Tag Archives: Constitution

Special 2024 Election Essay: Understanding the Moment: A Call to Courage, Discernment, and Wisdom

October 30th, 2024 |

Political propaganda and partisan passions aside, next week’s election is very important at all levels (local, state, and federal). We are in a moment of contention and polarization, yet there are signs of hope and moderation as people pause and think about what really matters.

We do not elect messiahs. Jesus Christ alone holds this title. We do not elect kings and queens, for our Constitution prohibits royal titles. We do elect women and men to represent and serve. We bear great responsibility in our free society. We also have an unelected bureaucracy that wields real influence but is ultimately subject to elected officials.

Writing as a thoughtful Christian, my hope for our country (and all countries) rests upon a spiritual awakening that renews church and society, welcoming many to faith and seeing virtue influence all spheres of the public square. Prayer, unselfish service to others, and thoughtful conversation about serious issues are all part of seeing every neighborhood and nation renewed.

With these thoughts in mind, here are some of the obvious and sometimes hidden issues that we must consider as we make the wisest choices for our world.

Families matter and parents have primary responsibility for the worldview of their children. Far too many people are yielding control of their children to governmental agencies that may not align with their enduring values.

The economy matters and there are policies and principles that can help life be better for many. But underneath the daily issues of work and shopping is a debt crisis of historical proportions. We must elect leaders that will steward the public trust and present balanced budgets and more efficient administrations.

A hospitable and secure border is possible. It will require more security, streamlined immigration processes, and deportation of criminal elements. There must be courage from both political parties, eschewing cheap labor and cheap votes in favor of safe and welcoming policies.

We must have compassion for all people, from conception to coronation. This means no to most abortions and active euthanasia, as well and making sure the needy are cared for and our veterans are served well.

Poverty alleviation must focus on access, empowerment, and opportunity in free markets. Neighborhoods are only renewed when all sectors (church, business, social services, education, government, etc.) cooperate and create the conditions for flourishing. And ever-increasing welfare apparatus is not enough.

Peace in the Middle East must be rooted in Israel’s safety and prosperity for all. We need to remember that the only place where a rainbow flag flies safely is in Israel. When local Arab leaders courageously acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence, there will peace.

We must reaffirm that human beings are made in God’s image and come male and female. Though there are rare intersex individuals and some truly struggle with body dysphoria, these afflictions must not be allowed to overrule nature and science. If adults want to alter their chemistry and physiology on their dime, they can; however such life-altering and permanent changes should not be allowed for children.

True toleration means living peaceably with our differences, without coercion, cancellation or threats of violence. Toleration does not mean celebration. I can disagree and still be a good neighbor.

Freedom must be rooted in virtue. We are not free to do anything we please without regard for others. We are free to follow our conscience and help build a thriving society on first principles affirmed by all thoughtful women and men.

Love must be founded upon unselfish attitudes and actions, not just passions. The phrase, “Love is Love” is meaningless. We can differ on how people arrange their lives and fulfill their desires without intolerance.

Freedom of conscience/religion is the first freedom that anchors all other (speech, assembly, redress of government) First Amendment rights. There should never be a state religion or coercion in matters of faith. At the same time, people must bring their finest values to their public lives. Religion is never, “left at the door.” Proselytizing at the wrong times and not forcing one’s faith on others are important decisions for peace in a pluralistic world. At the same time, publicly expressing convictions and quietly praying must not be subject to prosecution.

I am certain there are many more issues bearing on this moment. Global empires such as China and Russia are uniting against the West and the USA. More than 300 million Christians face severe persecution around the world. Our VUCA (volatile, uncertain, chaotic, and ambiguous) world needs faithful and forthright, holy and humble people who will worship only God, hate only sin, and desire that all find peace and purpose in Christ.

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History and Hope: Renewing the American Promise Part Two: Toward Justice for All

July 17th, 2024 |

The American Experiment in virtue-based liberty is never done…we are always aspiring to live up to the noble values of our Founders and Framers. In Part One, we looked at our nation’s foundations, find much to thank God for…and much requiring repentance and realignment with truth. In this essay, we explore events from the 19th century to the present as signs of blessing and judgment, with the hope that we can live more helpful and hopeful lives.

