Church and State

I'm an Episcopalian.  I'm not a "cradle Episcopalian" as so many of my fellow parishioners so proudly proclaim.  I was not born to it, raised in it, nor embraced by it.  Rather I came to it in a haphazard and unexpected manner.  Some friends invited us to check out their Episcopal church about 15 years ago and we decided to give it a try.  From the beginning, we were hooked.  One of the things that I've come to love about the church is the concept of 'via media' or the middle way.  The Episcopal church is famous for its reasoned approach to the issues of the day and indeed to all things.  I found this pretty good description on the net:

“Anglicans do not ascribe an absolute authority to Scripture. At the same time, Anglicanism rejects the absolute claims of an infallible papacy. Anglicanism is distinct in its reliance on the ‘Three-Legged Stool’ of Scripture, Reason, and Tradition.”

Attributed to the 16th century English writer, Richard Hooker, the “Three-Legged Stool” has become the essential feature of a distinct “Anglican Ethos.” Its popularity appears to lie in the manner in which it functions to exclude any form of religious “absolutism.” Neither the Bible, nor the authority or the Church, nor the reasoning intellect can claim the last word, but together they offer a balanced way to discern the will of God."

Scripture, tradition, and reason.  That seems like a pretty good combination to me.  And it allows for growth, questioning, and arriving at previously unconsidered positions.

One of the things you'll also know about me is that I served in our nation's Navy for 25 years.  I'm proud of that and I'm a loyal and fierce defender of American exceptionalism, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.  In looking at our Constitution, I believe that the most important Amendment is the 1st Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

What this Amendment has always meant to me is that it is the foundation for our freedoms.  And it has also meant that we are all free to believe what we want and are free from the church, any church, imposing its will or command on the population.

So putting those two things together, I was deeply distressed and disturbed when I got a general email from our diocesan Bishop yesterday.  Here it is in its entirety:

Beloved in Christ,

Over the last few weeks, our nation has been fixated on the unlikely candidacy of Donald J. Trump. For some, he seems to be the straight talking, outside-of-the-establishment leader that we need. Others see him as careless and divisive. What seem clear is that his message resonates with a significant number of people. Never mind that he is willing to use race to divide, or that he is eager to exploit fear of outsiders, making Muslims and undocumented persons convenient scapegoats. It is particularly chilling to watch African-Americans roughly removed from his campaign events, events in which white participants in the last couple of days have looked eerily like those at Fascist rallies from another time with arms raised in fealty to a leader.

I have simply assumed that this would go away as we came to ourselves and rediscovered our common principles. Mr. Trump, however, does not appear to be going away. And the reason he is not going away is that he is not the problem. He is the symptom. The reality is that the leaders that we choose reflect us. Too many of us have been silent. And far too many are being fooled into believing that others are to blame for their woes and that by diminishing others we shall find salvation.

These tactics might win elections, but they will not heal a broken world or improve a nation. Mr. Trump proposes to make America great again, but he suggests doing it at the expense of others. He would wall out migrants, raise tariffs, build walls, and bring back torture. He postulates a world of desirables and undesirables, and he is banking that enough of us will imagine ourselves in his lucky pot and will vote accordingly.

What is particularly vexing is his assertion that he is a great Christian. His recent dust up with the Roman Catholic pope does not even seem to dent his assertion. As a bishop of the church, I have for too long shaken my head and remained silent. No more! As the old hymn says, "They'll know we are Christians by our love." To be a Christian is to follow Jesus in fearless love. To be a Christian is to be one who offers that love to all, who sees Christ in all others, who shows Jesus' preference for the poor, the outcast and the stranger. How does Mr. Trump's rhetoric of division and blame reflect the way of Jesus? We should ask Mr. Trump that famous question asked of Jesus: "who is my neighbor?" The Christian definition of neighbor will never tolerate walls or torture or any form of disparagement and division.

My Christian faith requires that I reject what Mr. Trump espouses. This moment, however, is an opportunity for us to ask, as a nation, what our core values are. In the words of the first Republican president, we are invited to discover the "better angels of our nature." As a nation of immigrants that is increasingly coming to terms with our complex history around racism, sexism, and homophobia, we can claim a generosity of spirit that transcends our individual religious identities. It begins and ends with the premise that we are indeed created equal, as scripture says, "in the likeness of God." All carry the potential of the divine. All are to be respected. Each person is neighbor to every other person. Black lives matter and all lives matter, and we are going to do something about all lives. In the end, unity is stronger than division; hope is stronger than fear.  And always, love wins out over hate. It is up to each of us to change this political campaign, this country and this world. We do it by how we treat the least in our midst; we do it by how we vote.

