Woe to Those Who Manipulate Religion

“…woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

Pope Leo IVX’s statement sums up why I do what I do (although the irony that these words came from the Pope is not lost on this Protestant).

Christianity has a long history of being hijacked by people in the pursuit of personal gain. We can find news stories going back decades detailing individual stories of spiritual abuse - when clergy used their positions, and the words of Scripture to enable various forms of abuse.

What we are witnessing with this administration is spiritual abuse on a much grander scale. They are pursuing the kind of power that the Catholic Church had for over a thousand years; they want to establish a Holy American Empire.

Which is why the Pope has an obligation to speak against it.

White Christian Nationalists seek to establish a state church, not to glorify God or to build a society based on the teachings of Jesus, but to exploit the power of God’s name for their own personal enrichment.

They inherited a perverted gospel, one that told them that they are special…chosen…superior. That is the gospel they proclaim, and they use the symbols and language of Christianity to promote their fascist ideas in order to convince people that God is on their side.

They throw around Bible verses and say their prayers on the street corners for all to hear to build credibility, so people will believe that they speak on God’s behalf.

Then the Pope essentially raised his hand and said, “Actually, I speak on God’s behalf and what you all are doing is not the way of Jesus.”

We don’t have to recognize papal authority to see that this is not the way of Jesus.

It boggles my mind that we have a fascist administration and that so many people are okay with it. It makes me angry that so many Christian leaders have endorsed it and led their followers astray.

I really hope (and pray) that we can do the work of restoring our republic in my lifetime. I believe the peaceful path toward restoration is to pull the American Church out of the darkness and filth into which it’s been dragged and turn Christians toward Jesus.

The task is overwhelming and so many days I wonder if my little contribution will make any difference. Then I get outside myself and remember what I say to others: we all have to do our part. It’s all the small things that each of us does, added up together that makes change happen.

Lately, I’ve been remembering one of my favorite episodes of Little House on the Prairie, “There’s No Place Like Home” (1978). In the second part, the Ingalls family (and everyone else) returns to Walnut Grove after having moved away for some time, only to find the whole town overgrown and filthy. It took everyone doing their part to restore the town.

But I don’t think this is just a restoration, it turns out the old foundation was built on sand.

This is a reformation.

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