Shouldn’t it make a difference that so many of them are “Christian?”
You would think so…
Or at least, I would think so…
That with a Christian as Head of State and an overwhelming Christian majority in Congress, the Nation would resemble Beloved Community…
That America would resemble the Kingdom of God on earth…
That with so many people in decision making authority supposedly trying to live like Christ – or at least trying to model themselves after the early Christian communities, that this Country would indeed be a City on a Hill…
…a light to all the world…
When Jesus was captured by the Sanhedrin, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the soldiers. Jesus chastised Peter saying, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Yet the United States spends more on military defense than the next 7 countries combined.
In Luke 4:18, as Christ defines His messianic mission He says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free…”
Yet instead of good news, Christian leaders constantly heap more and more bad news upon the poor…
Ours is a Nation that neglects the poor…seeing the poor as a burden, who should “pick themselves up by their own bootstraps” even if they have no boots.
Instead of proclaiming that captives will be released, the United States has the highest prison population in the world…and the highest prison population rate in the world…
All of these policies and more are put in place by those who claim to be Christian…
Shouldn’t a Christian led society do better? And if this is the witness of a so-called “Christian Society,” is it really Christian?
That’s the question I go to…
But, Western Civilization holds to a faith that is between you and your god…
All you have to do is say “I’m Christian.” The witness of your life doesn’t matter. The effect of your life on the world around you, doesn’t matter.
The refrain is, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…”
As such, we separate our faith from our politics. Our faith is literally designed to have no impact on the affairs of State…Our subsequent theology and how we embody our faith – in America – is supposed to have no bearing on how we govern ourselves.
Think about that…
The way we embody our faith – as Americans – has no bearing on how we govern ourselves…? (Read that over and over until you’re struck by the irony.)
But we literally say: separation of Church and State…
Some of you probably said that in response to this writing.
But here’s how my father always taught me:
Let Church separate from State. But let not that State separate from God…
No…America is not (should not be) a Christian nation, that beats everyone – foreign and domestic – over the head with Christian proselytization.
Just like the Lord never forced anyone to be Christian, neither should the United States.
But, shouldn’t the decisions of leaders be guided by their faith?
And for those who do claim to be so guided, then what in the world is their faith?!?!?! Because somehow, with Christian majorities throughout the Government – at all levels, this Country looks nothing like a Beloved Community…right?
But let’s not stay so far removed…
Let’s look a little closer to home…
You know, I used to think it was just in Black communities…
But as I grow and learn more…as I become exposed to more, I see how false that stereotype is.
You see, in many communities – both urban and rural – there are churches on every corner. Churches everywhere…next door to each other, across the street from each other, around the corner from each other.
Every community has its own “Hallelujah Blvd.”
The crazy thing is, wherever you find communities with churches on every corner you can be sure that it’s an economically depressed community…or a marginalized community in some way.
Think about it…
Imagine all the communities you know where the streets are littered with churches…
Why is that?
As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.
So, the Apostles healed people with their shadows…
But in communities where there’s a church on every corner, the people go hungry…naked…neglected…forgotten…
Something seems to be lacking in our faith...
Something must have been injected by Babylon…
Those documents written by the Popes to establish White supremacy corrupted the faith…
So the reality is, Western Christianity – Western Theology – can never show you the way out of Babylon.
And so if we want true freedom, we have to find another way…