The decades before the Civil War (1861-1865) saw a nation divided over slavery, with the Compromises of 1820 and 1850 failing to appease of the passions of both abolitionists and advocates of slavery. The British and French preceded the USA in the abolition of slavery, even as Americans boasted about having a freer nation!

Tragedy and blessing: The Civil War officially started as a war for Confederate independence (Southern view) and a war to preserve the Union (Northern view). By late 1862 with the Emancipation Proclamation and early 1865, with the passing of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, President Lincoln and many others understood the war to be God’s providential judgement on three centuries of slavery. More soldiers were killed and wounded in this war that all other wars combined. The 14th and 15th Amendments, passed in 1868 and 1870, enshrined citizenship and voting rights for all people.

Tragedy: beginning in 1876 and lasting until 1964, segregation and second-class citizenship for African Americans and other minorities became normalized. African-Americans were the most impacted, while other minorities felt the sting if prejudice through restrictive immigration and outright bans from whole arenas of society.

Blessing: Full equality and voting rights for women were promoted by Abigail Adams and others in the 1780s and 1790s but fell on deaf ears until the late 19th century. Suffragette movements (often led by married women of solid Christian faith) gained ground in particular states before 1900. Finally in 1920, full voting rights were enshrined in the 19th Amendment. It would take several more decades and court decisions to allow full equality for employment and property rights.

Blessing and tragedy: Many Americans boast that we are a “land of immigrants” and that the Statue of Liberty welcomes all (legally). And there is much to celebrate as we think of the millions coming through Ellis Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We are indeed a wonderful “salad bowl” (Historian Carl Degler) of diverse ethnicities and traditions. While we celebrate Ellis Island in New York and appreciate the opportunities afforded to so many, we must also lament the oppression of Angel Island in California and the severe restrictions placed on Asian (especially Chines) immigrants from the 1870s to the 1940s. The open doors of previous decades shut harshly after World War I.

We closed our doors to Jewish immigration and capitulated to severe antisemitism from the 1920s to the1940s, only changing course after seeing the full evidence of the Holocaust.

Blessing: After World War II, the momentum for civil and voting rights for all was unstoppable, though only in 1965 were full rights established. The movement led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was one of our last moments of unified advocacy with people from all backgrounds ready to help cash, “the promissory note” of the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

The past six decades are their own unique narrative, with bright moments of divine life and tragic moments subverting the values and visions of the Founders. May we delight in the providential progress of our history and humbly continue the journey toward justice so all can flourish.

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America: An Experiment in Virtue-Based Liberty

July 8th, 2022 |

As we celebrate our nation’s 246th birthday, it is a good time for reflection on our historical and contemporary strengths and weaknesses, and rededicate ourselves to best ideals of the founders and framers.

Trigger warnings: If you regard America as the source of most of the evil in the world, you will be provoked by the essay. If you regard America as a divinely-chosen nation, you will be unhappy. OK, time for reflection.

American history has a few saints and many sinners. The founding of colonies such as Plymouth, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Pennsylvania with freedom of religion baked into their identities are a highlight of our history. The intolerance found in 17th and 18th century Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia is tragic for liberty.

Slavery came crashing to our shores in 1619 and affected all American colonies, even where it was not widely practiced. The de facto and de jure oppression of million due to race violated everything later enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This is why African Americans rightly speak of three American founding moments: the “promissory note” of 1776, the Emancipation of Juneteenth, 1865 with the passage of 14th and 15th Amendments, and the Civil Rights and Voting Acts of 1965. We are still overcoming the systemic evils of slavery and Jim Crow, but progress has been made.

Religious and social awakenings have helped the cause of justice throughout our history. Abolitionist movements, educational and labor reform, 70 years of work by the Suffragettes, and many more private and public initiatives have cleared the way for millions to enjoy a better life. We must celebrate these moments of progress and well as lament the evils they sought to overcome.

