet clapping and swaying to gospel praise music. The Reverend Leah Daughtry, CEO of the 2008 Convention welcomed the gathering and offered a statement of purpose. Her comments were followed by a welcome from Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The readings and music were interspersed with messages from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim leaders. And, for me, that was the heart of the afternoon.

Bishop Charles E. Blake of the Church of God in Christ had the audience on its feet for multiple standing ovations in the first of the four messages. His topic was “Our Sacred Responsibility to Our Children”. Bishop Blake is one of the pro-life Democrats I mentioned in my earlier blog, and his comments touched on exactly the point I made in that earlier entry. He made no apology for his pro-life position, and judging from the response from the crowd, he was joined by a fair number of those in attendance. But he also recognized that not everyone in the party joins him in that position, and that what allows him to stand with the party despite its pro-choice public policy position is its commitment to essentially pro-life positions on so many other fronts. He called us to invest in our children at a young age so that we will not pay even more later on for our having failed to do so. He spoke of the vulnerable and defenseless in society and the 13 million US children in poverty. Recalling the recent image from the Olympics of athletes dropping the baton in an important race, he called us to remember that our youth are our future and that we should not “drop the baton”.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, Executive Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, delivered the next message, this one focused on “Our Sacred Responsibility to Our Neighbor.” He shared with the audience a story no doubt familiar to the many Jewish attendees in our midst. A convert came to the Jewish sage, Hillel, and asked to be taught the entirety of the Torah while standing on one leg. The sage replied, “What is hateful to you, do not do unto your neighbor. That is the whole of the Torah.” His theme was “love your neighbor” and he reminded us that it is behavior and action that counts. The Rabbi’s remarks also swept the crowd up into long bouts of applause and ended with a standing ovation.

For me, the next speaker was a special treat, and if the frequent interruptions for ovations and the long line for photographs following the service was any indication, I was not alone in my enthusiasm at hearing her speak. Sister Helen Prejean, famous for Susan Sarandon’s portrayal of her death row ministry in the film “Dead Man Walking”, delivered a message on “Our Sacred Responsibility to Our Nation”. Naturally, her impassioned comments drew largely from her experience as an activist working to end the death penalty, and they shed insights on how she believes our nation’s use of the death penalty connects to our “culture of violence”. She spoke of the inherent inequalities in our death penalty system. She spoke of the Christian call to desire mercy, not sacrifice. She reminded us that “All religions teach that life is sacred.” And she called us to a “consistent ethic of life”, one that values life from birth until natural death.

The final message, “Our Sacred Responsibility to Our World”, came from Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian Muslim Relations as Hartford Seminary. She is the first female President of the Islamic Society of North America. Gentle and soft-spoken in her remarks, she spoke of the need to “avoid false witness”, which she noted included telling the whole truth, even when that means admitting what’s wrong. She spoke of her experience as a Muslim American and, though acknowledging that it is sometimes hard, she claimed the US was “still the best place in the world to practice our faith.”

My summary of the service fails to do it justice. It had the feel of a revival meeting. There was a spirit of unity and a consensus in hearing the call to responsibility, a call for Democrats of different faiths to put their faith into action through pursuit of public policies that value all. It was deeply moving.

As a Methodist choir sang our recessional, many members of the audience moved forward to greet the speakers. It was a great privilege for me to shake hands with Sister Helen Prejean, to thank her for her work and her inspiring words during the service, and to pose for a photograph with her. And as we headed up the steps and out of the auditorium, we had the additional privilege of encountering Jim Wallis, pastor and faith-based activist who is the author of “God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.” I happen to be reading the book right now and have it with me at the convention. I look forward to hearing from him on Tuesday as he moderates the first of the week’s two Faith Caucuses.

So we left the building on an emotional high, having just participated in a moving worship experience with fellow Democrats of multiple faiths who all share a common concern for humanity, a common call to take responsibility in public policy for our children, our neighbors, our nation, and our world. And then we walked right into the booming, ugly protest just outside the doors. There were so many Democrats in that auditorium, and certainly on its platform presenting, who seemed eager to come to the table and talk with social conservatives about their shared concern and, as Bishop Blake described it, their recognition of “something calling for a better way.” But the vitriolic shouts certainly weren’t inviting anyone to the table for discussion.

I don’t believe the protestors’ vitriol speaks for all social conservatives any more than I believe any individual or small group of liberal activists represents the entirety of the Democratic Party. Still, I’m saddened by the protest. And it brings me right back to the comments I made in my last blog. There are so many important, indeed moral, issues for us to discuss this week. The environment. Health care. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tensions in Georgia and the possibility of a new cold war. Poverty. Racism. I could fill the page with lists of issues that matter to so many Americans. But this one issue, albeit an important one, drowns out the discussion. Whether the pressure comes from activists within the party hoping to present a message of solidarity or from outside the party eager to put ugly labels on people whose hearts they do not even know, it does not serve to help us move beyond single issue voting and into the larger discussion of a whole world of ethical dilemmas for which we must strive to find public policy solutions.