Are Christians the Problem?

I have been doing some reading on the decline of democracy and the rise of populism in the world. My reading began with Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum’s new book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. To be quite honest, the book scares the hell out of me.

It shows how democracy is under siege in Europe, Britain and America from nationalism and autocracy. She shows how authoritarian political movements use the news media, social media, conspiracy theories, political polarization, and an appeal to an idealized past, to undermine individual freedoms. It is all done in the in the name of patriotism, God and morality.

An article in the most recent issue of Time magazine shows how this has played out in Hungary under the rule of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who took office in 2010. The article says, “In the decade since, Hungarians have seen judges and bureaucrats appointed for their political fealty, the media transformed into pro-government propaganda and civil-society groups starved of resources.” The Washington-based human rights group Freedom House says that Hungary no longer qualifies as a full democracy.

During the pandemic in Hungary, “COVID-19 data was to be strictly controlled, with doctors telling inquiring politicians and journalists that they were forbidden to talk publicly about the crisis. Those who criticized the government online faced arrest.”  “Orban has brazenly flouted Europe’s rules ensuring press freedom and an independent judiciary.”

If that sounds like 2020 in America, it is no accident. These are the same forces at work in our country. Americans could lose our freedoms if the right wing in our country gets its way.  If this happens, much of the fault will rest on the shoulders of white evangelical Christianity. It is no accident that they are cheering President Trump while he undermines confidence in the integrity of our election.

For the last four years I have been scratching my head trying to understand why Christians would support Donald Trump. Why would they believe conspiracy theories? Why would they accept the demonization of Democrats, the election process and the press? Then it dawned on me. They see these people and institutions as the enemies of God and Christian values, in much the same way that radical Muslims sees them as enemies of Allah and Islam.

For Christians, God is King. Anyone who opposes Godly values is the enemy. They believe that God has the absolute right to enforce his will on human society. Even though Jesus insisted that his kingdom was not of this world, for 2000 years Christians have been praying: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth and it is in heaven.” And gosh darn it, as the people of God, Christians have the obligation to advance God’s will on earth in these United States!

That is why evangelicals can unabashedly advocate outlawing abortion in the United States, even if it means stacking the Supreme Court and legislating from the bench. They see it as a moral crusade. It does not matter that the majority of Americans believe this moral choice should be left to individuals and not given over to the state. Individual rights and freedoms are expendable when God’s law is concerned. For them it is proper to use the power of the state to force people to adhere to their understanding of divine moral law.

It is not that we Christians should compromise our moral principles. I also am pro-life. But I do not have the right to impose my morality on people who do not share my religious values. We give that up to live in a democracy. That is what it means to be an American. Let each person decide according to their own conscience and faith. That is what individual freedom, religious liberty and human rights are about.

But the Religious Right does not share my commitment to those democratic values. That is why they love strongmen like Donald Trump. He will do the job that career politicians trained in the values of western democracy will not. He has no qualms about trampling on his enemies rights. Trump is willing to force his will on the country, regardless of whether it violates the rights of people who disagree with him. They see Trump as an instrument of Almighty God, who has the power and the divine right to impose moral and religious values on society. Democracy is useful if it advances God’s Kingdom. If democracy gets in the way of God’s will, democracy be damned.

This theocratic worldview is the problem. Politicized Christianity is the problem. A weaponized gospel that hates enemies, rather than loving them, is the problem. Such a Christianity has no room for democracy. It believes the fictional narrative that the United States is a Christian nation founded on Christian values, and that these values must be maintained at all costs - even if they go against the will of the people. People are sinners, after all ... miserable depraved sinners. They need to be reined in. If elections oppose the will of God, then election results are wrong.  As the song says, “Our God Reigns.”

If people’s rights get in the way of the exercise of Godly values, then rights are expendable. God’s will be done. In this worldview, Christians have the right to discriminate against anyone who disobeys God’s will – whether that be gays wanting to get a marriage license or buy a wedding cake, or Muslims wanting to wear a head scarf or build a mosque in our neighborhood. This is a “Christian nation” after all. Christian America first – under a Christian God!

