Sunday, August 14, 2005

Justice Sunday 2: Jesus Wasn't Invited

My own Nashville was host to Justice Sunday 2 today. Like the Louisville event before it, the organizers sought to educate Christians on the great battle for the Supreme Court that is at hand with one and possibly two vacancies on the bench. These conservative Christian politicians hope to educate those who think like them as to the importance of nominating right wing justices, hoping to redeem American from Satan himself.

To hear Mr. Perkins, Mr. Dobson, and Mr. Delay speak, one would think that liberal Buddhist Democrats controlled the White House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and every church in America. Apparently, no one has let them know that a Republican is in fact president and Congress has a conservative majority. One might also conclude that Jesus was the first president of the United States and the 12 disciples were the original signers of the Constitution. And, most sadly, one would think that the only Christian political issues of our day were abortion, gay marriage, prayer in schools, and the Ten Commandments in public.

Absent from Justice Sunday were the issues that Jesus might have spoken about (Like Senator Frist, I don't think he was invited). There was no mention of the thousands of poor families in the state who now don't have health insurance. There was no mention of the 13.5 percent of Tennesseans who live below the poverty level. And there was no mention of those who are being oppressed in the eastern part of the state because of their ethnic identity.

Had the organizers and presenters at Justice Sunday taken time to read their Bible instead of recycled propaganda, they would find a Jesus who welcomed the "least of these," eschewing religious popularity in exchange for embracing the poor, sick, and helpless. Imagine if instead of selling the attendees on the false idea of Christian persecution, they brought a message of true Christ-like hope and love. Imagine if instead of ranting about the blasphemy of stem cell research, they challenged those listening to sell all they had and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21). Or if they had begged the attendees to be like the Good Samaritan and bind up the wounds of those most unlike them. Then, real justice, real equality, and the real Kingdom of God could be made manifest here on earth.

A sad thing happened when Christianity came to America. It became a majority. And majorities have a long history of oppressing minorities. They will do anything to maintain status quo, popularity and comfort. But, long ago, a man named Jesus was a minority of one. Banding together with a rogue group of crazy followers, he never sought to get anyone appointed to office or pass laws protecting his beliefs. He simply tried to show pleeple a compassionate God by accepting the outcast, loving the unloved, and uplifting the oppressed. None of these ideas were shared at Justice Sunday. I would go so far as to say there was very little that was 'Christian' about the gathering.

Tragically, Nashville witnessed yet another gathering of upper class, privileged, white males ignoring the real issues that they alone have the power to change. The real losers Sunday night were not those who are politically opposite, but those who have no one fighting on their behalf, save a well-known Jewish messiah some twenty centuries ago.

Comments (6)

It's not that I don't agree with your thesis - that poverty is of greater consequence than judicial nominations in terms of "what Jesus would do" - it's that I don't see where Washington should have any say in the first place.
Without going into a theological war here, suffice it to say that I'm of the opinion that the things that are important to Jesus, namely poverty and suffering, are to be remedied by his ordained institution, the Church; certainly not K Street.

Or to say it better, my problem with this post lies not within the recognition of the problem, but within the remedy to it...
Jesus was speaking to his Church. And though his words do have practical advice to non-Christians, they are certainly not binding to those who do not identify with his name. In other words, quoting Christ as a matter of public policy in terms of dealing with poverty, etc. (IMO) is a bit misplaced.

With every passing day I get the feeling that Christians - both liberal and conservative - want to tag the appropriations bill with Biblical remedy. Alas, it's not the gov. job. It's the church's. And, in every issue from abortion to welfare spending, frankly, I'm starting to get a little disgusted at the willingness of the church to relinquish control of these things. It has become too hard for Christians to give to the poor. So what do we do? Get the gov. involved. Conservative Christians have slowly lost ground over the fight concerning gay marriage and abortion. What do we do? Get the gov. involved.

My whole point to this semi-essay? The church needs to quit expecting the God of Washington to solve our social and cultural ills. And that goes for both sides.

Believe it or not Jones, I agree with you.

I think a lot of our social ills and cultural battle lines are a failure of the church to do what it was called to do. And I do not expect the God of Washington to solve issues like poverty and homelessness. The point of my rant was that Justice Sunday 2 was a gathering of Christians, and that the better play would have been to motivate them to act as Christ and serve the least of these.

This being said, my vision for a 'reclaimed America' is not one in which Christians are at every level of government, but where everyone can eat and has a place to sleep. This will happen most effectively if the church steps up and gives and does more. Waiting for Washington to hand out money is unreal and unwise.

As I've said before, abortions could decrease not with an appeal of Roe v. Wade, but with churches and other groups offering these women another way out (free education and clothing for the children, better sex ed., a loving and supporting community).

I simply think that when Christians gather and rally around something that Jesus may not have talked about, some time is wasted.

damn it! I hate when we land on the same side.
Where's the fun in that? Good post.

i want to make some joke about the white house being home to an undercover baptist posing as a methodist, and thus making for someone with a real identity crisis, but i can't come up with the punchline.. oh well

What I'm so frustrated about is the polemics that are exemplified in your post (and comments). Here's an example from what you said:

As I've said before, abortions could decrease not with an appeal of Roe v. Wade, but with churches and other groups offering these women another way out (free education and clothing for the children, better sex ed., a loving and supporting community).

No, no, no, no, no. It is not an either/or. What is needed is both a repeal of Roe v. Wade and churches offering women love and support.

It is not wrong for Christians to stand up and say, "abortion is wrong and as members of a representative government we're going to work against it". But your post seems to imply that by doing that, they must therefore not be doing other acts of compassion and love.

Make no mistake, I think "Justice Sunday" was a huge waste of time and money. I am opposed to the co-opting of the church by the state. I believe that caring for the least of these is essential to living out Christ's mission on earth.

But I also believe that we need to extend grace to Conservative Christians and to Liberal Christians and spend less time creating artificial barriers based on unneccesary polemics.

Sorry if this sounded harsh, I didn't mean for it to it's just so frustrating to see so much of this from all sides in all debates/topics. As Christians let us move off of the left and the right to be centered in a new reality in Christ.

Kevin-

I think you and I agree in lots of areas regarding church and state, outreach to the poor and freedom of assembly. However, I don't think a repeal of Roe v. Wade will end abortion any faster than prohibition stopped people from drinking alcohol. But, if people want to lobby for its end, the have every right. The point of my post was that Jesus would not have lobbied for legislative reform; he would have invited in the unwed pregnant teenager.

Thanks for your honesty.