PART VI
The Pilgrim's Shame...
The Religious Right's Heritage
"If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nailbiters." ~ Anita Bryant
"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." ~ Jerry Falwell
"AIDS is not just God's punishment of homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." ~ Jerry Falwell
Q: How many members of the Religious Right does it take to change a light bulb?
A. None. The Religious Right curses the darkness, accuses the light bulb of choosing to burn out, and demands the light bulb change itself.
YOU ARE YOUR ROOTS
"America was founded upon Christian principles, and therefore America is, by all rights, a Christian nation."
On this point both LGBT activists and Christians agree. So, how could anything possibly be wrong? Well, as simply as I can put it the problem comes down to a question my best friend asked me recently..."How good are you at living what you teach?" You see, there is a huge difference between Christian principles and a Christian living those principles out. When Christians merely teach Christian principles there is no presence of the Holy Spirit. When a Christian lives what Christ teaches then the power of the Holy Spirit is there.
My last couple of years of school, I worked Summer Stock theater in Ohio. The production was TECUMSEH!. I played the role of a Shawnee political leader. Believe it or not Native American peoples had very sophisticated cultures and governments. I spent a great deal of my time during these Summers learning about Native American peoples. What a I learned was terrible. The history of European invaders coming to this land isn't anything like what I learned in primary school history courses. Yes, the Puritan Pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620 were looking for religious freedom. I do appreciate our plucky Pilgrim forebearers. They are one of the main reasons we have the kind of government and freedoms we enjoy. The Puritan Pilgrims have given us much to be thankful for...provided, that is, you are of European descent, and not Native American.
Are you feeling a little confused? Are you wondering if I've lost my mind? I'm supposed to be talking about my journey through and out of homosexuality. What do Pilgrims and Native Americans have to do with my journey? Well, Pilgrims and Native Americans have nothing directly to do with my journey. Pilgrims have everything to do with the Religious Right. It is to the Pilgrims, and later, the framers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that the modern Religious Right roots itself. The Religious Right has a great deal to do with my journey. The Religious Right claims their authority comes from those who sought religious freedom, and later from those who sought freedom from an oppressive foreign king. As noble as those freedom seekers, and founding fathers are, they also did some terrible and completely unchristian things. When a modern religious group claims authority from a group of religious people who missed God then it presents an enormous problem.
Jesus Himself talks about this phenomena when He says:
29"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
Jesus is saying that the religious leaders of His day claim their heritage comes from those who did great evil in God's eyes. What the Religious Right has done is no different from the behavior of those Jesus accuses of great wrong. When the Religious Right claims their heritage comes from the Puritan Pilgrims and the founding Fathers then they, without understanding, testify against themselves.
The Pilgrims came to a land already inhabited by many very large and sophisticated cultures. When it came time to establish communities and government the Puritans only saw to their own interests and culture. Their excuse for excluding the natives in the land. The native peoples were deemed savages; subhuman beasts, no better than animals. Animals had no rights, and were property to be exploited as the owner saw fit. Now some may argue that it was the "manifest destiny" for America, and God intended for the gospel to come to the natives of America. I don't have a problem with missionaries bringing the good news to Native Americans, but that simply isn't how it worked. The evidence shows that European culture supplants the cultures which had been here for thousands of years. Don't misunderstand me here I'm not saying the peoples who lived here were "noble savages". Native Americans were as savage toward their fellow Native Americans, as any group of white settlers. That doesn't make any difference, and isn't reason enough to destroy the indigenous cultures.
The fact is there were many wonderful things Native American culture offered. There was an enormous respect for the world around Native Americans. There was a holistic symbiotic relationship between the people and the land. The concept of property ownership, of the kind European settlers brought, was completely unknown. I as a Christian would love to have the influence of Native American culture on American Christian culture. I have no doubt we'd have had an industrial revolution, but what would that have looked like if our ancestors had embraced to good in Native Cultures? How different would our world be today, had our ancestors embraced Native American culture rather than destroy it.
