Soccer Mom: Unplugged

There are a lot of names being hurled at anyone or anything even remotely religious these days.  The so-called religious right in America is described as bigotted and backward and attributed every negative characteristic possible by an increasingly secular society.  Manger scenes have been banned, Easter eggs are becoming taboo and even those little crosses on the side of road that mark the tragic demise of a car crash victim are coming under fire. Often it feels as though anyone who admits to any religious devotion might as well just walk away from public discussion because once you are identified as a person of faith, you are suddenly considered ignorant, illogical and unworthy to participate in intellectual debate.  Heaven forbid you admit your convictions color your politics.  Such heresy!

The complete disregard for all things sacred and the irreverence of previous generations has spawned an atmosphere of absolute disgust for all matters of faith.  Even among those who tolerate the whimsy of the faithful, there is a sense that all things, especially piety must be taken with moderation, as if, like vitamin A,  too much were a bad thing.   Much of the  displeasure that Americans are feeling toward religion and religious devotees is a byproduct of the opposition that the religious right holds to many liberal and seemingly American ideals.

The faithful abhor unrestricted abortion, gay marriage, adultery, permissiveness, lasciviousness and all sort of freedoms that democracy would allow - if only for the will of a majority.  Why, after all, do we oppose such practices?  If individuals are enjoying personal and private freedoms, who are we to impede them their pursuit of happiness?  Some churches have even endeavored to 'keep up with the times' by changing policy and doctrine to allow for shifting political winds.  Why can't that darn religious right just let people explore unfettered freedoms?

The answer lies not in who we are or what we believe, but in who God is and how we perceive him.  As people fundamentally tied to the Judeo Christian doctrines espoused in the Bible, we believe that God is, was and always will be the ultimate authority on moral law.  What he says goes.  Whether or not you believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, one thing is for certain, Christians believe that God gave commandments and that he alone is the source who draws the line between moral and immoral.  If we go about changing those laws and supporting politicians who set about to redefine societal norms, then we pit ourselves against the Almighty.  Not an enviable position.  To do such undermines everything we believe.  When man presumes to define right and wrong and dismisses eternal edicts, he redefines God as an arbitrary, powerless, irrelevant being of little or no import and relegates Him to the realm of mythological creatures.  You cannot do that and still be a believer.  It's paradoxical.  Either He exists as He describes himself and we, followers, are bound to obey or He does not, in which case why bother with the pretense of ritualistic sacraments that have no meaning.

In essence, we do not oppose gay marriage (Fred Phelps is an exception here) because we hate homosexuals but because we believe in a designed, purposeful existence that includes marriage between a man and a woman and the raising of children, who are to be trained up in His teachings.  It is not because of who homosexuals are, but because of who we are.  We oppose abortion because we believe in the God who says He knew us before he formed us in the womb.  Whether or not you believe that, is not the issue, we do.  And because of who we are, we cannot help but oppose the practice of ending an innocent human life.

The religious right has become a stumbling block to many bits of liberal legislation and while the discourse is heated and often tempers flare, I ask those who do not believe to understand the magnitude of what you are insisting that we compromise.  To concede to the politically correct environment of our day and give our vote to those who would arbitrarily abolish the few vestiges of an earlier more religious American nation would be to turn our backs on God himself.  It would be abolishing God.

While some politicians and even many churches have sought a middle ground - a level of compromise - with secularists, the religious right cannot. To do so is to concede that God is but a figment and that man is his own supreme authority and that would be to worship at the altar of humanism. 

While there is no real consolidation of American religious zealots, among ourselves there is disagreement and often infighting, one thing is certain, we recognize the supreme authority of an eternal God while also respecting the beauty of the American Constitution and the noble concepts that were written into her.  We concede to the will of the majority and we fight within the system to alter those things that offend our moral sensibilities.  Do not make the mistake of thinking that we cannot intellectualize our positions. Or that we cannot understand yours.  But ultimately, in very real terms, giving secular ideals precedence over our faith is not about defining "sinful" behaviors or passing judgements.  It is about allegiance to the ruling authority of our lives;  a father, an exemplar, and a King.

We consider ourselves His subjects and pilgrims in a strange land but also consider ourselves compelled by His laws of integrity and morality to obey the civil leadership to which we are bound.  We render unto Caeser every time we pay our taxes and send our sons and daughters into battle and with each act of compliance to laws, even those that offend our religious sensibilities.  But we cannot and will not simply turn over our votes, silence our voices and walk away from the political arena.  There are things that we simply oppose.  And to be true to our faith, oppose them we must.