Back 250 to 300 years ago people left
the old world to head to the colonies.
If you lived in a Catholic country and you were Protestant you were
persecuted, legislated against, and even jailed. Oddly enough the same happened to Catholics
living in Protestant countries. If you
were Puritan, or Quaker, or Anabaptist or other denominations that weren’t
mainstream your life could be hell. So,
they came here for the freedom to worship as they choose.
Our founding fathers recognized
that. They built the separation of
church and state right into our government.
They put in checks and balances.
They put in three branches of government so that this kind of
persecution would NOT happen here.
Now, some people think that the
separation of church and state is to protect churches from the government
messing with them and legislating and forcing them to do things that they do
not believe in. But that is only HALF of
it. It is also to keep any church from
legislating its beliefs onto everyone.
Because be honest, not all protestant denominations agree on everything. (Even within each denomination there are
disagreements on beliefs.) Then factor in Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Mormons,
Seventh Day Adventists, not to mention the non-Christian faiths; Muslims, Hindu,
and all the others. That doesn’t cover
those who consider themselves agnostic or atheist. America, because of the foresight of our
founding fathers has become a religious melting pot, and that really upsets
some people.
In the past several years there has
been a large movement to legislate religious beliefs. If they can’t make you believe like they do,
they will darn well force you to abide by it.
They will make it illegal for anyone to disagree with them. There have been laws passed to prevent
minorities from voting (even though that is unconstitutional.) There have been laws passed to oppress the
LGTBQ+ community. Recently laws have
been springing up all over the South trying to overturn Roe Vs. Wade to
regulate a woman’s rights because it goes against certain denominations’
beliefs.
I LOVE OUR COUNTRY! But my heart has been breaking for many years
now at the prejudice and hate that are rearing their ugly heads. The Roman Empire became too corrupt and
collapsed under the weight of it. I am
afraid that we are heading for the same fate.
When a mob stormed the capitol to
overthrow the results of a democratic election I was first shocked, then
horrified and devastated. They were
trying to undo the safeguards that our founding fathers put there to protect
the people. I am still mourning that to
this day.
But today many states are trying to
legislate religious beliefs on abortion.
Yes, it is all about religious belief because they ignore the doctors
saying that there are many MEDICAL reasons that abortions are used to save the
life of the mother. They are doing
EXACTLY what caused our foremothers and forefathers to flee to the new world,
because the government was dictating what they had to believe.
It is actually worse than just
that. They are being Pharisaical. If you are a Christian you should remember
the Pharisees. They are the ONLY people
that Jesus got really mad at. You know
why? The Pharisees were adding on laws
that were oppressing and causing hardship to the common people. It is fine for you wealthy, well respected Religious
leaders to follow all the cleanliness laws.
You don’t have to work with sheep, or farm. They were heaping rule after rule that was oppressing
“The Least of These.” Jesus had some
very stern words for them.
Since the Pharisaical Politicians are
so fond of quoting scripture to prove their point, try these on for size. Luke 17:2 “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around
your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these
little ones to stumble.” Jesus is
ALWAYS on the side of the victims and the oppressed, the vulnerable, and the
helpless. So, you know who are the least
of these? Not old white male
politicians! It is the people of color,
the immigrant, the refugee, the LTGBQ+ teen, the women who were raped or abused. They are who Jesus stands with. They are the one that Jesus protects. Harming the least of these is what really
makes him angry.
“Matthew
25” has become a movement in the Presbyterian Church. It has three pledges: Building Congregational
Vitality, Dismantling structural racism, and Eradicating systematic poverty.
You may be thinking, what on earth
does that have to do with your current rant?
Well, Matthew 25 is where we get the story of the sheep and the
goats. Whether we wind up in the Kingdom
prepared for us or are told to depart from Jesus into eternal fire depends on
how we treat the least of these. How
will we be judged? It won’t be on
passing oppressive laws or making hurdles that people have to jump
through. Matthew 25:35-36 tells us what
really matters. “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I
was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was
in prison and you visited me.” It all
depends on how we treat the least of these.
I
think that the saddest part of the story is that the sheep (who did that) and
the goats (who didn’t) had no idea that they were caring for or ignoring the least
of these. Today it is worse. They aren’t just ignoring, they are oppressing
and persecuting the least of these.
Yes,
I am human. I fully acknowledge that I will
be wrong some times. (We all will.) But I would rather err on the side of
compassion, love, acceptance, and forgiveness that wind up being a goat.
I
urge all politicians out there to carefully look at what you are doing and
why. Because many of you are acting like
goats. Many of you go beyond goats to
becoming Pharisees. It is sabotaging our
freedom and destroying what our founding fathers have made. Even the Supreme Court can no longer be
trusted to keep religious views out of their judgements even though they swore
that they would.
It
is wonderful that you have faith that you are passionate about! But don’t inflict it on everyone. Because I promise you that there are people
in YOUR OWN CHURCH that have a different opinion than you, let alone other
denominations, and other faiths. Don’t
set us back 250 years. Don’t legislate
your religious beliefs. That is what you
are doing! You believe that
Homosexuality is a sin. So, instead of
avoiding it yourself (which is what your faith calls you to do) you force
everyone to fit what you believe. You
know what, Jesus believes that we are all beautiful children of God. If you believe that abortion is a sin, then
don’t have one! But instead you decide
for every single person without considering circumstances. And I am not even going to go into how you treat
refugees, immigrants, the poor, and people of color BECAUSE THE BIBLE CLEARLY
SAYS THAT GOD PROTECTS THEM AND THAT WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THEM. You have no religious argument to stand on
for those evil laws.
I
feel that so many of our politicians are corrupt and selfish and are legislating
what they want over what the people really need. And, “but my constituents want it too” doesn’t
give you right to go against the separation of church and state! You should be the one to educate them, not
mislead them.
So,
why am I ranting? What good will it
do? Jesus didn’t get through to the
Pharisees, why do I think I can?
That
goes back to the sheep and the goats.
The goats overlooked the suffering of the least of these. They turned a blind eye to the suffering
going on around them. They just let it happen. I don’t want to be a goat. I can’t turn a blind eye when people are
being oppressed and persecuted. I have
to say something or be in danger of being a goat. I also have to say something because many
people I love are being blindly lead by these Pharisaical politicians. “The laws match what I believe, so I should
support them.” Or worse yet, “Well, I
don’t really agree with that, but I can’t vote against my political party.”
I
love you to much to let you wind up as goats without at least trying to help
you see. Jesus was ALWAYS on the side of
the least of these, the poor, the oppressed.
Jesus always showed love and compassion to the sinner. I need to stand with Jesus even if it makes
people mad… even if you feel the need to "unfriend" me... even if it gets me oppressed or persecuted.