This theocratic understanding of American history and identity is one of the greatest threats to our country today. It is far more dangerous than Central American immigrants or Islamic extremists, because right-wing Christians have influence that those groups do not have.  I never thought I would see the day when fellow Christians would be a threat to the nation I love. But that day has come.

So are Christians the problem? We don’t have to be. We can be the solution! We can champion our Christian values within the broader framework of democratic values upon which our nation is built. We can be unapologetically Christian, but let others live according to their own faith and values. We can choose to bring in the Kingdom through moral persuasion, not government coercion. People from all religious and political perspectives can live together in freedom and peace, if we respect each other’s rights. As history teaches us, that is better for both the church and the state. 

My Election Predictions Examined

On March 2, 2020, I made five predictions about the Presidential Elections on my blog. Here is a link, if you want to read it in full. Those predictions were made before the term COVID 19 was widely known and before the subsequent stock market crash and economic downturn. It was before Biden won the Democratic primary. In that post I promised that right or wrong, I would write a follow-up post to see how I did.

Prediction # 1 – “Trump will lose the 2020 election.” Well I had a 50-50 chance on that one, and got it right. Although I never would have guessed how long the vote count would go on.

Prediction # 2 – “Trump will not concede defeat on election night, November 3, 2020. He will not phone his Democratic opponent and congratulate him.”  Trump has still not conceded defeat or congratulated the President Elect. Instead he has claimed that he has won … by a lot!

Prediction # 3 – “There will be demonstrations and rallies across the country by Trump’s supporters who believe everything he says about the election.” That has happened, but they have been few in number. Perhaps more will follow. I think that the five day delay in knowing the results of the election has dampened the furor of the moment. For that I am thankful. The delay has given the country time to settle down and approach things more calmly.

Prediction # 4. “It will be the beginning of the end for the Religious Right.” The accuracy of that prediction cannot be known for years, but I stand by my prediction. The Religious Right, which has promoted a return to a view of America from the mid-twentieth century when there was a Christian hegemony in this country, has been discredited by its support for this president. Especially in the eyes of the young, who are the future voters of our nation. White Evangelicals are the only ones unaware that their “glory days” will never return.  America is not the White, Male, Christian, Straight, Anti-Choice nation they thought it was.

There were two more predictions that I wrote down that day in March but did not include them in the blog post. I had a hard time believing them myself, and so I did not share them. I will share them now. They both concern the inauguration of President Biden.

Prediction # 5 – I predicted that Trump will not leave the traditional letter from the outgoing president to the incoming president on the desk in the Oval Office, wishing him well and promising him his support. That seems like a pretty safe bet now.

Prediction # 6 – Trump will not attend the inauguration of the new presdient. He will say that he is an illegitimate president, and for that reason will not attend – just like Representative John Lewis did to him. Other presidents have done that before in American history, so it is not unprecedented.

Prediction # 7 – I have one more prediction to round the set off to the holy number seven. It is customary that former presidents keep a low profile for years after leaving office out of the respect for the new president. I predict that Trump will not follow that precedent.  I think that once out of office the ex-president will use this twitter account and public statements to undermine the work of the new administration. I would not be surprised if he begins his twitter tirade on Inauguration day.

I think that in time it will get worse. I am concerned that by his anti-government rhetoric, Trump will embolden a domestic terrorist network that will increase violent attacks against our country. White Supremacist and Christian Nationalist organizations are the most dangerous threats to our country, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Far worse than Islamist extremists. During his presidency Trump has pandered to them and sought their support. He will continue to do that after leaving the White House. Trump’s anti-democracy rhetoric will embolden domestic terrorism in the coming years, causing great harm to our country.

Those are my predictions. Like I said in the previous blog, I am not a prophet so they will not necessarily come true. I hope they do not come true. They don’t have to. Jesus said that some evil can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. So let us pray that Jesus binds this strongman. 

