2008-11-18 10:10:25

JUST IN CASE YOU THOUGHT THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA RESOLVED OUR NATIONAL DIFFERENCES…

Filed under: Barack Obama, Craig Detweiler, Democrats, Evangelicals and Politics, Faith, Jesus Christ, Republicans, politics
Posted by: John

…A little dose of reality. The divisions have not gone away. Do not believe it for a second.

I will have more to say later about the horrific narcissism of the conservative Christian community and the not very surprising enabling of this narcissism by their silent partners, the liberal Christian community, over the last two weeks, but for now I’ll just note the passing away of a small illusion of my own.

I’m talking about the passage of Proposition 8, of course, by people who must now count their victories on one trembling hand, and about the fact that hundreds of thousands of outraged gay people took to the streets last weekend without the visible national support of liberal Christians who presumably opposed Proposition 8.

Where were your people, Craig? Shouldn’t progressive Christians and not gays have been the ones to demonstrate? Shouldn’t Christians appalled and outraged by the hypoccrisy of their fellow, sexually conflicted Christians been the ones to protest congregations who whined about being persecuted while persecuting their neighbors and fellow citizens at the ballot box? Or is it better to just shake your head and bemoan the general deterioration of dialogue? Hasn’t that posture become a disgrace yet? A way of supporting the conservatives while appearing to deplore them?

This past weekend was the first time that I have been ashamed to lend my name to the Purple State enterprise, because this connection now somehow makes me complicit in the silence of a great number of Christians who should have joined their gay brothers and sisters in the streets. Is it time for that Million Christian March to take back your faith? Not yet? When then? I challenge you, Craig, to name a date and start the ball rolling.

Till that happens, and I expect the Tastee Freeze in Hell to open sooner, here’s a little dispatch from that part of America that allegedly hung its head and wept on the day of Obama’s election, a message of spiritual renewal from a conservative Christian church, from a megachurch, one of the largest in the country.

It’s ostensibly aimed at people on both sides of the political aisle, but the melancholy of disappointed earthly hopes resounds through the message. Our man didn’t win, folks, so it’s time to get back to Jesus. The Washington monument will crumble, after all:

Well, the election cycle that seemed like it started four years ago and would never end, is finally behind us. What’s settled is settled and America has a new leader waiting in the wings. Of course, roughly half of the nation is ecstatic and the other half is in deep depression.

No matter which group you’re in today, I think a biblical reminder is in order.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you hold dual citizenship. You’re not just a citizen of this nation. You are also a subject in an invisible kingdom. In the former you have a president. In the latter you have a wonderful, powerful-but-kind King.

America, like every national identity, will one day pass away and our citizenship will be meaningless. But our place in God’s kingdom is secure and eternal. A hundred thousand years after the towering Washington Monument has…

Check out the rest over here.

Comments (3)

3 Comments »

1. Lame excuse #1:
   I actually asked the wife about going to the rally on Saturday, but my son had a soccer game at the same time. Several gay couples from our school were also cheering on their kids on the field rather than at the rallies. Perhaps politics becomes quite elementary with kids in grade school.

   Lame excuse #2
   Southern California was burning in more ways than one. The stench of burning brush and homes hung in the air like sulfur. News coverage of the marches was completely overwhelmed by fire updates. Caroline had cousins at Westmont who had to evacuate. For better or worse, that was the unexpected focus last weekend.

   Real excuse #3
   Actually, liberal Christians were there, are there, have been there for some time. One of the main organizers of the event is on staff at All Saints Church in Pasadena. On Friday night, we were at a concert by a bisexual Christian singer who was rallying the faithful in her own creative way. My wife’s co-worker was actually pictured in a major AP press photo wearing his USC Gerontology t-shirt, shouting at a Prop 8 supporter.

   And I have had probably five long, anguished conversations with my students who are caught between their personal convictions and the elders of their church. They don’t necessarily want to be fired (some of my students have been in the past) because they’re serving as youth ministers to teenagers who need their support within the church (rather than simply seeing them walk out).

   Unfortunately, the presidential contest so dominated people’s thoughts that these protests and rallies are all happening in defeat rather than as a ramp up to a close vote.

   Comment by Craig — November 19, 2008 @ 1:52 am

2. Hundreds of thousands of Christians all over the country had similar excuses, no doubt. This isn’t about politics. This isn’t about what happened last weekend. And it isn;t just about gay marriage. It’s about how long moderate, progressive and liberal evangelicalsand/or mainline Christians of all stripes are going to sit around on their thumbs, complaining that their faith has been stolen from them by conservatives, instead of making a national demonstration of some eloquence and force, like a million Christian march on Washington, to make clear that James Dobson doesn’t own the faith.

   The challenge stands, and I’m not the only one waiting.

   Comment by John — November 19, 2008 @ 5:41 am

3. Well said, John. I’m waiting, too.

   Comment by writerdd — November 20, 2008 @ 10:33 am

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