About five years back, I attended a Christmas play my daughter was performing in at her pre-school, which was located in a Christian Church a few miles from our home. Before the performance, we were asked to pledge allegiance to the American flag, and then, when that was over, we were asked to turn and pledge allegiance to the Christian flag.
My wife and I turned to each other with a cock-eyed look on our faces as if to say, "What the fuck?"
Neither of us pledged.
My wife is an immigrant, well-schooled in our Constitution, having had to take classes and pass a test on the subject, in order to become a citizen. We are both lovers of the Freedoms protected by our Constitution, and neither of us intend to insult those hard-won, God-granted Freedoms, by pledging allegiance to anything other than the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees their continued presence in this dangerous and oppressive world in which we live.
I looked at the sheep-like Christians around me, all putting their hands over their hearts, and being led in a soft-betrayal of their country.
Here is the pledge they recited:
I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands. One Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe.I was not terribly offended by the pledge they asked us to recite, as they did not ask us to back up the pledge with any anti-government activity.
However, that being said, the tremendous ignorance which would prompt a Christian to even propose such a pledge is also a demonstration of profound arrogance, and an abyssal lack of gratitude. All your average Christian ought have to do to understand why such a pledge is disrespectful would be to look at Saudi Arabia or Sudan, or any other nation in this world which does not guarantee religious Freedom, whose people are unwilling to fight for religious Freedom, and who thus have no Freedom of worship.
In such places, Christians are murdered for their Faith.
In such places, Christians must read and share the Bible under cover of fear and darkness.
In such places, most people never hear the Word of God, never learn to put their Faith in Christ, and rarely find themselves enjoying the blessings of the Grace of God.
Christians who would pledge a political allegiance to their own opinion about God's Word, rather than the Constitution which guarantees their Freedom of Religion, deserve to be shipped off to Saudi Arabia to re-convert under the blade of a sword.
Now, as I write this, I imagine you believe I am telling you my experience in a Bible-believing Fundamentalist church whose members tend to be Conservatives, and right-wing voters.
And, you are correct.
However, I want you all to know that I recently chose to leave another Church, with whom I had been affiliated for close to 20 years, a church to whom I had tithed my salary, a Church in which I had worshiped, played in the Praise band, and raised my family.
And why did I leave this Church? Because, in my opinion, my beloved Church had become equally arrogant and lacking in gratitude, pledging allegiance to a "Christian" flag of their own, becoming a law unto themselves.
And, what is the sin with which I charge my Church? How had they become their own law?
By refusing to obey the law of the land.
You see, the leadership of my Church had decided that they were no longer bound by the laws which declare who is and is not a citizen of the United States. They have decided it is their mission to give aid and comfort to illegal aliens, people who are in the United States in violation of the laws of our land.
This is not a light decision on their part, whereby they are moved to compassion by a case of mistreatment. It has become the policy of the leadership of the Church to seek out "those in need" and do unto the least of these, by violating the laws of the United States, trampling on our Constitution in the process, biting the hand which has protected their right to exist as a religious body.
To put it simply, the United States, the nation united under the Constitution which has protected the Freedoms which allows my fellow Christians to worship as they please was no longer worth respecting in the eyes of the leadership of my Church.
Truly, the Pastor of my Church believes he knows better than the Constitution and the laws of the land, and the leaders elected and hired, by We the People, to enforce and administer those laws.
Here at Infidel Bloggers Alliance, we have always championed Freedom of Speech over and before all other considerations. The reason for this is, we believe Freedom of Speech is a requirement for Freedom of Choice.
Therefore, no government, religion, media outlet, or academic institution can supersede the importance of Freedom of Speech/Conscience.
Indeed, a primary function of Freedom of Speech is the criticism of cultural and societal institutions of power, such as government, religion, media, and academic institutions.
But, the only reason we have the Freedom of Speech is because our Constitution preserves it as an absolute, and because We the People agree to live under the Constitution.
My former Church has decided they are above the law of the land. They have decided their understanding of God's Word supersedes their responsibility to follow the laws of the land, and the Constitution of our nation.
Imagine if all Churches made such a decision. It would be a recipe for chaos. And, chaos is the opposite of what God Creates, which is Beautiful and Awesome Form.
Therefore, my Church is advocating the opposite of God's Will expressed in His Creation.
But, that is merely a Theological argument against their policies and behavior.
Now, imagine that other loci of power, such as government, media, or academic institutions, decided they were above the law, and no longer needed to follow the Constitution of our nation.
Such chaos would be absolutely destructive to the ends of all our societal institutions. The institutions, themselves, would crumble without the protections afforded by the laws and the Constitution. Our entire culture would be a Tower of Babble come crashing down.
