Are You Kidding Me?

I normally don’t watch American news programs, but when I saw the teaser for ABC’s World News Tonight, I had to stick around. A small minority of Christians have formed Christian Exodus, a group that seeks to gather Christians to live in community with one another, forming their own country and ultimately seceding from the United States.

Thus the question: Are you kidding me?

Visit christianexodus.org. If you do, you, like me, will read and enter into a state of mind somewhere in between confusion, bewilderment, shock, amazement, hilarity, and pity. This is actually legitimate. And although their rhetoric is similar, they’re not Branch Dividians, Heaven’s Gate, or out of the mold of Jim Jones and his Kool-Aid gang. They simply believe that American is going to hell in a hand basket and want to do their part to live in redeemed community, honoring their God.

While America may indeed be en route to a hot vacation in an unconventional mode of transport, talk of secession is nothing but ridiculous. Calling President Bush liberal and deifying former judge Roy Moore, the group seeks to live in a land with less government, but more Christianity: think Jerry Falwell as a libertarian. If such a thing were to happen, and a “Christian nation” were to exist, the group would seek to repeal the 14th amendment. Seriously - the amendment that granted former slaves citizenship and due process after the civil war. Talk about turning back the clock. I thought it was bad enough they wanted to turn it back thousands of years to Moses’ day, but perhaps just 125 years to Reconstruction could be worse.

So what do you say about an organization whose board member has written a book called “The Christian Testimony of General Robert E. Lee”? While Mr. Lee may have been a Christian on the racist side of a war, groups like this give Christianity a bad name. I lump them in with groups who have attempted to exclude others in the name of promoting their intolerant view of Christ-following: God Hates Fags, the Ku Klux Klan, the Christian Coalition, and Reclaiming America. Attention South Carolinians: they are also giving you a bad name, claiming that the state has similar values to that of Christian Exodus, and “possesses a rich history of standing up for her rights.” Thankfully, Will Folks, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said, "As for secession, we've tried that before and it didn't work out so well."

I don’t know that there is much you can do about Christian Exodus other than give them a pitiful laugh as you continue to enjoy the liberties of the United States. Hopefully they will ride into the sunset a la the Children of God, relegated to the pages of a Rolling Stone expose 20 years hence. As I discussed with my friend George last night, Jesus said lots of things - revolutionary things. Some of what he said has been taken completely other than he intended, sparking violent wars, hateful speech, and broken relationships. I don’t think he came to buck the current trend of government or economics, but the current trend of thinking about government and economics. He left it up to the individuals and their communities to revolutionize society by radical love and sacrifice, by selfless compassion and inclusion; not by uppity exclusion or pompous excommunication.

We have drawn more lines than Jesus ever intended. We have kept perfectly qualified people out of the kingdom of God for far too long, thinking our reward in the sweet by and by will be worth our scornful apathy in the here and now. I think the boys over at Christian Exodus will be surprised to find out how big Heaven is, and even more surprised that they’ll be rooming next to the same people they wanted to secede from.