Once to Every Man and Nation

On this Election Day morning, as I get ready to go to the polls, I find myself singing the words of James Russell Lowell’s 1845 hymn. I share them with you today:

Once to ev'ry man and nation 
Comes the moment to decide, 
In the strife of truth and falsehood, 
For the good or evil side; 
Some great cause, some great decision, 
Off'ring each the bloom or blight, 
And the choice goes by forever 
'Twixt that darkness and that light. 

Then to side with truth is noble, 
When we share her wretched crust, 
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, 
And 'tis prosperous to be just; 
Then it is the brave man chooses 
While the coward stands aside, 
Till the multitude make virtue 
Of the faith they had denied. 

By the light of burning martyrs, 
Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track, 
Toiling up new Calv'ries ever 
With the cross that turns not back; 
New occasions teach new duties, 
Ancient values test our youth; 
They must upward still and onward, 
Who would keep abreast of truth. 

Tho' the cause of evil prosper, 
Yet the truth alone is strong; 
Tho' her portion be the scaffold, 
And upon the throne be wrong: 
Yet that scaffold sways the future, 
And, behind the dim unknown, 
Standeth God within the shadow, 
Keeping watch above His own.

 

When Our Candidate Loses

I am writing this before the November 3 election. At the moment, everyone has hopes that their candidates will win. Half of those hopes will be dashed on the reality of the ballot box. Nearly half of Americans will be disappointed by the results. There are many races in this election, but I am thinking chiefly about the presidential election.

There has been a lot of harsh and extreme rhetoric. People on both sides of the political spectrum have painted the consequences of this election in apocalyptic terms of good versus evil, freedom versus tyranny. I admit to my share of political bombast.

I do not know what will happen as a consequence of the election results. Some have predicted violence or civil war. There will likely be accusations that the voting results are fraudulent. Perhaps the Supreme Court will get involved. It has happened before.

I am not a prophet. I do not know what will happen. Except I know that someone will lose and someone will win. My candidate may win or he may not. Either way it will be alright. I know that is not the conventional wisdom. People seem to think that it will be a disaster if the other guy wins. It won’t. Let me tell you why I believe this.

First I believe in God. I believe that God will work things out for good, even if I cannot see that now. Second, I believe in America. I believe in our democratic system of government, the integrity of local election officials, and the collective wisdom of the American people.

Third, I believe that I might be wrong in my choice of candidate. It is hard for me to imagine this at the moment. The choice seems so clear, and I am so certain I am right! But then I step out of myself and realize that I could be wrong. It is wonderfully freeing to admit one’s fallibility. Everyone should try it!

A little humility (and I admit to having very little) goes a long way when it comes to accepting the results of an election. I might be mistaken in my assessment of the situation. Recently I have been reading a lot about disinformation and misinformation in the media – especially social media.

I have been learning about confirmation bias and the lure of fake news. We tend to hear only those facts that agree with what we already believe. I know I am as vulnerable as anyone to deception. So are you. Remember the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”

No matter who wins the White House or any other race, we need to rally behind our country and its democratic process. Our republic and its freedoms are more important than any candidate or party or president. This is especially important to keep in mind when we feel the country is heading in the wrong direction. For all its faults it remains a great country. Justice will prevail in the long run. Do not fear.

If your candidate wins, be gracious in victory. Go ahead and celebrate. I will! (I hope.) But after the confetti has been swept up, imagine what it is like to be a supporter of the candidate who lost. These are our fellow citizens, our brothers and sisters (literally in a lot of cases.) They will be mourning and worrying about the future of our country. Have compassion. Empathize with them.

No matter who wins the presidential election, we all win if democracy wins. Free and fair elections with a peaceful transfer of power are the real prizes. Let us all make sure this happens, no matter whose candidate wins. 

Sign of the Times

I live in a small New Hampshire town where people have always treated each other with respect when it comes to government. We may differ on religious, social and political matters, but we do so in a civil manner. We discuss things fervently at the annual town meeting and monthly local government meetings, but then we shake hands and cooperate. There have been a few ornery exceptions to that rule over the years, but to my knowledge such people have never resorted to criminal activity.

