By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. - Shakespeare, Macbeth Act IV, Scene I
Some of us can actually remember a time when Christians cared for others, when knowing Jesus was to change your life in a positive way, and when church was a hopeful and welcoming place. Not that it was perfect. There were always people around who wanted to build walls around the church, dig proverbial moats, and guard it as though it were under attack. They just seemed to be in the minority and kept well under control by more progressive people.
In the late seventies the Moral Majority became a real political powerhouse. Its nutty costars included Francis Schaeffer, James Dobson with his Focus On The Family, Bill Gothard, and Tim LeHaye who would go on to co-author the Left Behind series. LeHaye really hated secular humanists. ""We're in a religious war and we need to aggressively oppose secular humanism; these people are as religiously motivated as we are and they are filled with the devil."
Through books, sermons, and films, they gradually began to mount conspiracy theories about how America, and yes, Christianity was under attack from the evil Secular Humanists. They were out to destroy our minds and faith and had to be stopped. We were shown films depicting the horror of their evil plans and paranoia replaced joy in church.
Soon it turned political. We had to vote out this evil regime and now. Cards that told people how to vote appeared in the pews. Every issue was thought out for you and surprise, all were Republican. Pulpits became platforms for political speeches. How they managed to keep their tax exempt status is a mystery. Someone must have eventually said something because the voter cards disappeared from the pews and were left under windshield wipers.
Everyone was talking about how bad welfare was, the evils of abortion (before this I hadn't even known what an abortion was), and the gays. Oh, those gays! At one point they sent people out door to door to educate the public about this new threat to civilization. My dad signed up to go and took a very unwilling me along. Some people were on board with getting those vile sinners off the face of the earth and told us about it in gleefully vicious detail. Others, quiet and polite, told us of friends or relatives that were gay and that they supported them fully. Confusion and shame swept over me. It woke me up to the question, "Who's side am I on?" I think my dad felt the same way because that awful day was never repeated.
Now I could smell that rat festering inside my beloved church. People were getting carried away with paranoia which was quickly turning to anger and judgmental attitudes. Every conceivable issue was drummed up and placed in the good or evil category. On the way to church I wondered what they would be angry about today. Functioning at that level of emotion caused turmoil and discord amongst church brethren and the truth was, I didn't care about most of the issues. I was even (gasp) neutral on many. Abortion was supposed to raise my righteous ire but quite frankly, I just couldn't muster it up. What really set me apart was my refusal to join in any activities designed to help the growing national crusade to legislate morality. My parents also steered clear from this monster so I received no pressure from the home front.
What worried me was that we were moving farther away from the teachings of Jesus. Maybe I should be proud I didn't fall for the bs, but at that time I just felt alone. My parents were Democrats and refused to become Republicans. Even with all the problems I have to say, they truly believed in helping the poor. I respected that. So they had to hide their political affiliations as this movement swept across America and engulfed the Protestant Church.
Nothing has been the same since.
No comments:
Post a Comment