Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008


… that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . .
and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . .
shall not perish from the earth.

- President Abe Lincoln, giving the Gettysburg Address, in PA, on this day, 1863


I wish to be candid. I have a clear opinion about the politics in the USofA for the last eight years (with which of course you may disagree). For all of the talk about religion, and about Christianity that has accompanied this administration, I see absolutely nothing that, in my view, accurately reflects the Gospel of the Christ of the God of Compassion, Justice, and Peace. Period. Full stop.

Do I think that those in governance who took the positions they did believe that they were being Christians (those who professed to be)? Yes, I do. This is one of our critical problems/issues, as it has been for 2000 years. It is a problem concerning the Bible, and all so-called “religious” texts. They can be interpreted any way that anyone wishes. Then, they can be used to undergird any behaviour – and many rulers/administrations/leaders have done just that. Hitler. Dick Cheney. Martin Luther King – who got it right.

But. If you eliminate the Jewish Scriptures. And the later-introduced eschatological writings. And the prejudices of the early persecuted Christians. And the cultural prejudices of the later/Pauline Christians. It is clear – at least to me – that Jesus was about Love, Justice, Fairness, Forgiveness, Community, providing for the needs of the marginalized (if not “fixing” the marginalization), equality, sister/brotherhood, and above all, SERVANTHOOD to each other as the path to and definition of Greatness.

I do NOT agree with Lincoln’s decision to wage the Civil War. Or any other “American” war – Korea. Gulf. Antigua. Vietnam. Bombing of Libya and Sudan. Iraq. Afghanistan. All war is an admission of Humanity’s failure to be Human. To my mind, anyone who even hints that Jesus would approve of war is a blasphemer, a “taker of the name of the Lord in vain” (to use a style of language I abhor).

My daily tugging for “revenge” is softened by the President-elect’s desire for cooperation. So each day I pray that the USofA will be transfigured in the days ahead. That I will be too – becoming more like the Christ Who refused to do other than love, and Who loved the poor and rejected. And gave His life for us.

Until now, I have despaired that the USofA could be moral. Today, I have hope – that God’s vision shall not perish from the Earth.

Brian+