Infallible and Literal? Nah...

An online article about the Southern Baptists and the issue of the ordination of women as pastors spurred me to make this response, which I posted in the comments section of the article:

In the Bible, women were the first witnesses to the Resurrection, telling the men who were fearful and hiding, and in at least one of the four DIFFERENT biblical stories of the Resurrection, the men dismissed what the women said.  The Bible also says God placed a dome over the earth at Creation. 

The Bible has to be interpreted with some thought, not blindly accepted word for word.  It was written in a far different time and culture, in languages that don't always necessarily translate directly into English, and has been "translated" by people with their own agendas. 

The books of the Bible were gathered and judged to be "scriptural" over 1,000 or more years by councils made up of people - men - who accepted some writings and rejected others.  The writings that were accepted by the numerous councils over the centuries were written by people giving expression to their faith.  They weren't "writing the Bible." 

We have to do the best we can to understand that expression, given the difficulties in translation and cultural awareness.  Taking it literally at every point, accepting it blindly, and condemning those who choose to be more thoughtful is lazy and irresponsible.  There is no virtue in venerating a book as a matter of faith.  In fact, that becomes idolatry, which runs counter to teachings within the book itself.

In Whom Or What Do You Trust?

In one of the congregations of which I was the pastor there was a continual tension over the presence and use of the American flag in the sanctuary.  It wasn’t an open conflict that threatened the stability of the church, but the tension was there.

As a pastor I chose to downplay the significance of the flag in the church.  There were several members, some of them veterans, some not, who wanted to elevate the flag’s prominence.  To me, its mere presence in the building was more than enough prominence, but I chose not to make it a defining issue of my time there.

I would not, however, allow the American flag to have any place in the rituals or traditions of worship.  From time to time, someone would suggest we incorporate the flag into our services on certain occasions, but I refused to do so.  When we had a Boy Scout Sunday, the scout leader, not a member of the church, offered to “present the colors” at the start of the service.  I declined.

Sometimes there was rumbling on weekends near patriotic holidays.  At another church, an older woman complained that we didn’t sing “military” hymns, and a couple of times someone asked why we didn’t “celebrate patriotic holidays.”

My only concessions to such matters were to ask veterans to stand and be recognized on Sundays close to Veterans Day, and to have the congregation sing “God Bless America” at similar times.  Both, however, were done prior to the beginning of worship.

One person tried, unsuccessfully, to get me to read a book explaining why the United States was a “Christian nation.”  It was by Glenn Beck, and he sold the book on his TV show, imploring his devotees to get the book in the hands of clergy. 

A few years later someone else told me that “all the history books” say we’re a Christian nation.  I countered with, “But the Founding Fathers themselves weren’t Christians.  They were deists.”  To my surprise, the person accepted that fact, and when I followed up by saying, “If they were deists, how and why would they establish the country as Christian?” “Touche’,” was the response.

In another town where I worked as a pastor, the newspaper published an article by a person who ministered in a local congregation.  In the article, the argument was made that we were a Christian nation, and the proof was in our system of laws, “such as capital punishment.”  First, of all, capital punishment was against the law in that particular state, and secondly, there is no Christian basis for the practice. 

I wrote a “letter to the editor” rebutting the article and gathered the signatures of a dozen or so of my colleagues in the area to back me up.  While the letter was published in the newspaper, to my chagrin it was signed Greg Howell, (one other pastor’s name), and “12 more ministers” who went unnamed.  I was surprised – and disappointed - by one or two of the clergy in the community who agreed with me but were afraid to put their names to the letter.

It is fine if people choose to celebrate America in secular events and through secular organizations, but linking it with the church and Christian faith gets into dangerous territory, and attempts at infusing the flag, the nation’s chief icon, into religious ritual is simply inappropriate.  There is no connection between any nation’s flag and Christianity, and attempts at forcing a connection lead to idolatry.  The faith is much larger than all of that.

Today I read an online article from Newsweek that gave me some small bit of encouragement.  Titled, “Preachers to Stand Up to ‘Hijacking’ of Faith by Christian Nationalists,” the article states, “Christian organizations are calling on pastors across the country to stand up against the rise of Christian nationalism during their church services next weekend. 

“The ‘Preach and Pray to Confront Christian Nationalism’ initiative is the latest event sponsored by Faithful America, an online community of progressive Christians that aim to combat the use of their faith being "hijacked" by the political right.”

I admit I never heard of the group Faithful America, but I am fully supportive of this effort.  I will be listening closely to hear if the pastor of the church I attend follows this guidance. 

The hijacking of the Christian faith is evident in frightening ways:  from the former president saying he has “done more for Christianity than anyone” after asking why the police couldn’t shoot the protestors outside the White House before he and his lackeys marched across the street so he could get a photo op of himself standing in front of a church he never attended, holding a book I doubt he has read; from right-wing “pastors” calling for homosexuals to be killed; and, state legislatures attempting to pass laws making the Bible the state book, or making Christianity that state’s “official” religion, and so on.

It seems to me that if the United States were a “Christian nation,” we would be doing a whole lot better at making sure food insecurity was not an issue for so many millions of people; racism and bigotry would be not only virtually eliminated, but would be vilified for the destructive forces they are; our dependence on war and weapons to steal resources from poorer nations in order to support the affluence of the “upper crust” would become unacceptable; the steady movement toward fascism would not be occurring, and the quality of love embodied by Jesus would overwhelm temptations toward hatred and division within the human family.

When I was an impressionable young person growing up during the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam war era, I was struck by the fact that leaders of the movement were clergy and that the church played such a significant role in helping oppressed people claim their rights and the reality of their equality.  Some of the same clergy and other religious leaders spoke publicly against the war and the unjust practices associated with it.

That gave me the idea that maybe the Christian faith actually had some application to the difficult struggles of people in the world, and when I discerned a call to ministry myself, that idea became even more important to me.

As I understand this idea, it demands a large view of what the faith is all about.  It demands that following Jesus is more important than trying to somehow make sure I “go to heaven” when I die, or that other people must adopt my particular religion.  It demands care and concern for those who suffer, are oppressed, or otherwise forced out of the abundant life for all of God’s children to which Jesus devoted himself.

The political right, religious right, whatever term one uses for those who limit the scope and reach of the faith, have it all wrong.  Division, hatred, nationalism, oppression, and murderous threats are not Christian values.  These notions and practices do not reflect Jesus’ teachings and actions.  They are an offense to God, and an embarrassment to a nation which people claim they love.