Meet a Board Member: Rev. Peg Chemberlin

This post is the third installment of our "Meet a Board Member" blog series.  As a way for our network to get to know the JRLC leadership better, each month we will be posting a piece written by one of our Board Members that describes why they are dedicated to the work of JRLC.

Meet Rev. Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Churches, and President of the National Council of Churches.   

When talking about democracy and the political decision-making process, I feel compelled to start with this statement: “Let me be clear, my God is my highest value, higher than my country, higher than my political philosophy, higher than any party, higher than my president, or any particular issue.” And precisely because of this commitment and my understanding of the divine will, I understand democracy to offer a higher value than other political philosophies. My (limited) understanding of God's will resonates with the values of democracy much more than with the values of fascism, for instance.

In my faith, and therefore in my politics, the individual has inherent value, the common good has an inherent value, justice has an inherent value. Therefore I will gladly work for democracy as a system that works to manifest those values. Precisely because of my obligation to God I am obligated to my fellow citizens of the world and therefore I'm prepared to work for the good of all - the common good. That commitment to the common good propels my commitment to democracy.

And the commitment to democracy is a commitment to freedom of religion therein. I may not believe in the rightness of my neighbor’s religion or religious practice. I might be in dialogue with them and raise issues with them but I have no desire to try to prohibit his or her experience of religious life unless that practice itself is in conflict with the constitution. Because the constitution is the basis for our social contract and our adherence to it guarantees the freedom of religion.

In JRLC we find colleagues of other faiths, who may start from a different point of view but who come to the same place of respect for, and commitment to, democracy as a vehicle for the common good. What a joy to work shoulder to shoulder to such an end.