We stand for our God
I was watching and listening to the news this Sunday morning, July 17, 2016. A reporter was interviewing some of the supporters of the United States presidential candidate whose party is meeting in a certain Ohio city this week. One of the women, when discussing her views and why she supported this particular candidate, said, “We stand for God.” Immediately I thought, “Oh dear. Another person who has direct access to him, her or it.” I am always more than a bit suspicious of those who purport to have access to THE GOD as opposed to one of the many gods or sources of eternal truth and wisdom. I am also just a bit envious that I have not been one of those who has been chosen to be the earthly spokesperson for THE God. Even though my background is in the Christian religion and I was even ordained as a teaching elder (otherwise known as minister) in the Presbyterian Church, I always knew that one day I would be outed as a fake Christian. While I was particularly fond of the teachings of Christ, as I understood them, I questioned all that business about the strict requirements for being included in those who would be called on the judgment day. In fact I decided while writing my profession of faith to present to the elders who would decide if my faith and education qualified for this role of teaching elder that it was okay to focus on the easy going, unconditionally loving (except when he got a little frustrated and had a snit) teacher who folks I admired such as Martin Luther King seemed to use as a mentor. My concept of this teacher did not include the characteristics of exclusivity, jealousness, or judgment that seemed so obvious to many. Yet, I know that my overly simplistic understanding put me more in the camp of the God which Mark Twain chatted about in Letters From The Earth than it did of those “real or true Christians” with whom I had grown up and who I would encounter in the senior elders of the true church of the true God.
As a gay man who had yet to come out to himself much less to anyone else, I had already flunked the test. It would be many years before a majority of the voting elders of the Presbyterian Church would decide to include we non-100 % heterosexual sexually active members fully into the fold of even the teaching elders of the church.
The Southern Baptist Christian God with whom I grew up was dogmatic, all knowing about very specific issues of behavior, forgiving only if one was ashamedly repentant and self-righteously excluded the sinners unless the sinners repented and accepted “The Lord Jesus as their personal savior.” God was a very distinct personage who, although part of the Holy Trinity, was one and three, and did not share HIS throne with other Gods. There was certainly not room for the many, often fun living and adventuresome Gods of the ancient Greeks or the sacred spirit guides whose wisdom and loving guidance was available. Neither was HE available to the those more adherent to the Old Testament even though Jesus had been born to parents coming out of that tradition.
Obviously, Christians were not and are not the only ones who are convinced the God of their understanding has the one and only true word which does not allow room for the what they may term “infidels, unrepentant sinners, or the evil ones” who believe differently and, heaven help us, behave differently. Many other individuals are convinced that their particular God is the one true god. One can only imagine the Mark Twain dinner party which hosts all these various, jealous beings who are convinced that their myopic vision can exclude the imposters sitting next to them.
Truth be told I not so secretly envy those who are so sure that they have the correct email address of the one and only universal truth teller. I have often thought that it must be very comforting to live in such certainly that one merely has to memorize and obey the rules while condemning or, at the very least, pitying those who are destined to be left behind in ignorant shame, renting their garments so that they will catch the fire of the eternal damnation easier.
Obviously, since I am not one of the chosen to carry the mantle of truth, I will wander in the darkness of my verbosity hoping against hope that age will bring the wisdom of the one true God.
In fact, now that I think about it, that is probably why I did not get a personal email inviting me to the party in that Ohio city this week. Oh well!
Written July 17, 2016
I was watching and listening to the news this Sunday morning, July 17, 2016. A reporter was interviewing some of the supporters of the United States presidential candidate whose party is meeting in a certain Ohio city this week. One of the women, when discussing her views and why she supported this particular candidate, said, “We stand for God.” Immediately I thought, “Oh dear. Another person who has direct access to him, her or it.” I am always more than a bit suspicious of those who purport to have access to THE GOD as opposed to one of the many gods or sources of eternal truth and wisdom. I am also just a bit envious that I have not been one of those who has been chosen to be the earthly spokesperson for THE God. Even though my background is in the Christian religion and I was even ordained as a teaching elder (otherwise known as minister) in the Presbyterian Church, I always knew that one day I would be outed as a fake Christian. While I was particularly fond of the teachings of Christ, as I understood them, I questioned all that business about the strict requirements for being included in those who would be called on the judgment day. In fact I decided while writing my profession of faith to present to the elders who would decide if my faith and education qualified for this role of teaching elder that it was okay to focus on the easy going, unconditionally loving (except when he got a little frustrated and had a snit) teacher who folks I admired such as Martin Luther King seemed to use as a mentor. My concept of this teacher did not include the characteristics of exclusivity, jealousness, or judgment that seemed so obvious to many. Yet, I know that my overly simplistic understanding put me more in the camp of the God which Mark Twain chatted about in Letters From The Earth than it did of those “real or true Christians” with whom I had grown up and who I would encounter in the senior elders of the true church of the true God.
As a gay man who had yet to come out to himself much less to anyone else, I had already flunked the test. It would be many years before a majority of the voting elders of the Presbyterian Church would decide to include we non-100 % heterosexual sexually active members fully into the fold of even the teaching elders of the church.
The Southern Baptist Christian God with whom I grew up was dogmatic, all knowing about very specific issues of behavior, forgiving only if one was ashamedly repentant and self-righteously excluded the sinners unless the sinners repented and accepted “The Lord Jesus as their personal savior.” God was a very distinct personage who, although part of the Holy Trinity, was one and three, and did not share HIS throne with other Gods. There was certainly not room for the many, often fun living and adventuresome Gods of the ancient Greeks or the sacred spirit guides whose wisdom and loving guidance was available. Neither was HE available to the those more adherent to the Old Testament even though Jesus had been born to parents coming out of that tradition.
Obviously, Christians were not and are not the only ones who are convinced the God of their understanding has the one and only true word which does not allow room for the what they may term “infidels, unrepentant sinners, or the evil ones” who believe differently and, heaven help us, behave differently. Many other individuals are convinced that their particular God is the one true god. One can only imagine the Mark Twain dinner party which hosts all these various, jealous beings who are convinced that their myopic vision can exclude the imposters sitting next to them.
Truth be told I not so secretly envy those who are so sure that they have the correct email address of the one and only universal truth teller. I have often thought that it must be very comforting to live in such certainly that one merely has to memorize and obey the rules while condemning or, at the very least, pitying those who are destined to be left behind in ignorant shame, renting their garments so that they will catch the fire of the eternal damnation easier.
Obviously, since I am not one of the chosen to carry the mantle of truth, I will wander in the darkness of my verbosity hoping against hope that age will bring the wisdom of the one true God.
In fact, now that I think about it, that is probably why I did not get a personal email inviting me to the party in that Ohio city this week. Oh well!
Written July 17, 2016
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