Don't Be Fooled

Unholy Corruption

“Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix…Beware of those who claim to know the will of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform…Beware of those who cannot tell God’s will from their own.”

The Rev. Doctor Barbara Brown Taylor

          The earliest reported occasion of the church being in bed with the empire—post crucifixion, that is—was when Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and made it mandatory for everyone else to do the same. That was in the 4^th century. From the very beginning, it was a terrible idea and it still is. When I see politicians standing up in somebody’s church pulpit and telling us what God would want, I get a little queasy. And when I hear preachers telling us who we should vote for, that queasiness increases. It’s an old, old problem that has nothing to do with religion, certainly nothing to do with Jesus, and everything to do with power and money. Don’t be fooled for one minute: it is corruption at its worst.

          When I was a little girl, my grandmother lived with us. She loved to watch Lawrence Welk’s orchestra play polka music, and Billy Graham preach during his revivals. There was also, at that time, a certain TV evangelist who offered healing for anyone who sent him three dollars and a request. His shows were staged exploitation, well-rehearsed, of folks hobbling or being wheeled to the altar and “healed” of their illnesses by the preacher banging on their heads and hollering, “Heal this man!” My poor old grandmother, who lived on about $300.00 a month, sent this charlatan so much money to heal my dad of his alcoholism it was pitiful. And, of course, it did not work. Corruption in the church has existed from the 4^th century until now because all human beings are subject to the seduction of power and money.

          I stand firmly with Barbara Brown Taylor. If a preacher tells you how to vote, tuck your tail and run away as fast as you can. If a politician holds up a Bible and tells you what God wants you to do, especially if that involves long-guns and violence, get away from that person. Remember this: "He who lives by the sword, shall die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) And there has been entirely too much of that.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane