January 6, 2003
WALL MONITOR: Rep. Chet Edwards
___Chet Edwards has represented the 11th Congressional District of Texas since 1991. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is one of four Democratic chief deputy whips and is co-chairman of the House Army Caucus and the House Impact Aid Coalition. He also is a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which makes all House Democratic committee assignments. The congressman considers himself a bridge builder between conservative, moderate and liberal elements in the Congress, but says his greatest legislative achievement is his defense of religious liberty. He successfully led a bipartisan effort to defeat a resolution to amend the Bill of Rights. Edwards received a bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University, where he was one of two students to receive the Earl Rudder Award as an outstanding graduate. He earned a master of businessadministration degree at Harvard University. He is married to the former Lea Ann Wood, and they have two young sons, John Thomas and Garrison. Edwards is a Methodist, but he and his family attend Calvary Baptist Church in Waco.
Rep. Chet Edwards
Q.
___ What are you trying to accomplish as a member of the United States House of Representatives?
___Several things. First, I want to protect the principle of church-state separation, which is embedded in the first 16 words of the Bill of Rights. Second, I want to play a role in educating members of Congress and the American people to the fact that church-state separation was designed to protect religion, not harm it. It seems that every generation in Congress makes an effort to assault the role of separation of church and state. It requires re-education that the reason our founding fathers believed in church-state separation was that they felt religion should be on a pedestal far above the reach of politicians and government. They erected the wall of separation out of reverence for religion, not animosity against it.
Q.
___ Aside from having to get re-elected every two years, what is your greatest challenge as a congressman?
___I think balancing my role as a member of Congress with my important responsibility as a husband and father. I try to always remember that our country survived as a democracy for over 200 years without my being in Congress, and I expect it will find a way to continue, but my children only have one father. It is hard, but you have to set some standards. I could go to several meetings or events every night, but I have to say my family comes first.
Q.
___ What do you like about being a congressman?
___Having the ability to make a small difference in the lives of the people in my district and for the country. I consider my efforts in behalf of church-state separation to be the single most important cause I will ever have in public service. Religious freedom is the first freedom, and if it is put at risk, all the others--freedom of speech, association, etc.--are endangered.
Q.
___ What do you like least?
___Probably the campaign process, which has started to look like combat these days. It's a constant battle. But I still consider it a tremendous privilege to be the voice for 650,000 people in Congress.
Q.
___ What prompted your interest in politics and public service?
___The civil rights movement of the l960s convinced me that government could serve as an institution to make our society better. Then, I worked right after graduation for Congressman Olin Teague, who was a great World War II veteran.
___He convinced me that public service should be a noble calling. He said he decided to run when fighting Hitler's forces in Europe and said he hoped someday to go to Washington and in some small way keep young men from going through the hell of war. It made a great impression on me.
___Also, my public service is an extension of my personal faith. While I know we are saved by grace and not by good works, I also believe the good Lord has given us a responsibility to help other people. There are many ways to do that. Public service is certainly one way.
___As a footnote, it wasn't until seven or eight years ago that I became so focused on church-state separation. I had a conversation with Herbert Reynolds, former president of Baylor University, and we discussed it. He sent me a copy of George W. Truett's famous speech on religious liberty delivered on the Capitol steps in Washington in 1920. I read it, and what came across so clearly is that free will is a divine gift of God and government has no right to infringe on that free will. It just hit me like a two-by-four in the face that God, who is omnipotent, could have made us puppets, but he gave us free will in our religious beliefs, and government shouldn't limit that free will.
___Second, after my conversation with Dr. Reynolds and after I had read Truett's speech, I met with Derek Davis, director of the Institute of Church/State Studies at Baylor, and it made an impression on me that here was a person who had left a law practice to dedicate his life to church-state separation. Those two things really guided me into this commitment.
___It is fair to say that in the last five to six years, along with Bobby Scott, I have been a leader in the House to preserve church-state separation. One only has to look at reports from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, India, etc., to realize that whenever you mix the power of government with the power of religion, it's not a good thing for government or religion.
Q.
___ How do you account for the erosion in the commitment to church-state separation among some Baptists and other groups?
