The Real Issue Is not Christian Nationalism
Jesus never set-up a theocracy and neither should we
Many Americans who do not share the Christian faith vocalize concerns about Christian Nationalism. This, of course, is the philosophy claiming the United States of America to be a Christian country. Those who believe that seek to enforce Judeo-Christian laws as the law of the land. This may be why others disagree with having the Ten Commandments in a classroom or on other public lands.
Many who express concern speak from outside Christianity, for example atheists, they do not see the real issue, so they paint with the only brush they have which is a broad brush. They simply do not want Christianity or any form of religious practice on public lands. The United States Constitution prohibits any law that will promote or restrict religion.
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.—First Amendment
The state must be neutral. Of course, historically, many cities and states ignored this law mostly until the Supreme Court decision forbode prayer in schools. In my own childhood, we sang Christmas Carols in our public school. So there is a history of the law not being formally enforced.
However, what many outside of faith communities do not understand is expression of the faith is not the problem, it is interpreting the law.
The great biblical dispute
If we go back to the time of Jesus, we see the great dispute between the pharisees and Jesus was on interpreting the law. What is not said but more demonstrated is the dispute is between following the letter of the law or the spirit of the law.
Remember, Jesus walked the Earth when Judah was a Roman occupied Jewish state. It was essentially a theocracy occupied by another theocracy. The law of Moses governed the Jewish community in Judah and the pagan laws of the empire governed the occupying force—the Romans.
The laws of the Old Testament come from the Torah, which is the first five books of the Christian Bible. They base their teaching in love of God and love of neighbor. The Pharisees followed the letter of the law and Jesus called them to obey the spirit of the law. His definition of the law in is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you—The Golden Rule.
We can see Jesus demonstrating his teaching by healing on the Sabbath. One account we can read in the Gospel of Luke 13:10-17: Jesus heals a crippled woman on the Sabbath and the pharisees chastise him for doing so. However, he contests that they would respond immediately if their donkey needed rescuing but would not act to heal someone suffering just because it was the Sabbath.
In Mark 2:27, Jesus teaches the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. This again is to follow the spirit of the law and not the letter.
Who interprets the law
The letter of the law says that no work can be done on the Sabbath which many interpret at the time to include even any form of healing, miraculous or otherwise. Jesus responds that this is wrong, the law must be followed by the spirit of the law which says that acts of charity may be and even must be performed on the Sabbath if they are so needed. Such acts may be prohibited by the letter of the law even though they would be supported by the spirit of the law.
This leads us back to the understanding that many outside of the Christian community do not comprehend.
What does the text of the law say and what does it actually mean? Did the law of God say that if someone was suffering on the road and it was the Sabbath then God wants you to walk over that person rather than be declared unclean. (Mt 22:34-40)
Does the law of God say that if someone is dying on the street then it is the law of God to let them die as punishment for their sins, as some eastern religions teach.
Does the law of God say that if someone is dying and your care for them will lead you to miss Mass then you must ignore them and continue to Mass.
Does the law of God teach that if someone is dying and you do not care for them properly you should be sued for everything you own. All four of these rules are interpretations of the law from different traditions including secularism that focus on the letter of the law and not the spirit.
In all things charity
We fulfill the spirit of the law by remembering the teaching by St. Augustine—In all things charity.
The more we move against that precept the more we hold onto the letter of the law over its spirit. It is then we hold onto to our rights and drop the spirit to be lived in charity.
For example, our Constitution guarantees freedom of speech but if we believe in all things we must act in charity, we will only use that freedom for what is best for ourselves and others. Freedom of speech guarantees our right to speak hate speech but the law of charity calls us to never employ that right. This is acting in charity towards others which is the spirit of the Christian law. Anyone may speak hate speech all day but the spirit of Judeo-Christian teachings forbids it. (Eph 4:29)
When we reject that aspect of our faith then we will say anything we want until the tyrannical letter of the law is the only way to bring peace. This is the difference.
Around this time of year there is a fight over nativity scenes but if we are going to follow the constitution then in fact Nativity scenes should not be on public property. If we demand that they be displayed then we are not engaging in how the right of free speech and freedom of religion should work. We may proclaim our faith to a secular world but we maintain the charity to allow the secular world to be secular. This allows us to proclaim our faith without forcing it upon others and leading it to be a free choice to others.
The real fight is not between Christianity and Atheism
Noam Laden, news director for WABC radio, explained recently on air of being a Jewish student in a public school that was mostly Christian. They sang Christmas songs and Noam asked about singing a Hannukah song and they teacher said no. Of course, they should have sung the song because it is the nature of our Constitution, either all or nothing. Either celebrate all faiths or celebrate none in public spaces. This is the way the Constitution was set up.
However, the law of charity says to sing the song as well, especially since the story of Hannukah is a powerful story for Christians too.
Atheists are afraid that this country will turn into a theocracy. However, Jesus destroyed theocracies when he died on the cross and rose. The law from that point was to be in our heart.
The founding fathers had it right on how to address religion in our country. It is all or nothing and if we want to support our nation in good faith, we will embrace the spirit of the law and demonstrate our faith by living charitably in all things. That is after all the actual spirit of the law. Then there will be no need to take that same law written on our hearts and carve it in stone.
Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
The parish podcast is at CatholicAudioMedia.com
The newest edition of Fr Robert J Carr's latest book is now available. Christ in Our Humanity. You can find it here.