New
York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
RELIGION by Charles W. Bell
Labor
and religion work well together
Friday, August 29th,
2003
Lots of people in the Bible worked - Jesus was a carpenter,
Noah grew grapes and made wine, Ezra was a scribe, Matthew a tax collector, Amos
tended flocks of sheep, Saul was a farmer and so on.
But on this Labor
Day weekend, spare a special thought for Jacob, a role model for working stiffs
everywhere. He spent 14 years as an indentured servant and after that, continued
to work as a shepherd for his uncle.
This is right up Rabbi Michael Feinberg's
alley. He is executive director of the New York Labor and Religion Coalition,
which works to persuade ministers, priests, rabbis and imams to talk more about
work and its place in society.
"In an important way, the [Bible]
is about work, starting with the story of creation," Feinberg said. "It
contains literally hundreds of references to work."
But surprisingly,
for all the scriptural references, religious leaders do not devote that many sermons
to work, and this weekend is no exception.
Some clergy will mark Labor
Day with sermons about the worth and dignity of work, but, Feinberg said, most
special services are scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday - in keeping with
organized labor's tendency to hold parades, rallies and other events on the weekend
after the holiday.
"This is because unions know their workers want
to do what everybody else does, to take Labor Day off," Feinberg said.
Still,
he wishes religious leaders paid more attention and devoted more time, energy
and funds to what he and others call the "theology of work."
He
isn't sure why work is not more important in religion, but one reason, he said,
is that many people work so hard they can't see any spiritual connection. Another
reason, he said, is that theologians do not instinctively link work and worship.
Some denominations are more active in preaching the dignity of labor and
promoting social justice than others. One of Pope John Paul's encyclicals, or
letters to the world, praised trade unions and the importance of work in human
development. Catholic bishops echoed his sentiments in a special letter to Americans.
"The Catholic Church is quite involved," Feinberg said. "Many
of its members are immigrants and entry-level workers, and it understands their
concerns. The same thing holds true for a lot of African-American and Hispanic
churches, and some mosques."
The Rev. Jim Lewis, an Episcopalian
and labor activist, said religious leaders must begin asking serious questions
about the nature of work - and about livable wages, pensions, benefits, job security,
union loyalties, responsibilities to the unemployed and related issues.
"Churches
have a responsibility to examine and address the malaise felt by workers living
in their communities," he said.
There is a precedent for the theology
of work. The Social Gospel movement was active about a century ago, during the
pioneer days of trade union organizing, and some of the most prominent clergymen
in the country were heavily involved.
It combined the messages of social
justice and Gospel teachings, and often relied on scriptural passages - Feinberg's
favorite is from the book of Deuteronomy: "You must not keep back the wages
of a man who is poor and needy, whether he is a fellow countryman or an alien."
Renewing relationship
He also thinks
a revival of the religion-labor partnership is at hand.
For one thing,
his nonprofit organization, based on the lower East Side, is one of scores of
like-minded groups around the country, most of them affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
The New York group is mainly about advocating worker rights, he said.
For
another, interest is picking up. Feinberg has mailed brochures and other material
to 700 or so congregations in the New York area. That's up from 400 or so a couple
of years ago, he said.
"We want to build a permanent relationship
between faiths and the labor movement," he said. "Although we've been
around for 20 years, it's only in the last five or six that we've really gotten
it together."
Feinberg, 46, who was ordained by the Reconstructionist
branch of Judaism, has been active in the labor movement for 25 years.
He
was recruited for his current job after writing the proposal that persuaded a
foundation to fund the New York coalition.
He also has been arrested dozens
of times at labor and other protest demonstrations.
"I'm not sure
how long my rap sheet is," he said, "but I trust God to keep count."