___The reason there have been so many attacks on the wall of separation is that there is a rightful sense that we need to return to core religious values and truths. That is the right end, but getting government involved in the process is absolutely wrong in achieving that end. All of human history shows that getting government involved hurts religion, not helps it.
___Some are motivated by the right reasons, but other political officials understand it strengthens their image with some groups if they push a religious cause. I don't see where having government funding helps churches. It can only hurt religion and cause religious dissension. Those who tried to change the Bill of Rights found it politically expedient, and because of my opposition to it in my recent campaign, 10 mailings involving some 500,000 pieces of mail said I opposed children praying.
___I assume the National Republican Campaign Committee felt it helpful to misrepresent my position, but it is ironic that some people break the ninth commandment to try to accomplish their purpose. I consider it most gratifying that the people of my district had better sense than to believe it.
___I absolutely support voluntary school prayer but vehemently oppose government-sanctioned, organized school prayer. I have decided that protecting religious freedom is far more important to me than an election, however. If losing votes is the price of my protecting religious freedom, it is a small price to pay.
Q.
___ How important is religious faith in your personal life and as a congressman?
___It is a central part of my life and of my family's values. I was born and raised in the Methodist church, but 10 years ago I married a Baptist preacher's daughter, and though I am still a Methodist today, our family has attended Baptist churches in Virginia and Texas the last 10 years.
___One of the challenges is trying to set a good Christian example in public office without wearing religion on my sleeve. I think it is sacrilege when politicians use religion to their own political ends. That demeans religion. It is a constant struggle trying to set a good Christian example and trying to reach out to others with my faith while not showing disrespect by furthering my own political ends.
___Dr. Reynolds reminded me that St. Francis of Assisi said we should always preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words. One of the challenges of a person of faith was expressed by Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia in the early 1990s when he said he had always struggled about which sins, based on his personal faith, did he have a right to turn into crimes using the power of government.
___I think that is a very profound question for all in government. Our tendency is to try to take actions we define as sins according to our own personal faith and turn those into crimes, but I am reminded that is exactly what Islamic Fundamentalists do when they declare it is a crime for anyone to preach Christianity. Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry, the Baylor graduates from Waco, were jailed in Afghanistan for the supposed crime of preaching Christianity. According to the Islamic faith, that is a sin, and the Islamic government made it a crime. I try in my personal life to live a life that would be a model for children and others in my district, a Christian model that reflects my Christian values.
Q.
___ Do you feel there is a contradiction in being a Christian committed to religious liberty and church-state separation and being involved in politics as a congressman?
___Church-state separation does not mean keeping people of faith out of politics; it does mean keeping politics out of our faith. Baptists should take great pride their important historic role in American history in laying the foundation for the Bill of Rights and church-state separation. Keeping government out of our churches and faith has been the reason America has more religious liberty and vitality than any nation in the world.
___Baptists played an important role with our founding fathers in praying for protection of religious freedom into the Bill of Rights. I sometimes find it difficult when some Baptists have turned their backs on that legacy of protecting religious freedom through church-state separation, but I respect the right of each person.
Q.
___ Who are your heroes?
___Congressman Olin Teague was one of them, but I try to not be a hero worshipper because we are all humans and fall far short of Christ's perfection. But I have great admiration for my mother who was a person of deep, genuine faith and lived it every day by trying to help others. Perhaps the great heroes in history were those throughout the ages who were willing to die rather than compromise their personal religious faith and their commitment to the principle that every individual has the right to his or her own religious beliefs.
Q.
___ What books do you read?
___I often read novels, but just to forget about politics. An interesting one I am reading now is "The Godless Constitution." It almost sounds like a treatise against religion, but the point is that the founding fathers didn't mention God out of disrespect, but out of total reverence for him. It focuses on the only time when religion is mentioned, when in Article Six, the Constitution says there will be no religious test for office. Many people are shocked to find the founding fathers purposely chose not to mention God. It doesn't mean they didn't have deep convictions, but that government shouldn't have control over the spirit, souls or religious belief. The reason a secular government was set up was to protect the deep faith of the American people.
Q.
___ What do you do for fun?
___My favorite sport is jumping on the trampoline with my two little boys. One reason I have cut back on my political activities is it is more important to be with my children.
___--Interview by Toby Druin
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