Religion

San Franciscans, it is commonly said in the popular media, generally express disdain towards people who are adherent to faith. Organized religions—especially religions of the Judeo-Christian tradition—are scoffed at and despised.

Of all the stereotypical features of "San Francisco values," the anti-religious characterization may be demonstrably the least accurate. San Francisco, named after a Christian martyr2, after all, is home to over one thousand churches, temples, synagogues, mosques and ashrams. It is also a city with a strong historical religious core to its famed social activism.

San Francisco has socially-active congregations and clergy, with a long history pre-dating the Vietnam era. Those very civic and social movements most closely associated with and responsible for San Francisco's liberal reputation— anti-war, anti-AIDS, anti-environmental degradation— have had at their cores the city's faith leaders and communities.

Tracing their social activism back decades, two Roman Catholic priests, the late John Duggan and Bill O'Donnell,had long been associated with social justice efforts, the fight for workers' rights, union organization, and progressive causes. The late Rabbi Michael Robinson spent time in jail with Rev.Martin Luther King, Jr., counseled Vietnam War conscientious objectors, and dedicated his life to social justice issues and pacifism. The late Rev. Arthur Elcombe, of the Episcopal Church, was one of the founders of Planned Parenthood, the Interfaith Counseling Institute and the National Equal Justice Association.

Look carefully at that famous 1965 Life Magazine cover3. Of the four men surrounding Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., only labor leader Walter Reuther is not directly affiliated with or representing a church or religious movement. And on his visit to San Francisco in 1965, in an effort to gain support for the Civil Rights movement, his stops were to the city's churches—including Grace Cathedral—where he delivered his famous "We Shall Overcome" speech4. Churches were where the Civil Rights movement found much of both its organizational strength and its philosophical direction. "People think of me as a civil rights leader," King was known to say, "but fundamentally, I'm a Baptist preacher."
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