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The Monday Sermon: Would A "Christian Only Country" Be Truly Moral?
Morality is relative: people do not act "morally" in exactly the same way, because morality has nuances depending upon all sorts of outside influences. It is not pure either, with some people thinking their actions are purely moral because they (the people) are religious and that, subsequently, those without religious leanings cannot be moral. That thinking has a somewhat delusional aspect since religion and morality should not be equated: religion is too subjective, and the exegesis of scripture upon which a religion is based is also subjective and at the mercy of biases and seemingly petty doctrinal differences.
And if all morality is based upon the Golden Rule, some religious sects may be considered more moral than others: the Golden Rule has an egalitarianism, an all-inclusiveness that some sects consider too "liberal" and certainly not "according to scripture."
The Evolution of A "Christian Only" Country.
Just as delusional is the concept that a thoroughly "Christian" country would be a thoroughly moral country.: crime rates would go down, chastity would go up, people would be more benevolent and there would be such a striving for oneness with God that the entire country would be a peace.: a bullsh*t profoundly to be wished. It didn't happen when Isabella of Castile exiled Muslims (Moors) and Jews from Spain, so what makes people think it would happen in this century, in this country?
The origins of the "Christian Only" concept come, of course, from Reconstructionism nurtured by Fundamentalism. Today's Dominionism, aka Seven Mountains Theology, is also a by-product - one with enough strength, however, to be daunting and cause harm. Violent harm: for the delusional aspect of dominionism is that everyone will go willingly into that good night of a nation run on strictly biblical laws. It takes to heart Rick Warren's precept: of "whatever it takes" to a blind conclusion: the end justifying the means.
And the back peddling of pastors like Dennis "Get Out!" Terry ("We love everyone!") will be rendered ridiculous.
Pseudo-historian David Barton currently leads the group of Dominionists eager to prove that America is indeed a Christian Nation - and therefore an eventual Christian Only nation. And while eschewing any signs of becoming the next Isabella of Castile, Barton's railings against "unChristian" gays, Muslims, liberals, feminists, ( and by extension) Mormons, Jews, and Catholics serve as a warning that some people are ready to expel those people they deem not Christian enough:
from ABC News :
The Voss Lighting Company of Lincoln, Neb., doesn't hide its religious light under a barrel.
"Our biblical mission," an online statement reads, "is to 'sell' our lighting products so that we may 'tell' everyone we can about God's soul-saving, life transforming gospel message..."
Perfectly legal, says Patrick Holman, an attorney with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"The
Commission has no problem with a corporation having religious values," he
says. But Holman does have a problem with a corporation using religious values
to make hiring decisions. Holman and the EEOC are representing an Oklahoma man,
Edward Wolfe, who says he was denied a job at Voss because he wasn't Christian
enough.
.... Wolfe says he
applied for a job as Operations Supervisor at Voss's Tulsa, Oklahoma store. His
first interview went well, but in a second interview with the branch manager,
he told lawyers, he was questioned about his religious practices and beliefs..
he was then asked "to identify every church he has attended over the past
several years; where and when [he] was 'saved' and the circumstances that led
up to it."
He didn't get the
job.
Identify Yourself
As Christian
Since America is to
be a Christian Only country in some eyes, it stands to reason that such tests
and requirements would be inevitable in almost all aspects of living in
America. And while it seems to be impossible to believers of the kind of
religious liberty that embraces all religions, to some it is a dream to be
realized: until 2000, Greek identity cards stated one's religion and it was
only due to its inclusion in the European Union that necessitated that the
cards conformed to the other "Godless" countries.
Who is "Christian"?
The biggest
impediment to America's becoming a "Christian Only" country perhaps
lies in the fabric of its own "Christianity": the doctrinal and
theological differences in sects and denominations, the latent animosities and
anti-Semitism make it difficult to come to a consensus as to who is truly
"Christian" or who is not.
Discrimination:
it's the key to the aspect of a "Christian Nation." David Barton's
most notable tool in his quest for a "Christian Only" country is the
American Family Association's Bryan Fischer who has stated that we must
discriminate against gays, that were are allowed to discriminate against Native
Americans (because of their refusal to be Christianized during the early years,
and who believes that only Christians are suitable for hiring in any position
epitomizes the "Christian Only" mindset. And that mindset can easily
discriminate against Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Unitarians, Buddhists, Hindus,
Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc. It's mindset was voiced in Pat
Robertson's statement:
"You say
you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the
Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be
nice to the spirit of the Antichrist."
So no matter how
"moral" a "Christian Only" country is the immorality of
discrimination is something that is too endemic, too elemental, too immutable
for it to be truly moral. The immorality of discrimination may, in fact, prove
to be its undoing.
We can only hope
that undoing comes sooner than later.
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