UNCERTAIN TIMES!

We're about 2 weeks removed from the mass genocide in southern Israel perpetrated by Hamas.  Making sense of what is happening in Israel these days is difficult.  For the average person who maybe hasn't paid much attention to the history, the violence, the endless accusations, the various peace proposals, and the seemingly endless saga that is the the Israel-Palestine struggle, it is a daunting task to absorb all that is going on.  If you're watching the media or perusing social media, it's a 24/7 onslaught of information and reporting that is frequently not consistent.  And as surprising as it may sound, there are plenty of people who come down on the side of the terrorists.  

As you might surmise that I come down squarely on the side on Israel in this whole mess.  When I think of the history of the plight of the Jews, it is such a long, sad story.  The events of Oct 7 are truly barbaric and cannot go without response.  The new dimension is the apparent involvement of other countries around the world, including America.  It is an increasingly dangerous and volatile situation and the truth is that it could go in several different ways.   Of course no one would choose violence, but I'm not at all sure that the Israelis can or will stop short of crushing Hamas and in the course of things largely destroying Gaza.  Who will be drawn in is anyone's guess.  

I came across a video that really struck me that I thought I'd share.  I think it lays out the feelings of so many people (not only Jews) and is very direct.  I had never heard of Noa Tishby before but she is an Israeli actress, writer, producer and activist and her passion is compelling

Further in trying to make sense and provide some insight into this horrible situation, I received a sermon from a good friend and former Priest in our church today regarding this very subject.  I've posted his work previously and he is a great writer and commentator on our times.   I hope you will read this.  It is not only educational but also provides some compelling thoughts.  

The Case for Separation of Church and State

I remember listening to a professor of comparative religion who argued that the big difference between Islamic and Western nations was not religion but secularism. Islam has long lived with Christian and Jewish minorities in its countries, but it cannot tolerate any secular state where all religions are treated equally based on rational legal principles rather than Islamic faith. The nature of Islam is that it must permeate every aspect of society, including the law courts, universities and commerce. It must thoroughly saturate the nation’s identity in every aspect of life, both public and private.

Seven years before the 9/11 tragedy, the Wall Street Journal carried an article about the dramatic increase of fundamentalist Islam in Turkey – a country that had been relatively secular. The article quoted a young Muslim Turk: “Our view of religion is different from yours.,” he said to the Western visitor. “According to your rules,” he continued, “religion counts only in the place where you pray. Our religion is a way of life. I have no time at all, not one minute, without Islam.”1 

Notice that young Turk’s last sentence: “I have no time at all, not one minute without Islam.” That is what it means to live in a society where religion dominates every single aspect of our lives, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If you ask why does Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran want the extinction of Israel, here it is. They hate Israel not only because it is a Jewish state, but because it is a secular state committed to pluralism, democracy and toleration. Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran detest any secular state, especially one in the Middle East. They will never rest until there is an Islamic state that imposes Sharia law on its citizens. Nothing less will suffice. There is no “live and let live” with Islamic fundamentalism. It’s “my way or else.” Islamic law is the only way possible. 

Jesus was not interested in politics, and therefore he never gives us any theory of law. And yet, his teaching is quite challenging, especially for us who live in the United States where we uphold the separation of church and state. The United States Constitution says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” In our country there is no established state religion, but citizens are free to practice any or no religion in their personal lives. Of course, defining the boundaries between the free exercise of religion with no state-sponsored religion is not easy. Even today the Supreme Court hears cases trying to define the relationship between church and state. 

If Jesus were to comment on the issue, he might say, “…been there; done that…” During the time of Jesus, Israel was occupied by the Romans. Jews had very different viewpoints on how to respond to the Roman occupation. On the one extreme, the Pharisees refused to participate in the established Roman government, while the Zealots violently opposed it. On the other extreme, the Herodians were willing to accommodate and even compromise with Rome, while the Sadducees believed the best way to get along was to go along.

Matthew’s Gospel reports an occasion when Jesus was confronted by these two extremes. The Pharisees along with the Herodians sent a delegation to Jesus in an attempt to trap him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth… Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” If Jesus said, “Yes,” the Zealots and Pharisees would be after him, and he would lose the respect of the Jewish people. Had Jesus said “No,” the Sadducees and Herodians would turn on him and probably hand him over to Rome. 

Jesus does not give a simple yes or no answer. Asking whose likeness appears on the legal tender, he gives the classic answer, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.” The only problem with his answer is that Jesus leaves it up to us to figure out which is which. That’s not always easy, particularly in the United States. 

Christianity certainly played a role in the shaping of the American form of government, but so did the Enlightenment – what we call the Age of Reason. After the Thirty Years War back in the 17th century, Europe was exhausted by all the religious disputes between Protestants and Catholics. Philosophers and legal theorists argued that rather than faith governing nations, why not reason? Let rational legal principles govern people who disagree on religious matters. This is the basis for separation of church and state which we find in our First Amendment. Rather than any particular religion governing a diverse people, let rational legal principles promote a harmonization of interests so that everyone, no matter their faith, can be equally part of the nation with no one excluded. This is the genius of our Constitution. 

So we have to admit that America is not a Christian nation, but it is a nation founded by Christians. It has a Christian ethos, Christian presuppositions, and a Christian framework 

such as three equal branches of government to provide a system of checks and balances. The framers of our Constitution took the doctrine of original sin too seriously to allow any one person or branch of government have absolute power – no king or Ayatollah in this country.

Our framers were men of the Enlightenment but they also believed in God. Unlike the French Revolution, reason alone was never sufficient for the framers of our government. Thomas Jefferson, the father of the idea of separation of church and state, knew that belief in God is essential for the nation. He wrote: “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God.”