What teaching of Christ could/should have been applied to how our ancestors dealt with Native Americans. I have in mind the Samaritan Woman at the Well. Samaritans were the savages of Jesus own day, but when among them He said, "Look, the fields are ready for harvest." How different things would have been if the Puritan Christians had faithfully followed their savior, rather than simply being purveyors of British/European imperialism. Ignorance will be the argument against me. Someone will say, "Well, they didn't know any better." No they didn't know any better, and they didn't know any better because they were all about putting forth Christian religious principles. Their religious expression was incredibly legalistic, and they imposed their legalism, as an expression of their religious freedom. They didn't allow the living Christ to enable them to live out His teachings. Just as the Apostle Paul was instrumental in freeing Gentile believers from being held captive to Jewish religious and cultural expression, so the Pilgrims could have freed Native Americans from the burden of European culture. American culture could be a very powerful mix of Native and European cultures. If our forebearers had been truly lived live filled with the lead of the Holy Spirit.
This problem with Native Americans was a serious problem for the founding fathers as well. Not only were Natives a problem, but 155 years after the Pilgrims, the founding fathers had a new group to deal with; African slaves. There were voices, in the fledgling American government, which sought to free African slaves, but fear kept them from doing away with slavery. You know the Bible offers leadership in this kind of situation as well. The book of Philemon certainly deals with the issue of slave, master, and freedom in Christ. Our "Christian" founding fathers would have found a great source of leadership in Paul's treatment of an escaped slave.
8Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
We could have had an "Onesimus Generation". A generation of Christians who discipled slaves, trained them in trades and business, and then set them free to become citizens and equals. Imagine a nation in which black and white had all been working toward building this great nation. This would have been a much greater nation than it is today. Unfortunately, people of African descent were seen as "savages"; subhumans equal to animals.
This is the "heritage" of the Religious Right. No it isn't all bad, but if our "Christian" forebearers had followed Christ instead of pushing their own religious culture, we'd have a very different Christian culture. I'd argue we'd have a better Christian culture. And if Christians had learned from the terrible mistakes of the Pilgrims and the founding fathers, they wouldn't treat LGBT people like, well, savages.
By holding to a perceived "Christian" heritage, the Religious Right is blind to the greater power of living in the power of Christ in the now. I don't think I need to say that I believe the Church in America is badly in need of reform. In order to do that we have to start cutting some of those ties to the religious heritage. The Religious Right, and Left for that matter, needs to let go of the founder's religious roots, and become again a generation of people who live lives filled with Christ. We don't need a Christian law, we need a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to look at the world around us through the eyes of Jesus Christ.
As Jesus hung on a Roman cross, innocent, beaten, bloody, nailed hand and foot to the post, He said something interesting...He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do..." Jesus, looked at the people who'd treated Him with such unimaginable savagery, and said, "Don't hold them responsible." What other expectation could Christians honestly have when faced with LGBT persons? And make no bones about it, LGBT persons are most certainly treated by modern believers the way the Pilgrims treated Native Americans. The same dismissive attitudes and behaviors are evident among today's religious activists.
As a Christian who left homosexual practice I repudiate and denounce the practices and beliefs of the Religious Right and Left. I denounce and repudiate the religious heritage which makes any people "savages". I must stand with Christ's teachings, "Go into all the world and make disciples," "For God so loved the world He gave..." And upon the basis of Christ's last words concerning the savages who murdered Him, "Father, do not hold this wrong against them, for they know not what they do." This is the legacy; the heritage of Christ. Christ and Christ alone is the foundation for the behavior of the Church.
We must view those we call "lost" through lens of the body of Christ. We must see the world's sin scars on the body of Christ hanging on the Roman cross. It is time to repudiate the works of the Religious Right. The wrongs done are incalculable. There is a better way to express the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We'll never truly know God's way, until we release our human nature driven religious way of doing things.
Lonnie
NEXT INSTALLMENT:
THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN: I LEFT HOMOSEXUALITY 20 YEARS AGO;
Closets:
Not Just for Coats Anymore