We have opened and shut our gates to immigrants during our 246 years. Like all Empires (yes, we are an empire, with the conquest of a continent and acquisition of oversee territories), a dominant tribe begins opening citizenship to others. For the USA, White Protestants have haltingly welcomed women and men from all cultures. From the despised Irish to the isolated Chinese, to a huge Central and Eastern European influx in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with the variegated hospitality to Hispanic/Latino neighbors. At times we fulfilled the words of the Statue of Liberty and welcomed the “huddled masses.” At other times, xenophobia overtook justice and Fortress America with all its toxic narrowness took over. Such evil kept thousands of Jews from finding refuge during the Shoah. Other times it was non-European groups that were systemically kept out. Ironically, the current non-policies for immigration allow foreign money to buy influence and open our doors to whoever can pay, while denying many hard-working folks opportunities and pathways to citizenship.

America is a land of economic opportunity, and, in the last half-century, a generous benefactor to those who struggle. We are still the land of promise for millions, while we struggle to reform bad welfare policies and poor educational systems that keep too many citizens from flourishing. Once again, a mixture of greatness and deep flaws.

Finally, our treatment of the Indigenous Peoples from the 17th century to the present was uniformly unjust, with only a few exceptions led by missionaries and visionaries. Exploitation was unnecessary – we could still have fashioned our free land without breaking every treaty, forcible conquest and exile, and maltreatment of cultures quite divergent from the European imports. Only repentance, economic repair, and humility can begin repairing this history. Yes, the Indigenous were not all virtuous, and one can argue that there were moments of violence perpetrated on colonists and settlers that were evil. But the proportionality is clear, and the Christian and Enlightened ideals of the (mostly) White conquerors were subverted by greed and racism.

Finally, our history has been punctuated with marvelous religious and social awakenings that further the cause of liberty, and enshrining freedom of conscience/religion in the First Amendment has made all religious communities stronger and self-sufficient. We remain one of the few nations in the world where anyone can peaceably start a religious community without permission from the government (unless you desire tax-exemption). Right now, we can assemble and practice our faiths with no interference from the state. Yes, there are complications and exceptions, but this remains the most enduring legacy of our American Experiment.

So, let’s raise a toast, and fall to our knees. Let’s celebrate opportunity and lament injustice. Let’s labor so all can flourish, and humbly ask for divine help. Happy Birthday, USA!

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First thoughts on Judge Kavanaugh

August 9th, 2018 |

First thoughts on Kavanaugh:
He is neither Messiah nor Antichrist.

His majority and dissent rulings as a federal judge show perspicacity and restraint and respect for the separation of powers. His appointment is not racist, sexist or xenophobic. His involvement with Starr in the 90s and later his defense of presidential power (during a Democratic administration) are part of a career marked by little controversy and should be seen in context.

It is important to remember that NO prior successful nominee has had to answer hypotheticals (Ginsburg, Souter, Thomas, Sotomayor), so expect some deflection when Roe v. Wade comes up. Also, the whining about “settled law“ is historical nonsense. 19th C. Courts gave us Dred Scott and “separate but equal” and fortunately these were later overturned. Our real crisis is a Congress (both parties) failing to do their job well, finding principled compromises for contentious issues.

He seems a decent, imperfect and kind person with basic integrity and a first-class mind. If religion is made a litmus test, we are violating a fundamental assertion of our Constitution. Feinstein’s horrendous, “Your dogma is strong…” is the last gasp of folks that think devout women and men cannot exercise sound judgment. What if Keith Ellison came up for nomination Progressives would decry conservative critique of his long involvement with the Nation of Islam as, “Islamophobic.” Why is Catholic-phobia tolerated?

I will share more during the formal hearings.

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Pre-Election Insights and Prayers

November 7th, 2016 |

Regardless of the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election, our national experiment in virtue-based liberty is in a fragile and fraying state, with unprecedented private and public anger. Thoughtful women and men are distressed that the major parties offer two such deeply flawed candidates. Journalistic bias and agitation propaganda have replaced careful research and measured writing. Lost in all of the presidential chaos are the important local and state elections that immediately affect citizens where they live.

I offer these prayers and reflections as a cri de coeur – a cry of the heart – for divine mercy and decisive repentance and renewal in all of us. Underneath the public scandals focused on money, sex and power are deep moral and spiritual ambivalence, with various elites perverting ethical values for their own ideological agendas.