This election cycle has changed things for the worse. Recently some friends of mine in town had their campaign sign stolen from their front yard. Apparently its message was too much for some people to allow to stand. The sign read: “Dump Trump. Vote.” Some men in a pickup truck used the cover of darkness to steal the sign and drive off noisily. Fortunately the crime (a felony in New Hampshire) was caught on a security camera and the footage has been turned over to the police. Hopefully it is only a matter of time until they are caught.

This is just one example of the incivility in politics that has inundated our nation in recent years. I have stopped watching television news as a result. Worse than the name-calling and lies is the underlying mentality.  There is a growing movement in our country to undermine the foundations of our democracy by suppressing the vote and intimidating people from exercising their right of free speech. Forces are seeking to undermine the democratic process and the legal system in our nation.

It makes me afraid for the future of our nation. What scares me the most as a Christian minister is reading about clergy in our country encouraging their congregations to break the law and condone unethical acts. I never thought I would see such behavior in our churches and country. People unashamedly seek to destabilize the electoral process by all means possible. Fortunately the American people are stronger than that.

My friends will soon be erecting a new sign on their front lawn with the exact same message. They are concerned that this time it will be met with greater violence. They shared with me that they are fearful that a rock will be thrown through their window by those who oppose their choice of candidate. For that reason I am not sharing their names, although they were glad I was writing this article.

The good news is that they have received requests from fellow townspeople for ten more identical signs. Let’s see the vandals take down all those signs in town! When anti-democratic forces in our country seek to stifle free speech and fair elections, it causes an upsurge of resistance from true patriots.

They have inspired me to put a sign in my front yard proclaiming my presidential choice as Biden-Harris with the subtitle: Save Democracy. I also ordered a second sign that proclaims “Christians for Biden.”

When vandals tear down signs, people of all political parties need to respond by erecting ten times more signs like the one taken down. Let us stand together against such behavior. As John Stuart Mill said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.” So let’s do something. Exercise your freedom of speech and your right to vote. Do not allow our democratic freedoms to be thwarted by the forces of hate and intimation.

This Too Shall Pass

This story is found in Muslim, Roman and Jewish folklore. It is about a king who was continuously torn between happiness and despondency. Like Solomon of Ecclesiastes and Julius Caesar of Rome, nothing satisfied him. A time came when the king despaired of life. He sent for a wise man who lived in his kingdom. The king asked him, "Can you give me wisdom that will bring serenity into my life? I will pay any price."

The wise man said, "Your entire kingdom would not be sufficient payment, but I will give it as a gift." The wise man returned a few weeks later and handed the king an ornate box. The king opened the box and found a simple gold ring. Inscribed on the ring were the words: This too shall pass. The wise man explained, "Wear this ring. Whatever happens, good or bad, read the inscription. That is the way to inner peace.”

This is the wisdom that I need during these turbulent times. There are times I despair for the future of our nation. I see the foundations of our beloved democracy being undermined by a president without moral principles, who cares for nobody and nothing. It has resulted in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. It has encouraged the vilest racism and hate. As a Christian I have watched Evangelicalism, which I once loved as my spiritual home, turn into a false prophet and prostitute itself to the beast in the White House. I despair for the future of American Christianity and the United States.

Then in prayer I return to the Divine Center of my soul and hear the words: This too shall pass. This arrogant strongman, this “man of lawlessness,” will be brought low. White Evangelicalism will be exposed for the counterfeit faith it is. The arc of the moral universe still bends toward justice. I see this hope already at work in the Black Lives Matter and the MeToo Movements. “Justice will flow like water, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.”

For that reason “I will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” God’s kingdom will come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God’s kingdom always prevails against autocrats and demagogues. History shows that bullies fall hard, and this Twitter-bully will also. If not in November, then soon enough. Truth is stronger than lies. Love is stronger than hate.

We need only have faith and hope, be patient and persevere. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” These are promises of God. In the meantime, we can live in God’s peace now, allowing it to reign in our hearts, if not yet in the world. As the Desiderata says, “whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.”

This too shall pass. “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”  That is the nature of Reality. May peace be our everyday conscious reality and not this impermanent, changing shadow play of the world. We need only play our part wholeheartedly and trust the rest to God. And always remember: this too shall pass.

