On the 15th, the 5th Circuit issued an opinion in Staley v. Harris County, Texas . The decision deals with whether or not a monument (which does look like a trash receptacle) is too religious in nature to stand in a courthouse area in Houston, TX. Based upon recent Supreme Court decisions, it looked like a slam dunk that the monument could stay. Even under older tests, it looked golden. It has to be removed.
Bad facts make bad law. That's where Judge John Devine, a Texas state court judge enters the picture. He is bad facts like Roy Moore is/was bad facts. Judge Devine restored the monument in 1995, about forty years after it had been built. He did it with fanfare and lots of talk about how he was putting Christianity into government. Frankly, his "style" was what I think caused the court to issue a bad law opinion. They didn't like Devine.
Certainly there is no excuse for their twisting the law to get at him. (Their decision reminded me of a 9th Circuit edict.) Still, did we have to give them the chance? What is worse, guys like Devine will argue that the ruling is even worse than it is. He and his buddies will argue that the Washington monument is coming down next. All that talk will set the stage where either an en banc ruling or a Supreme Court review will become an either or issue. Any court looking at this will get to choose from two bad choices; they can either affirm bad law or vindicate the hyper right. Things don't look too good.
When will we learn that appeals aren't won in the newspapers? Posturing looks good, affirms our commitment to Christ (no matter how stupid we look), but leads to a loss. The question isn't, do we want to win? The question is, do we want to sound pious? It shouldn't be that way. What does it mean?
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It is so unfortunate that we Christians are so willing to sell our identity for a political cause or political party. At it’s base, it’s all about power. In the best case, the power would be used to force culture into outward subservience to God. In the worst case, it’s just about having power.
I suppose there has never been a culture where religion has not been used to gain monetary or political control. Here, in America, whether it has taken the form of creating the New Israel, expanding the West at all costs through Manifest Destiny, or Roy Moore’s quest to sanctify Alabama through a granite filter, we Christian’s have either stood silent or joined in the cause.
Today, the silence appears to be out of fear of being labeled. The side who often commandeers the “Christian cause” brilliantly suggests that if you aren’t with them, you must not be a true Christian, and worse, likely a liberal. And who wants that? So, many Christian’s blindly join them. Thus, the political strategists know that in order to get out the Christian conservative vote, they must create the Christian issue de jur.
This, of course, is absurd. Observation of modern day protestantism should at least teach us that Christian’s can’t even agree on the proper color for hymnals, much less on issues of doctrine. Why then must we be politically monolithic?
Regardless, this fear, which translates into silence or robotic obedience, leads to our identity. We are willingly to be: a political party; a special interest group; a voting block; or cash cow for fundraising. We are not defined as those who: love their neighbors (Matt 22.39); love their enemies (Matt 5.44); comfort the widows and orphans (James 1.27); and preach the gospel (Mark 13.10). We are redefining our faith, based on a modern day political movement or sometimes, in reaction to one.
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