Faithfully,

Now, to be clear, I'm not a Trump supporter.  If you've been reading at all you know that I've had plenty to say about the Republican primary saga.  I was a Kasich guy and wound up switching to Rubio for a lot of reasons.  After last night, I'm back with Kasich but realistically he has no chance.  So the hope is that no one arrives in Cleveland with 1237 votes and then the delegates wind up deciding.  So be it.  That's our system.  And there is one fundamental truth that I have not wavered on since the beginning.  That is that any of the Republicans are better than a criminal or a 74-year old socialist.  And after last night it's looking like the criminal is likely to be the nominee...if she isn't under indictment.

So having said that there are a couple of things about the Bishop's email that I found objectionable.  First, he is dangerously close to violating, at least, the spirit of the 1st Amendment.  Put simply, stay out of politics.  Second, from my perspective, he's crossed the line regarding IRS rules for nonprofits.  I'm not squealing, but he'd better be very, very careful.  Third, and probably most importantly, from my perspective, his message is breathtakingly shallow and narrow-minded.  He has taken the media line hook, line, and sinker.  I'm sure he hasn't been to any Trump speeches.  I'm sure he hasn't pored over Trump proposals and policy papers.  And yet he defines Trump as careless and divisive.  I've got news for him.  Divisive started 7 years ago.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  When Obama was elected I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.  He wasn't my guy but I was willing to support him.  But he left me, and those like me, behind pretty quickly.  He has been unbelievably divisive and dismissive.  The Bishop has also bought the media narrative on some events that have occurred at Trumps events.  From my perspective, that is ignorant.  Those who are against Trump have used reprehensible tactics to disrupt his peaceful assemblies.  Have there been some tempers that have unfortunately erupted?  Yes.  Were they provoked beyond all conventional standards?  Arguably yes.  Remember, there are two sides to every story.  He also talks about Trumps comments about immigrants and Muslims.  First, take our neighbors to the South.  Go check out the jails in any county along our Southern border.  Go to some the Hispanic neighborhoods along the Southern border and check out how they are ruled by gangs of Mexican thugs.  Simply, there are a lot of bad guys coming across the border, exploiting their own kind and terrorizing innocents.  That is just a fact.  It's not everyone.   Not by a long shot.  But it is a big problem.  I for one value the sovereignty of our nation.  I think borders matter. And it seems to me logical that securing our border should be the first order of business.  I've mentioned before in this space and many, many others have begged for comprehensive immigration reform.  But instead of leading an effort to solve the problem, Obama has ignored it and actually made it worse for political purposes.  I like the old saying...good fences make good neighbors.  I too am offended by the comment that we should ban Muslims from entering the country.  But I'm also smart enough to know that it was a comment voiced out of frustration and perhaps newness to the political process.  And the fact is that a medieval cult is taking over vast pieces of the Middle East, they hate us, they are beheading Christians, and they want to export their form of terror the rest of the world.  And they are already impacting Europe.  So I'm not for banning Muslims (and I don't think most people are) but I'm certainly for doing something.  It needs to be a reasoned approach and not developed in the heat of a campaign, but it needs to happen.  The Bishop also mentions tariffs.  Is the bishop getting into export/import policy?  Not wise.  Not wise at all.  There are a lot of things I don't like about Trump, but he is absolutely right that we are getting our butts kicked by the Chinese and so many other countries in the world when it comes to trade policy.  Having someone in the White House that understands this wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I agree with the Bishop that our country has so many problems that are sociological, economic, security related, etc and that the way to address them is not to divide us.  But that has been going on for 7 years and he has said nothing.  You can't have it both ways.  At least, if you're a religious leader you can't.  He has said nothing about Obama's divisiveness.  He has said nothing about Hillary's behavior and lying over the last several decades.  He has said nothing about her enabling of Bubba's abuse of women.  He has said nothing about her responsibility for the loss of 4 brave Americans in Benghazi.  And probably most heinously, he has said nothing about her cavalier, superior actions that have done untold damage to our national security.  You can't have it both ways.  Talk about one, talk about the other.

I mightily hope and pray that this email was an aberration.  That the Bishop was frustrated and decided he had to act.  He's a good man.  I can forgive him.  But this was a breach.  A serious breach.