It must be noted that the word ‘church’
can be used to define either a singular institution of faith or all carriers of
the faith itself. It can be used to mean “a place I go to profess my faith,” or
it can be used to mean “the faith we hold.” For the purpose of this article, we
will be discussing ‘church’ as the state of a faith (in this case Christianity)
versus the state of the institution. The distinction is minor, but with the many
various forms of Christianity, it can be challenging to hold accountable the
Catholic church and the United Church of Christ simultaneously accounting for their
considerable deviations from biblical teachings. The Churches will not be specifically
discussed, instead it is all those who claim the doctrine of the Christian
faith (The Old and New Testaments.)
How
long do we have to flip through the news stations to hear a story about our
president sleeping with a porn star and paying to keep her quiet? With a story
like this, two things are happening: left-leaning news and entertainment enhance
the flavor by giving it more air-time than it deserves; right-leaning media and,
since there are very few outspoken right-wing entertainers, conservative
supporters point their fingers at the bias of the left-leaning news media and
liberal politicians who historically have done the same thing. "It's a distraction from the real issues," they might say. On one hand, left
wing atheists cry “hypocrisy from the religious right!”, and on the opposite
hand the religious right hypocritically backs clearly immoral politicians and
business owners because “at least they don’t suck-up to these snowflakes on the
left.”
How is this a Christian nation?
“In God We Trust” is on our
currency. When we say the pledge of allegiance, we have the audacity to say, “one
nation under God.” Which God are we serving? Are we serving the God of the
republic? Are we serving the God of the Tea Party? Is this the same God who
told Peter “He who lives by the sword must die by the sword”? Is this the same
God who said “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Render unto God what is God’s”?
Is this the same God who said “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like
to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces and have the
most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
They devour widows’ houses and for show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be
punished most severely."?
These are not kind words for those
who claim the law of the Abrahamic God. If you are looking for a God that values
narcissistic, hypocritic, self-serving, judgmental, money-grubbing, shameless, earthly,
egotistical, adulterous and unrepentant false Christians, don’t open the New
Testament; you will not find that God. The God you will find meets very little
of the criteria of the Republican Party, which claims this God most outspokenly.
It can be made an easy task to point our
fingers at the opposition who do not believe in the God of the Jews and say “this
is a Christian nation. If you don’t like it, get out.” If you believe in
Biblical sin, it isn’t hard to find someone who doesn’t and point out their
sins. But we know those who do not believe will not follow. It isn’t our job to
force them to; it is our job to follow and lead the willing. This is no easy
task when the majority of “Christians” in this nation will throw their core
doctrinal values to the wind as soon as some orange haired gorilla promises to
build a retaining wall and lower taxes. If you believe in Jesus with your
tongue but not your feet, don’t expect someone who does not believe in Jesus to
act in accordance with your doctrinal values. Don’t claim to live in a Christian
nation when the churches are hardly even Christian.
The truth is, there is no room for
Christianity in our state. There is no room socially, there is no room
economically, and there is no room internationally. Jesus was not a warrior.
Jesus had no interest in condemnation for non-believers. They condemn
themselves. Jesus and his followers were hardly materialistic, yet we live among
the most material and economically driven nations in the world. We have more military
bases around the world than any other country—and it isn’t even close.
How are we a Christian
nation?
I am not claiming that
the United States would be better-off to abandon its global materialism and accept
foreign malevolence, but I am saying this: if you think you are a Christian and
claim to follow the gospels, if you think the United States is Christian, if
you think any form of your government is Christian, then you might think about reading
Matthew through Revelation. Jesus does not spend a lot of time talking about
nationalism, governmental law, foreign policy, or enforcing Jewish Law on Gentiles. Jesus was quite opposite of any recent major American
politicians—and it isn’t even close.
Unfortunately, God is
dying, much like Nietzsche predicted. But it isn’t non-believers that killed
him; it is believers. It's the Devil we know... I
cannot fathom why anyone who doesn’t believe in a Christ would start believing
if they looked at the examples of modern or historical Christians or “Christian
nations.” The reason to keep the church separate from the state is not because
the church should not be in the state, it is because the inevitable folly of man
cannot be left out of the church. We cannot, in good faith,
continue to claim our righteousness as reasoning for our political convictions.
It is not our convictions that suffer but our righteousness. Humans are made to
evolve, and so does the state, but if a state coincides with the church then
the church too would evolve alongside the state. If the churches evolve, and I would
argue the churches met their folly upon their creation, then righteousness and
law begin to merge. As soon as biblical virtue evolves with modern moral norms,
its importance dies.
An atheist would find
no harm in the devaluation of many Christian ethics, nor should they, they do
not believe it. But if you claim it as your belief, you are then also
accountable for upholding the belief and challenging those who falsely claim
your belief. If you claim to be a believer but do not challenge divisive and
immoral behavior within the church and within your supposed representatives,
you are complicit in the killing of your God. This damage is irreparable and,
if you believe it, you will stand trial. If this bothers you, consider these
options: change your political support habits or don’t claim the Christian belief.
It is true, this
nation has built some Christian
values into its philosophy, but the values of material wealth, moral
liberalism, and sexual exploitation have paved the way for a nation that is far more interested in its subjective
welbeing than serving the most-high God. It’s hard to imagine Donald Trump and
Jesus of Nazareth agreeing on much. Every time we accept the immorality of our
peers within the church we deny God, and this is not to be taken lightly. It doesn’t
mean you cannot challenge the sins of the opposition in defense of your faith, and
it does not mean you cannot love your country as well; what it means is what
and who we back matters. What it means is when you submit the church to the
will of the immoral state you render unto Caesar what is Gods. The leaders we
stand by publicly and what moral laws we are comfortable parting ways with in
favor of our cognitive dissonance will be held against us.
But, you know… only if you believe that sort of thing.
“You foolish person, do you want
evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham
considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was
made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called
God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and
not faith alone.” James 2: 20-24
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