Something’s been nagging at me for quite some time.    This used to be more of a peripheral reminder, but now it’s more and more persistent – more and more font-and-center.   So now I feel like I have to say something about this.    And it has to do with politics.

I know there are many that feel politics and religion are taboo topics… because they can not only energize people, but because people can often have really visceral responses to political and religious issues.   And sometimes these topics elicit just gut-level emotional anger.

And some say the church has no place in politics, or that politics has no place in the church.    One reason, I’ve sometimes heard, is that Jesus had nothing to do with politics, that he was not about politics.    I think the main reason church professionals usually don’t include politics in their sermons (and writings) is because they don’t want to get their constituents angry.    When you get paid by the very people you’re preaching to, well… you don’t want to bite the hand that feeds you.  

This is the practice in American Christianity (for the most part), and this is how it has been like for a long time.    And perhaps as a result of this (and other things) our average parishioner tends to believe Jesus hugged children, healed people, and gave incredible sermons about God’s love for us… and was killed because the evil Jewish leaders didn’t love babies, and didn’t want people healed, and wanted to keep people under the impression that God was very much NOT a God of grace. 

 

Well, sorry folks.    Yes it’s true this was a different culture, and that women and children were not thought of in the same way as we think of women and children today, but still… in their own way, these leaders did care about their injured and maimed, and they did indeed love their children, and they did indeed have a sense of God being present in and among them… and for many it really was important to remain faithful to the God that made the covenant with Abraham, that brought their forebears out of the land of slavery in Egypt.    They did indeed feel a connection to their God, to live as faithfully to their God as they could.      

And in that respect, being faithful to their God often translated as what we would call today “ardent nationalism”; a loyalty to one’s God and land and people.  And considering Jesus lived in a time where his beloved Israelites lived under ta very oppressive Roman occupation, Jesus did indeed rock the political boat.  He spoke out against Caesar, (“Give to Caesar what’s his, and give to God what’s Gods’”…    considering the Romans believed Caesar to be a god, saying this meant he -Jesus- believed Caesar was indeed NOT a god.   And in that day and age and place, that would have been a very dangerous thing to say indeed.)    

He spoke out against the Jewish leaders on multiple occasions; against their squashing the people in order to protect themselves from Roman aggression.   The Romans made a deal with the Jewish leaders –a deal they often made with those they occupied; Just keep your people in line (no revolution, no talk of revolution) pay your taxes, pay homage to Caesar on occasion, and we’ll let you keep your positions of power and leadership.

And with Jesus challenging this system…  I’d say he was pretty political.   He wasn’t killed for kissing babies and healing the lame.   He was executed by the Romans for challenging the established order and fomenting sedition.   He was executed for threatening the power structure with a radical notion of what he believed God’s plan was for the world… and it didn’t involve Roman occupation! 

Having said all that, what’s been nagging me is a sense of how much we’re consciously alienating ourselves based on politics and race and ethnicity and economics.  And that’s not okay!   We’re drawing ourselves into – and allowing ourselves to be drawn into – discussions and beliefs about politics and economics and race and such that I think are less and less healthy.

Now, don’t get me wrong, talking about this stiff isn’t in anyway bad in and of itself!   It’s good to have differing views, and sharing them with others, and hearing others share their views… all this is normal and healthy.   It’s okay to sit down and have opinions about politics and politicians, and be able to discussion this stuff.  Indeed this is part of our political process, isn’t it?!  

But it seems more and more we are less and less able to sit down and do this in a civil manner.   It seems it is harder and harder for people with differing views to sit and listen to each other and not storm away angry, or not call each other names.   We are less and less engaging one side with the other in true dialog.   It is becoming more and more divisive and more and more destructive – to us as a polity, as a country.

This apparent division and separation makes it seem like it’s okay to make comments about people from the opposite party (whatever that may be to you) as if they were all crazy or stupid.

Democrats say all republicans are idiots.   Liberals tend to pride themselves on being open-minded, and fair and understanding and accepting of differences… unless they face someone with conservative ideas.  And Republicans say all Democrats are dumb, blaming them for all the social and economic ills we face as a nation.  

Folks, this is not okay!   We all fall into this trap – I’ve fallen into this trap.  But this is not okay.  It will only lead us further into the trap!   It’s a trap because it leads us to think life is black & white  when life is actually much more nuanced than that!     All liberals are not the same, and all conservatives aren’t either.     Seeing life (and politics) in this bi-chromatic system of black and white often can lead us to thinking “us versus them”, of who’s in versus who’s out.  

I’ve been hearing statements, not just on TV but from others around me about who’s allowed among us and who’s not allowed among us due to the hue of their skin, or the language they speak, or their religious customs and beliefs... about who’s okay and who’s not okay     really about who’s good and who’s bad.      This is not okay!

It’s not okay because life is not black and white like that.    It’s not okay because then we don’t sit down with someone of differing belief and find out why they believe what they believe.  And what the values are that underpin their beliefs.  And what’s important to them.   And what their story is.

This election cycle – and what’s happening in the midst of it – is bringing out the worst in us… and we’re all as a nation letting it happen.    In fact many of us are joining in.     Politically    economically   socially   it’s not okay!   

It seems people feel  more free now to do what we didn’t used to do   even 20 years ago.   I’ve heard from someone (who’s white) that at family gatherings relatives seem a whole lot more free to use the “N” word when talking about the president, or just black people in general.   It’s not okay!

Someone told me recently that the KKK was spreading pamphlets at a housing complex composed primarily of Hispanics and Blacks… and they weren’t recruitment notices!   They were designed to intimidate and induce fear.   This is not okay!

It’s not okay for Liberals to assume all Republicans are narrow-minded idiots just because they are Republicans.  If we listen to them we might learn that they value patriotism, and economic responsibility and entrepreneurism.

It’s not okay for conservatives to assume all Democrats are empty-headed idealists with no grasp on how the world “really” works.    If we listen to them, to what they find most important, we’d learn they value social responsibility and economic equity and opening opportunities to as many as possible.

It’s not okay to shut and bolt the doors that we need open – now more than ever!  

Sometimes God comes to comfort the afflicted       and sometimes God comes to afflict the comfortable.  I think we all need to be afflicted with God’s word of judgement!

The Old Testament prophets didn’t “predict the future” as we often think.    They more recognized cause and effect.    “If you all keep doing  ____X____,  then    ___Y___ will happen.”     

If you all fail to honor your God, then you will receive judgement        If you do not change your ways; if you do not show compassion to the stranger…   then you will be the recipients of wickedness       

The prophets called people back to the ways of God, back to the paths of God.

So we all have to find out path back to God in all this.

We owe it to ourselves – to our children – to our future as a country to slow down!   To not get so easily carried away…   to stop letting ourselves be led into the trap of anger and fear…   and Think!!   And Reason!!!      We must think and reason this through…  every step of the way.   

And ask the faith question:  Where is God in this?    We’re people of faith!    This is really on the line for us…   What does it mean to be people of faith?   To be Christians today… here…  now?   Among these people?   In this country?