By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
President-elect Trump. What hath democracy wrought for America?
An
apocalypse is a dramatic revelation. In
Christian theology it is associated with the end times when Jesus Christ
returns to defeat the anti-Christ in the cosmic battle of good against evil. Muslims also believe that Christ will return
in the end times when good triumphs over evil, and Jews have an analogous
apocalyptic tradition for a long-awaited messiah.
Donald
Trump may be the antithesis of Jesus, but he’s probably not the anti-Christ of
the Biblical prophesies. Even so, he has
fulfilled the 18th century prophesy of Edmund Burke who said that
America would “forge its own shackles” with democracy. And it won’t be the first time—that was the
American Civil War. America the Beautiful hasn’t always looked so good.
America
needs a politics of reconciliation to
make its diversity in race and religion a strength rather than a weakness. There is no virtue in reconciling with a
politics of fear, hate and anger. Reconciliation
is a virtue only when based on loving God and our neighbors as we love ourselves. That is the
greatest commandment, which is a
common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike—even if it is
recognized more in its breach than compliance.
Pious
Christians who often speculate on the meaning of Revelation and the anti-Christ
have brought this political apocalypse upon themselves. Most of them voted for Donald Trump. The church has utterly failed in its
stewardship of democracy. It has either
failed to make faith relevant to politics, or failed to make love for others
the focus of its faith.
The
church offers four paradigms for relating Christianity to politics. The Catholic Church has traditionally related
its faith to politics, and while Catholics do not always follow the Pope’s
dictates, most have made love for others a priority in their politics. The same cannot be said for Protestant
churches. The evangelical Christians, heir
to Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority, have promoted the radical right politics of the
GOP and elected Trump their President. Black
Christian churches have promoted liberal politics that favor minorities and
support Democrats. White mainline denominations
do neither; they have avoided mixing their religion with politics.
The
United Methodist Church (UMC) is a hybrid.
It is racially united in its overall structure, but most of its churches
have segregated congregations. Black UM
churches address political issues from the pulpit, while white UM churches avoid
mixing religion and politics. While the
Christian church in America is in decline overall, white UM churches, like other
white mainline denominations, are losing members at a faster rate than evangelical
and black churches.
The
moral quality of a democracy depends upon the shared values of its voters. For the church to be a good steward of American
democracy it must give the moral teachings of Jesus priority over mystical and exclusivist
church doctrines, and relate those moral imperatives of its faith to politics. That is the only way the church can be relevant
in a democracy. Otherwise, to paraphrase
James, the church is as dead as a body without the spirit (James 2:26).
The
relevance of any religion to politics is measured by concepts of liberty and
justice. Ancient religions said little
about liberty and defined justice in terms of religious law, while contemporary
justice is defined in terms of liberty in
law as set forth in libertarian human rights. Fundamentalist religions continue to subvert
liberty to the primacy of religious law.
In many Islamic nations shari’a denies the freedoms of religion and
speech, and in the U.S. Christian fundamentalists claim the right to
discriminate against homosexuals based on religious freedom.
A
defect of democracy is that it values the quantity
of votes over the quality of ideas
and values. That was obvious in the “Christian”
Jim Crow South, where a racist white majority imposed discriminatory laws and vigilante
action against blacks, and in “Christian” Germany of the 1930s where distraught
and angry Germans gave Hitler the reigns of power. In democracies the popular will has often been
seen as a virtue, and later regretted.
The
popularity of Trump’s appeal to “Make America Great Again” is reminiscent of
the expectations of ancient Jews for a messiah who would restore the power and
glory of ancient Israel. The chants of
Trump supporters to Lock her up! and Jail her! were echoes of the crowds who
had shouted Crucify him! Crucify him!
to Roman authorities over 2,000 years earlier.
The
current demise of democracy is not unique to America. Radical right movements in Europe are
challenging concepts of liberty and justice, while Muslim majorities in
Erdogan’s Turkey and al Sissi’s Egypt support oppressive regimes that violate
human rights. And in the Philippines President
Duterte has used vigilante tactics to kill those suspected of drug
offenses. Christianity and Islam are
complicit in these forfeitures of freedom for authoritarianism.
American
democracy is at risk. More than ever a
politics of reconciliation is needed to moderate the fear, anger and hate that
has pervaded American politics. That will
require the church to recognize the relevance of the Christian faith to politics
and promote policies of liberty and justice that can reconcile us, rather than
exclusivist religious doctrines that divide us.
America’s
diversity should be its strength, but contentious issues of race and religion
have made it our weakness. We need to
remember Lincoln’s admonition that a house divided against itself cannot
stand. Perhaps then we can be reconciled
and redeemed as America the Beautiful,
and crown our good with brotherhood, from
sea to shining sea; and also confirm
our soul in self-control, our liberty in law. I hope that’s not just wishful thinking.
Notes:
The Washington
Post
noted that “Americans are not and never have been united by blood or creed, but
by allegiance to a democratic system of government that shares power, cherishes
the rule of law and respects the dignity of individuals.” It went on to say
that Americans must support Trump if he supports such a system, and support the
system whether Trump does or not. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-trump/2016/11/09/037114be-a530-11e6-8fc0-7be8f848c492_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
On Erdogan’s Turkey as a free society that is rapidly destroying itself,
see https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2016/11/04/turkey-was-once-a-free-society-now-the-country-is-rapidly-destroying-itself/?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
Michael Gerson cited Judge
Learned Hand on the spirit of liberty as an inspiration for a politics of
reconciliation:
Where
to look for inspiration? In 1944, speaking to a group of newly minted citizens
in New York’s Central Park, Judge Learned Hand explained his vision of
America’s most basic commitment. “What then is the spirit of liberty?” he
asked. “I cannot define it. I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of
liberty is the spirit that is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of
liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and
women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit that weighs their interests
alongside its own without bias . . . the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him
who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never
learned, but has never quite forgotten, that there may be a kingdom where the
least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.”
Hardly
the spirit of our times, but seldom more needed.
Fareed Zakaria identified two sins that defined this election:
Elitism and racism. He could have added
a third sin: Voting for change without considering the character of the change
agent. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-two-sins-that-defined-this-election/2016/11/10/97fdfcf2-a78b-11e6-ba59-a7d93165c6d4_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
On the greatest commandment as a
common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims today, see http://www.jesusmeetsmuhammad.com/2015/01/jesus-meets-muhammad-is-there-common.html.
On the need for a politics of reconciliation in a polarized
democracy, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/10/the-need-for-politics-of-reconciliation.html.
On Donald Trump’s campaign as a dark revelation of American politics and
religion and the challenge it poses for America, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/10/a-revelation-in-american-politics-and.html.
On religion, liberty and justice at home and abroad, see http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/11/religion-liberty-and-justice-at-home.html
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