Juvenile Nation

I have been trying to figure out what is happening in our nation these days. I feel like I am in a science fiction film in which people’s minds or bodies have been taken over by aliens. Facts are no longer considered facts. They are simply opinions which one can accept or reject, based on whether they serve one’s political or religious worldview.

Americans’ ignorance of their history is astounding. I am writing this on the Fourth of July. I bet that if you asked this year’s high school graduate, with the ink still wet on their freshly minted diploma, what Independence Day commemorates, most of them would not be able to tell you. Every survey confirms Americans’ ignorance of their history. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this brief video.

What should we expect when we remove history, civics, and geography from the school curriculum and substitute a watered-down hodgepodge called Social Studies? George Santayana’s observation is true: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That is chilling in the light of Holocaust denial, which is so common today. And of course climate change is a hoax. So is evolution. Americans fall for the most outrageous propaganda and conspiracy theories.

Americans’ attitude toward science is just as bad, as evidenced throughout this coronavirus pandemic. If the assessments of the nation’s top infectious disease specialist does not fit the agenda of our political party, we choose party over science. We will find our own expert to support our views. Just like the tobacco companies did. Smoking is good for you, you know.

Our attitude is that no one can tell us what to do. Our personal wants and desires trump the well-being and rights of others. We will do what we want, when we want, and no one is going to tell us we can’t. Waa, waa. Tweet. Tweet. Let’s go to a crowded rally! No masks allowed! Masks are unpatriotic. So is kneeling … unless you are kneeling before God. The American Christian God of course.

It is no wonder that the infection rate, hospitalization rate, and death rate from COVID-19 is so much higher in the US than other industrialized nations. We have the infection rate of a third world country. We have the scientific knowledge in our country to stop the virus, but not the political or personal will to use it. We do not have the emotional or ethical maturity to fight this pandemic. For those reasons we deserve what happens to us.

Governors are saying that the recent surge in cases is fueled largely by young people who refuse to wear masks or practice social distancing. I gawk in horror at the reports of young people holding COVID-19 parties designed to deliberately infect partygoers. What fun! Attenders contribute an entrance fee, and the one who is diagnosed with COVID first gets the door prize! If they are lucky maybe they may also get the last bed in the local ICU.

Middle-aged Americans and elders are not exempt from this plague of ignorance. The refusal to wear a mask because we have a “right” not to wear it is ignorance as well as selfish. There is no right not to wear masks. There is a right to life, but we have no right to endanger another’s life by our conduct. If you don’t believe that, try to convince a police officer who pulls you over that you have a right not to have a driver’s license or a right to drive drunk.

America has become a country of spoiled brats. “I have the right to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and no one can tell me I can’t!” Waa. Waa. Waa.  Call the wambulance. We are a nation of emotional juveniles and narcissists - self-absorbed and incapable of caring about anyone else or taking responsibility for our actions. If things don’t turn out right, we can always find someone to blame.

What embarrasses me the most is that some churches are voicing this attitude, saying that it is a matter of religious freedom to worship however we want, whenever we want, with as many people as we can fit in our buildings. Wearing masks is seen as lack of trust in the Lord, who will protect us from harm if we have faith. In other words, “We will do what we want because we are a church and we are special. And you can’t stop us. It says so right here. Na, na, na, na, naaaa!”

Churches that cite the first amendment as a license to open their churches without taking precautions are betraying their ignorance of religious liberty as well as abdicating their responsibility towards their people. Ever hear of “Love your neighbor as yourself?” If that is too radical for churches to practice, at least follow the maxim “First, do no harm.” I won’t even talk about racism in religion. I attended a Southern Baptist seminary and know too much about that.

As you can tell, I am frustrated. I have been scratching my head in wonder so much recently that all the hair is gone from the top of my head. (I am pretty sure I had a full head of hair when President Trump was inaugurated.) Don’t get me going on the presidential elections – 2016 or 2020. The way I see it, we got the president we deserve, one who reflects the emotional maturity, moral integrity and intellectual knowledge of the average American. I fear for the future of our country.