Palm Sunday is a day of ironies. Jesus comes into Jerusalem amid accolades and during the course of the week many of the people who cheered him on Sunday would jeer him on Friday. He would enter the city in triumph and be executed by Friday. The words of slaves to the conquering heroes in Rome is remembered, “All glory is fleeting.”
Of course, for Jesus, the real glory was still to come. On Sunday he’d return and new hope, new dreams, and new expectations were the order of the day. Hope and glory came alive in the midst of chaos and confusion.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayers for all of us, ‘that they may all be one.’ It was a fervent prayer among those closest to him and, I suspect, many of them were bewildered. They were all one at the time. What was Jesus referring to?
If you lived in Indiana last week you had a bird’s eye view of Jesus’ concern. To say that Hoosiers were not all one and are not all one is an understatement. A bill on religious freedom was passed and to say the bill caused an uproar is an understatement.
The bill is like a 1993 Federal law that limits the government’s power over religious practices, thereby giving people of faith the right to worship and practice their faith in the way they see fit. It was feared toward minority religious groups, most specifically at the time, Native Americans and their usage of peyote during religious ceremonies.
The freedom of religion protects a wide variety of people. The Amish believe children should only be in school until the 8th grade, age 14. Most states require students to remain in school until age 16. The Amish are exempt. They are also exempt from Social Security based on religious needs. They have traditionally been exempt from serving in the military because of their pacifist beliefs.
Churches traditionally have chosen the weddings they wished to perform or not. Some churches will not officiate at second or third weddings for divorced people. The Roman Catholic Church will not officiate at the wedding of a person who has been divorced if they have not received a church sanctioned annulment. In areas where the marriage of same sex couples happens to be legal, some churches will bless those weddings, others will not. We have all enjoyed these rights for years and nothing on this has been changed.
The Indiana law is somewhat vague. Its stretch seems to be concerning businesses being protected from serving those who they believe violate their religious practices. Though the bill does not address anything in specific, many supporters have spoken about bakeries and florists serving same sex couples or not. By its wording, it would appear that it also protects Anabaptist businesses who refused to serve members of the armed forces or armed law enforcement professionals. The reach of the law is pretty wide and the vagueness of it probably won’t be worked out until people use this as a defense and it’s challenged in court.
I’m distressed that many people perceive this as a right to discriminate and they are pointing to Christianity as a religion of discrimination. Jesus was the ultimate friend of the poor and the outcasts. To me, anyone who discriminates against anyone for any purpose is not following the teachings and the spirit of Jesus Christ. People who discriminate in the name of Jesus are doing so very much in discord with their own faith.
Something that is heart breaking to me is that politicians have a tendency to work hard to divide people. If the efforts by the politicians in Indianapolis did anything, they divided people of the state of Indiana is major ways-----and in other ways they didn’t.
One good thing that has happened is that business leaders and people all across the state have spoken up and said that we will not discriminate against anyone for any purpose. A restaurant owner in Indianapolis called in a radio show and said he would discriminate and has discriminated against people, and the man showed his courage by refusing to identify his restaurant. He KNEW that Hoosiers would not go to his business. Down deep we all know what is right and what is wrong. The people of Indiana will not tolerate discrimination and this law is not going to change that.
To me, in difficult times, I always find myself coming back to Christ. Jesus, the one who loved us enough to come among us, to live, to teach, to die, and to return is always our hope. Thomas Merton once wrote, “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.”
As for me, I celebrate my religious freedom. I don’t think we needed this particular law at this particular time in this particular context. There are good and decent people who disagree with me. My attitude toward them is to love them without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.
For those who disagree with the law, I will love them without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.
In this holiest week of the year, amid the chaos and swirling of vitriol, let us stop and be still and embrace the presence of God in our midst, and love another as Christ has loved us, without stopping to inquire whether or not others are worthy of that love.
1 comment:
I was wondering if anyone else noticed this law was signed on the Christian holy week. I'm a Pagan, been so for 35 years and yes I am also an American. So for me this law raises some serious concerns for me. Frankly it feels a bit like the Christian Dominionism type of tactic.
I find it ironic and hypocritical that these Christians want religious tolerance for their religion while they deny the same for others, including people like me. When I first became a Pagan I was a Wiccan in high school-- in 1979 before Buffy and Charmed, and south of the Mason Dixon Line. I wasn't as bullied as much as some kids are today, but I felt the isolation, the shunning as if it was a physical injury. As it stands today I am too cautious to wear my upright circled pentagram in public, nor do I dare tell my employer I am Pagan. There is a study, BTW. about Pagans and the workplace that you can read about here:
http://wildhunt.org/2015/03/column-religious-discrimination-in-the-workplace.html
I know about some Christians attitudes about other religions. My money is as good as a Christian's, so why should I be denied buying something because I am something the business owner doesn't like?
Oh and BTW, the last sentence I wrote above reminds me of the Christian " End Times' Biblical " prophecy" of no one can buy or sell without the "mark of the beast." Another irony.
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