While I was wondering what was going to happen yesterday, I mean what new bit of repair might rise up at church. What was Mr. Antoniello going to tell me about the heating system in Westminster? (It turns out a distribution piece for the water pump needs replacing.) I did not expect the highest level of political polarization that we have seen in this country since the Civil War. Yes, I know that one of the members of Congress talked about the War of 1812 being the last time the Capital Building was occupied, but it was not for a lack of trying on the part of the Confederate states in the Civil War.
A woman died of gunshot wounds yesterday. Pipe bombs were found. At least one member of the mob, as he was dispersing at the order of the police, was heard to comment about needing rifles.
Political polarization. To use language like that is to be in the same category as calling Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles mounting nuclear warheads "Peacemakers".
So, I have a few observations to make.
The first concerns the mixing of religion and politics. Mixing Christian beliefs and motifs into electoral politics is as old as the country itself. But consider this: Are we, as Christians, presumed to be looking at what happened last night and somehow think that Jesus would permit, support, or condone such action? And if you believe that Jesus would not, as I do, there has to be a SERIOUS consideration of why Christian views and beliefs are included in political rhetoric. Is it a matter of faith or a matter of political expediency?
From what I watched, the closest direct link to Christianity that I witnessed in the coverage was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke of Epiphany in the reopening of the work of the House of Representatives and I saw that to be an invocation of peace.
The second is the perception of the response of law enforcement, especially in comparison to the presence of law enforcement at the Black Lives Matter protests that took place in Washington DC in the summer of 2020. To sum up what I have read, the response during the BLM protests might be described as "robust" while the response, at least in the hours that led to the invasion of the Capital, was "soft".
For me, this is represented mostly starkly in the deployment of the National Guard. There is a photo of the National Guard deployed in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the BLM protest, our soldiers equipped in camouflaged uniform, which is for battlefield deployment. Last night, they were in black vests, reserved for a different mission. According to Fox News, DC National Guard spokesman Capt. Tinashe T. Machona said "It is the traditional uniform worn during domestic support operations, including presidential inaugurations, the 4th of July celebration, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington last year." It is not body armor or a tactical vest.
Now one conclusion to be drawn is that the 'soft' appearance of the response was meant to counteract the images of the 'robust' appearance of law enforcement during the BLM protests. Because there was a 'robust' deployment plan in place last night. The acting head of the Justice Department spent the day at the Command Center in the FBI building where the Federal law enforcement agencies had gathered in preparation to deploy.
Another conclusion is far starker. This started as a 'white' protest so they got the 'soft' treatment whereas BLM was a 'black' protest and, in the racial bias of this national, they were met with a 'robust' presence.
What does this have to do with faith? Well, if we were to look at this as a test case on how the 'American civic response to protest' interfaces with the command that we love our neighbor, there would be some hard questions, divisive questions to be raised.
Thirdly, what about President Trump during all of this?
Well, Vice-President Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the highest ranking elected members of the Republican party, very clearly broke rank for the calm and peaceful transition of power to go forward, and not this civil disturbance, this violent protest, this domestic terrorism (I have heard all these terms used to describe the Capital takeover). There are also a lot of reports of the cabinet discussing the 25th Amendment, the Constitutional process by which a sitting President can be removed from office. Due of issues of appropriate content, Twitter shut down the President's account for 12 hours.
I have taken some time to look at what President Trump has said in regards to the Capital takeover. I invite EVERYONE to go and take a look at what he has to say. Decide for yourself what message the leader of our nation is supporting.
Finally, what should we do? I think we NEED to raise the level of Civic awareness in this country. What does it mean to be an American? What does it mean to participate in the democratic process? What does it mean to vote? What are the means of redress that we have when we do not agree with something? What is appropriate? What is absolutely NOT appropriate? Like violence.
I think we need a very serious understanding of the differences between being an American and being a Christian. To be a patriotic American is to understand and defend the Constitution of this nation. That is the vow and promise of our elected officials, our military, our peace officers, our newly naturalized citizens, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us.
To be a faithful Christian is something else. It is loyalty and obedience to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, as God come down to save us. It is to be united with a community of people far larger than then population of the United States. Obedience to Jesus is obedience to the law as Jesus shared it, love God and love neighbor.
One can be an American and a Christian, but one is neither an American because they are Christian, nor Christian because they are American.
Pray for the Nation.
Peace, Pastor Peter
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