Confident Theological Leadership, NOW

Now is the time when American Jews and Christians of all denominations, and especially their ordained priests, ministers, rabbis and leaders, need to perform a gut-check as to their theology and faith, and find the moral courage to step up and speak with clarity and act with unanimity as to good and evil, and right and wrong. That means at a minimum rising as one to vote on November 2nd so as to rid the nation of godless intellectualism in the Political Class (read, mostly: Democrats), but it will require a steady commitment to stay in the fight.

Far too many American Jews and Christians of today have grown up with the idea of ‘separation of church and state’ as some sort of sacred principle that is itself part of Judeo-Christian theology. The result is an ingrained, habitual retreat to the sidelines as to all matters that could remotely be categorized as ‘political’, justified through some high-minded misinterpretation of rendering ‘unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’. This retreat is as unwise as it is unjustified.

We may not like the queasy feelings it brings to our stomach, but we have to face a simple fact: the Soros/Obama/Reid/Pelosi agenda is a direct assault on Judeo-Christianity, with an unmistakable end goal of wiping it out in America and the world. That is what is going on; that is what is at stake. That is what needs to be defeated and destroyed.

Many, many Jews and Christians do see this; unfortunately, they are much more of the rank and file than the more visible spokespersons. The so-called leaders of Jewish sects and Christian denominations are much more timid and uncertain; they have been effectively neutered by decades of political correctness into wanting to go along to get along, to ‘hope for the best’, to find a way to maintain popularity (and financial viability). The problem of evil, and the need to confront it, just gets in the way of ‘prudence’, and the hostility encountered from speaking out clearly is just too hard to deal with.

That’s why an understanding of American history and human history is so important.

America is the not the foundation of Judeo-Christian teachings; Judeo-Christian teachings are the foundation of America. American exceptionalism did not arise as a mere coincidence, but as a direct result of its foundation. American honor and decency and goodness (which Glenn Beck is calling on to be restored, starting with this weekend’s rally), can be posited intellectually as the outcome of any number of geo-political or socio-economic factors, but it is traceable and understandable only in relation to America’s Judeo-Christian foundation.

Opposition to America, and the efforts to destroy it--whether from without or from within--have always been about opposition to Christianity. Those efforts have been no more or less hateful, and no more or less irrational, than the efforts to oppose and ultimately destroy Christ Jesus.

Those who would wince at such a statement, and see it as some sort of simplistic mysticism or superstition that needs a slap in the face to get back to the real world, are really the ones in need of a slap in the face, and a fresh look at history.

Jesus was tried and killed by the state because his teaching, and the healing results of that teaching, upset the established order, and denied the supremacy of human authorities and material laws. He wasn’t killed by Jews per se; he was killed by those whose position and influence were most threatened by his existence and teaching.

America is of course not a person who can be identified, singled out for trial, convicted and executed (though the UN and/or The Hague surely wish that it could). But America’s ideals derive from Judeo-Christian teaching, upset the established order, and deny the supremacy of dictators, kings and their orders and decrees. Hatred and irrational opposition have followed, and will continue to follow America so long as it hallows and follows its Judeo-Christian ideals.

Where could we use some confident American Judeo-Christian theological leadership? For starters, here are three areas:

1. Marriage and family. Marriage is between one man and one woman, and children are to be the outgrowth of marriage. Stability in society and civilization depend on honoring of these basic, bedrock Judeo-Christian teachings. It shouldn’t be hard to say so, and with unanimity. Saying so does not constitute bigotry or homophobia; it is simply a voicing of truth that lifts everyone out of lies. Legitimizing homosexual marriage is about legitimizing the identification of men and women as first and foremost animal creatures defined by sensual, sexual identity and appetite. That’s not what Jesus taught about the nature of men and women.

2. Islam doesn’t fit in America. Never mind that some mosques exist in the US, and some Muslims have peacefully assimilated into American society. The issue isn’t the people who call themselves Muslim; it’s the theology that makes Deity into an irrational, hateful, arbitrary, women-oppressing tyrant whose children are his ‘likeness’. America is one nation under a much different God. These differences matter; there is no middle theological ground; and if life is to include liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is not going to be about submission or accommodation to sharia law. There isn’t a bridge to be built between these irreconcilable theologies; one must prevail, and for the health and betterment of all humanity, that one is the Judeo-Christian theology that undergirds America.

3. Secure borders are an imperative. Borders symbolically are lines of clear demarcation, and physically they need to be protected so as assure that the points of difference on one side are preserved against that which would corrupt or despoil them from the other side. America’s Judeo-Christian teachings regarding marriage and family, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law and not of power, and the primacy of Judeo-Christianity itself—all these need to be preserved and protected, and marked by clear lines of demarcation, figuratively and physically. Arizona is doing the right thing, the American thing, and the Judeo-Christian thing on this issue.

The heart and soul of Judeo-Christian America is right in step with each of these points, and constitutes the bedrock majority of the people of this nation. As is often the case, the people are way ahead of their leaders. Confident Judeo-Christian theological leadership needs to rise to meet this need, NOW.

Paul Gable

August 24, 2010