There is a section in the President’s “remarks” at the National Prayer Breakfast that attracted a lot of attention. Out of context, I would be horrified by its assertions. In context, however, what the President said was neither incorrect, nor insidious. I find this a case where in order to make a religious-social-political point, those who are “in the know” miss the greater problem; that which is indeed insidious. To quote from the transcript:
“So how do we, as people of faith, reconcile these realities — the profound good, the strength, the tenacity, the compassion and love that can flow from all of our faiths, operating alongside those who seek to hijack religious [sic] for their own murderous ends?”
All faiths are not equal. All ‘gods’ are not benevolent. We cannot, for the sake of our own ends, recreate reality to suit what we, as our own gods, would prefer it to be at the moment.
The trouble with us is us.
The President did say that pretty well:
“Our job is not to ask that God respond to our notion of truth — our job is to be true to Him, His word, and His commandments.”
The question is begged, “What is that truth of which the President speaks and where does one find it?” “Can we find truth equally in every ‘faith’ or is one faith superior to the other?” “Is every ‘God’ the same, or are there irreconcilable differences between the deities worshiped by persons on this planet?”
The practice of Universalism is insidious. It is rejected by the overwhelming majority of “people of faith” simply because it confesses what most people instinctively know to be wrong: We can find the place of peace if each person does what is judged right by their personal understanding of their own god.
Why should we even expend this effort toward peace? Because, to use the President’s words again, “…God compels us to try.” Do all gods compel people to try to be at peace with each other? Recorded human history screams an emphatic, “No.”
The God I serve does not compel me to ‘try’ but rather replaces my own wicked, violent, selfish, heart with His heart. The God I serve reserves justice as His exclusive right and compels those entrusted with meting it out on His behalf to do so in fear and trembling. The God I serve didn’t rule by edicts sent from somewhere in the ‘omniverse,’ but walked among His creation and knows first-hand how we treat each other. Love, for the God I serve, is not some esoteric notion to ‘be nice to others.’ His act of taking my own active declaration of extreme arrogance and vile rebellion and paying the final and full price for the damage I do is unlike any other god. The God I serve tells me to ‘love my neighbors’ not because I agree with them or because their ‘religion’ is equal to mine, but because He loves them.
Read the President’s remarks in their entirety. We really have only our own laziness to blame for not making the effort to spit out what is fed to us ‘pre-chewed’ and instead carefully pursuing Truth.
