Your turn: Aldermen are not required to be pluralists

During Eastertime, I submitted an OpEd advocating true peace (shalom) in an individual’s life is found through a relationship with God made possible through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

In an OpEd, Matthew Johnson, a minister with the Unitarian Universalist Church, digressed to some interesting remarks regarding my role as an alderman, including, sadly, predictably, that I am an anti-Semite.

The Rev. Johnson stated that I, as a public official, I should speak about my faith only in a context of “pluralism.”

Wrong. To do so, would make me a “pluralist,” which I am decidedly not.

Too many elected officials are “chameleons” — putting their finger to the wind, searching for a narrative first before making decisions. There is no courage in following a narrative, but it creates an unsustainable relativistic worldview and belief of ultimate realities.

Your turn: Shalom is found in the true message of Easter

Your turn: Faith has many faces. Celebrate pluralism next Easter

A sustainable worldview must be based upon absolute, objective truth. The basis for my worldview and core ethics is the reality and absolute, objective truth in Christianity.

Mr. Johnson, believing in the resurrection of Jesus and the ensuing shalom does not make me an anti-Semite. It makes me forgiven.

As for my public activities as an alderman, people who know me know I do not pander for votes or popularity, and I will not shelve my core ethics to be elected alderman.

We reach consensus in governance not by sacrificing core values but by finding workable options that do not violate core ethics. Yes, two things can be true at once, but not always — sometimes someone has to be wrong.

I believe that objective, absolute truth exists, and that it can be found in the Bible and Christianity. It transcends both time and culture. It governs how I make decisions. Admittedly, I sometimes fail at this.

Pluralism means acknowledging the existence of multiple worldviews — I do.

I’ll respect anyone’s right to believe what they want. God allows for free choice. However, choice of belief does not equate to truth.

I am not obligated to believe that all worldviews are true. Disagreement is not hate, or disrespect. People and their ideas are separate.

I respect and value all people based upon two facts; God created them and Christ died and rose again for them — thus my core ethic states that I do not get to pick or choose.

What is ironic is that, given Mr. Johnson’s comments inferring “tolerance,” he doesn’t tolerate my beliefs. He is decidedly self-contradictory. He welcomes numerous worldviews, except those, like mine, with whom he disagrees.

There is a remedy for him. Vote for the ever pandering “chameleon" candidate and not me and get others to do so.

I may lose, but at least my loss will not be due to pandering and jettisoning my core ethics.

His worldview is based on nothing more than selecting “good teachings” from other religions or systems of thought without defining who determines what is “good” or “bad” — Nietzsche’s morality by majority.

This humanistic system of thought is nothing new. He appears to select the “good teachings” from numerous worldviews and cobble them together in a smorgas-truthset, which is not truth all.

This is apparent in his view of the “story” of Jesus’ resurrection. He accepts some of the teachings of Jesus. How can he accept the teaching of an obviously deranged individual (if he wasn’t God) who claimed to be deity, the Son of God and would die and rise again?

It is a confusion of belief and truth. They are different. His humanistic worldview has no absolute objective, truth and has never worked because man cannot be the measure of all things.

My friends say yes and my friends say no … I’m for my friends.

He will believe what makes him feel good or feel spiritual. Belief is reduced to feelings about truth, not truth.

I am certain that he is sincere, but he is sincerely wrong. I’m sorry but I cannot function as an alderman or anything else under his worldview with respect to theology, governance, etc.

Belief in bits and pieces from everything is a belief in nothing.

Not all worldviews and systems of thought are true. Some are wrong. Some are mutually exclusive. Others cannot coexist despite one’s intentions to create a “mulligan stew” philosophy by picking and choosing. It is a Hegelian collision of thought that results in finding truth, not crafting a “mosaic.”

If Mr. Johnson wants to celebrate “pluralism,” craft a holiday.

Easter is Easter for a reason, period. I will take Mr. Johnson’s advice. I will try to do better next Easter ... better at being more Christlike and honor his sacrifice for me. To be a better alderman in God's eyes, not Mr. Johnson’s.

Dr. Timothy Durkee is an obstetrics and gynecology specialist in Rockford. He represents the city's 1st Ward on the Rockford City Council.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: Aldermen are not required to be pluralists