If freedom is not God-given and inalienable, then it can be taken away anytime a majority thinks that political correctness requires it. If there is nothing that is absolutely right or wrong, if there are no unchanging principles given by God, then we are left with nothing but our own opinions, and none of them have any authority. The Russian writer Dostoyevsky grasped this truth when he had one of the brothers Karamazov declare: “If there is no God, then everything is permitted.”

The founders of our nation were deeply interested in morality. They believed that only a virtuous people could safeguard the freedoms guaranteed by a republican form of government. John Adams put it succinctly in 1776 when he said:  “…virtue is the only foundation of republics.” By virtue, Adams meant public virtue, an idea whose roots lie in ancient Rome and Sparta. Historian Forrest McDonald suggests that public virtue entailed: “firmness, courage, endurance, industry, frugal living, strength, and above all, unremitting devotion to the weal of the public’s corporate self, the community of virtuous men [and women].” Without this public virtue, Adams believed a republic would rot from within and disintegrate.

Morality requires a free people. Only free people can choose and make decisions. Only free people can choose the right and reject the wrong. A morally free people make a morally free nation. George Washington, in his farewell address, declared: “The truth is that politics and morality are inseparable. As morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related.”

And yet, morality is not something that can be taught by the government. It is something that has to be learned in the home; in churches, in schools, and in civic organizations that promote public virtue. If these institutions break down, then we are in trouble. The truth is, no human being can live in a moral vacuum. If human beings lack a moral foundation, they will find it somewhere, whether in a street gang, a cult, a revolutionary group, or in some sort of fundamentalism. Could this be why Islam is so attractive to converts? It provides a moral foundation – a disciplined way of living – that its adherents do not find in Western culture.

In the United States we don’t impose morality on the populace unlike Iran and other fundamentalist Muslim nations. There are no public whippings for women who fail to dress appropriately. No one is stoned for adultery. There are no executions for being gay. Adults even have the right to change their biological sex, if they want to. As long as you don’t hurt anyone else, you are usually free to do what you like in America. Morality and legality are not identical in our country. The government doesn’t try to run your personal life. Within the bounds of law, we are free to do what we like, as we like. 

And yet, I want to offer a word of caution here. Separation of church and state does not mean giving to the state what is God’s. Jesus wants us to give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s. In other words, we are to pay our taxes. After all, the government gives us roads, an economy, military protection, police, firefighters, schools, and social and health benefits. The government has a right to our allegiance and support. But Christians draw the line on not giving the government our worship or our unconditional loyalty or our faith or our hope. Our ultimate allegiance is to God. This God gives us life, a million big and little pleasures and joys, and salvation from sin and death and hell. In any conflict between church and state, we must always obey God first.

Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel we are told to seek first the kingdom of God, not the political agenda of any particular party. God is not a Republican. God is not a Democrat. Our faith is in Christ, not country. Jesus is our hope, our Savior, our Lord, our ultimate allegiance. While it is true that the United States does embody and practice at least some of God’s Kingdom principles, we are never to condone blind patriotism. Christians can never say, “My country right or wrong.” The true patriot instead accepts John Sutherland Bonnell’s revised version: “My country, when wrong, to be made right; when right, to be kept right.” 

In the end, we need to be vigilant in maintaining our freedom. That is the one thing that all Americans should be able to agree on. After all, what distinguishes America from totalitarian nations – whether it is China or Russia or Iran or North Korea – is freedom: the freedom to think as we like, to live as we like, to believe as we like, to protest and disagree with government policy, so long as our actions do not hurt other people. We may hate the viewpoints of others, but we still allow them the freedom to express those views. That is what makes America so unique as a beacon of hope in the world. Freedom takes precedence over being right.

There is a story about Abraham Lincoln who went to visit a slave auction and was appalled at the sights and sounds of buying and selling human beings. His heart was especially drawn to a young woman on the block who looked with hatred and contempt on everyone around her. She had been used and abused all her life, and this time was but one more cruel humiliation.

The bidding began, and Lincoln offered a bid. As other amounts were bid, he countered-bid with larger amounts until he won. When he paid the auctioneer the money, and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt. She asked him what he was going to do next with her, and he said, “I’m going to set you free.”

“Free?” she asked. “Free for what?” 

“Just free,” said Lincoln. “Completely free.”

“Free to do whatever I want to do?”

“Yes,” he said. “Free to do whatever you want to do.”

“Free to say whatever I want to say?”

“Yes, free to say whatever you want to say.”

“Free to go wherever I want to go?” she added with skepticism.

Lincoln answered, “You are free to go anywhere you want to go.”

“Then,” she said with a smile, “I’m going with you!” 

Real freedom is never forced. Real freedom never demands that everyone believe like us, or behave like us, or live like us. Real freedom is a deep respect for the individual to live out their own life, in their own way, for only by such freedom is biblical faith possible.

These are difficult times in the world and in our own country right now. Freedom is under attack. Well we should consider the words of George Washington in his first Inaugural Address: “It is a strenuous thing, this living as a free people.” 

Yes, it is not easy being free, but the alternative is always so much worse.

What is happening in Israel today is frightening because of the great potential for violence and the uncertainty as to how it will unfold.  There are a lot of state actors posturing.  There are a lot of people on the street protesting.  There are military forces being moved and prepared.  There are multiple hot spots around the world that could blow at any time.  Our domestic politics seem to be unraveling.  It is a time for our leaders to be determined, steady, and confident.  I'm not sure that they have it in them, but I hope to God they do.