There are three insights and three prayers I invite all to consider and confess as we prepare the election and the aftermath.

Insight One: We are dehumanizing and disintegrating human identity and wholeness. When we ignore biological gender, separate sexual intimacy from marriage and fostering the next generation and reduce identity to current erotic impulses, we are not progressing past religious restrictions. We are actually regressing into primordial impulses that ruin health, oppress non-conforming people and hinder productive life. When we separate “personal morality” from “public policy”, arguing that one can be messed up in private and still lead effectively, we are destroying the foundations of the common good and true liberty. Everyone should bring their whole self to their work, and allow their values to inform their actions and policies. I am not advocating religious tests or totalitarian uniformity of adult relationships. I am asserting that healthy people make better leaders.

Our prayer: “O God, Creator of heaven and earth and fashioner of humankind, forgive our pride and rebellion. Forgive our attempts to improve on your design and destiny. Help us rediscover the dignity, equality and uniqueness of each person and desire for all others the responsibilities and rights we affirm for ourselves. By your grace, empower us for work that expresses neighborly love, creates value and helps generations yet unborn to flourish. Help us to realize that your moral precepts are for our good and any restrictions of our behaviors are for our protection and ultimate fulfillment. Amen.”

Insight Two: We are so ideologically polarized that we are often missing creative solutions for seemingly intractable problems. Economic growth and opportunity include private investments and wise public policies. Rapprochement with Islam and the West must engage both the historic mistakes of colonialism and the rapacious history of Islamic empires and jihadist movements. Peace in the Middle East will never come until Muslim leaders can say the words, “Israel in the national state of the Jewish people.” We can balance the budget and pay off our national debt in a generation, if we will stop seeing wise stewardship as “starving children” and insist on best practices for all that manage the public trust. Urban transformation requires mobilizing servant-leaders from all fields and includes personal transformation and systemic change. Will we roll up our sleeves and serve, or merely keep accusing others?

Our prayer: “O Lord, forgive our arrogance, thinking we could solve every problem with human engineering. You invite us to cry out for wisdom and you promise to bestow it generously, if we come with humility. The signs of divine wisdom include peace, justice, courage and love, fostering harmony and generating hope. Lord, we need the ‘wisdom to do justice’ that Solomon requested as we navigate so many difficult issues, most of which we have generated though our varied intentions and actions. Help us seek you, listen deeply to one another and discover new ways to help people and communities flourish. Amen.”

Insight Three: We need a fresh vision of what personal, local, and national flourishing look like, especially in a global world where we are blessed and informed by so many cultures. This is not wholesale abandonment of the first principles of America’s Declaration and Constitution. In fact, a reaffirmation of the deepest values that informed our founders will help us define citizenship, national identity and liberty in a rapidly changing world. We must reaffirm the virtues of personal responsibility, healthy families, hard work, civil and religious affiliation and local civic engagement. We will not always agree on every definition and policy, but shared vision helps us forge a preferred future.

Our prayer: “Gracious and loving God, you remind us that without vision we will lose restraint and without a sense of purpose, we often compromise our principles. Forgive us, merciful Lord, for all the competing fantasies, the dystopian and utopian visions that do not align with your kind and loving desires for us. Forgive our focus on momentary pleasures at the expense of the coming generations. Transform our shortsighted lusts into loving service. Help us strive for excellence without perfectionism, and principled living with true toleration for other perspectives. How we need your help as we find new common ground for the common good. Amen.”

Our presidents, governors and majors are not messiahs. The finest laws fail without personal and community virtue. The best of our human nature is often corrupted by the worst of our fallen state. All of these insights and prayers are mere words without a thorough spiritual awakening rooted in the good news of Jesus Christ. When confessing Christians repent of compromise and begin compassionate service for their neighbors, such integrity overflows and blesses those that do not have the same religious commitment. When the common good is understood, alliances are formed and people of conscience find ways to work together. Even while we (with civility) argue about our differences (and they do make a difference!), we can act sacrificially for our neighborhood and nation.

May God grant us courage, love and wisdom in these days. Today’s discipline is tomorrow’s destiny, for by divine design, our decisions matter.

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