Let us be clear, any Church which believes it knows better than the Constitution which protects it's organization, and it's parishioners, demonstrates they believe they are a law unto themselves.
They are setting themselves up as a Theocratic ruler above the law of the land.
They are the Mullahs of our nation.
They are guilty of sedition, and they belong in prison.
I write this because I believe my Church is not alone in taking such Theocratic action. I do not think they are alone in believing their ideas are God's ideas, and are, therefore, above the law of the land. I do not believe my Church is the only treasonous, mullah-infected Church in the United States.
I believe that, more and more, my Church is becoming the common Church. Christianity is devolving into an anarchy-spreading adversarial faith, and I do not use the word "Adversary" lightly. Anyone who knows the Bible knows whereof I speak.
I'm blowing the whistle. And, I would like to hear from anyone else who has had similar experiences in their home Church.
Has your Church decided it is it's own Theocracy?
13 comments:
Pasto, I read your post twice and don't see your reason for being enraged about the pledge. Years ago as a child, we said the pledge to the Christian flag during Vacation Bible School. No mullahs, no theocracy happened due to that pledge.
Did your church make a wild swerve to the left which you missed, but the flag thing called it to your attention?
Churches aren't normal on week and just decide the next that they will ignore the law.
What am I missing?
The first church I discuss in this post was a more Conservative church. I was not terribly offended by the pledge they asked us to recite, as they did not ask us to back up the pledge with any anti-government activity.
The second Church I discuss in this post is a lefty church I had been going to for the past 20 years.
They have gotten more and more leftist as time went by.
Now, they are advocating breaking the law by giving aid and comfort to illegal aliens. In other words, they are helping illegal aliens to break the laws.
This means the church has set themselves above the law. They believe they know "God's law" to a sufficient degree that they no longer have to follow the law of the land.
That is Theocracy.
Sorry if I did not make myself clear enough in the post.
Sameno,
You said: There is a point where 'the Church' should be above the law or a law unto itself.
'Jews to the gas chambers' would be time for gross disobedience to the law of the land.
I say: Yes, I agree. And preventing murder is where I think civil disobedience is required of a church.
Pasto,
You are not blowing a whistle ! You are blowing an Ship's Horn in a heavy FOG !
Beautiful post! " The Mullahs of our nation"...
I know you as the master of your pen... printing it takes courage!
I see this post as a "Commence of passage" in your life and the first step in a 1000 miles journey.
Be prepared my friend, rough seas ahead of you, booby-traped mine fields and deserts to cross!
Don't be surprised to find empty conserves on the road side of those who did it before you... or their skeletons!...
My nation has "Mullahs" too! So, you'll not be making the journey alone...
Alex.
;-)
Unfortunately, wherever people are serious about pursuing the will of God, there are people who become willing to flout the law in the pursuit of the "Will of God".
By the way, thanks for the kind words, Alexander.
Elizabeth Moon, an American Science Fiction writer, published an essay in her blog where she dared to analyze the behavior of Muslims. Anyway, Ms. Moon has now been threatened with a boycott of her books, threats of physical harm, hundreds of insulting e-mails and all because she dared to point out the roots of Muslim violence - and their increasingly entitled behavior. She was banned from attending a science fiction convention which had previously invited her to speak. For daring to write this "Not only were the attackers Islamic--and not only did the Islamic world in general show indecent glee about the attack, but this was only the last of many attacks on citizens and installations of this country which Islamic groups proudly claimed credit for. That some Muslims died in the attacks is immaterial--does not wipe out the long, long chain of Islamic hostility. " - she had been criticized, censored and treated like a pariah. At the same time, the same group of sci-fi writers ignore the treatment of women under Islam, the rising tide of anti-Semitism and the continual acts of terrorism.
Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.
Lenny Bruce
A lot of us noticing weird stuff at our churches. Hmmm!
A lot of us noticing weird stuff at our churches. Hmmm!
not my church.
I'm glad for you.
My family has been attending a different Church as of late. Hopefully, it will become our home Church.
But, frankly, I am not exactly in a trusting mood these days.
That being said, I have a family to raise, and as head of household, I can not afford to have my family believe I am the ultimate authority. I am far too much the fool for such responsibility.
So, we have to find a Church we can trust.
Is this widespread? I know our (low church) Episcopal rector would have had apoplexy if anyone had suggested such a thing. (He could barely handle "jazz masses".) But that was in the 1950s-early 60s and I cringe to think what goes on in there now, let alone in the "Christian" churches in places like the People's State of Cambridge, MA.
If such a pledge were possible at my synagogue the only sound louder than the laughter would be the approaching ambulance sirens for the trip to the mental ward.
"a Church we can trust."
Men need religion.
God does not.
Religious organizations are a construct. Just as govts are. They should be trusted just as much. IMHO.
Sorry.
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