We gather to celebrate the wonderful freedom and opportunity that we enjoy here in the United States, but also to take opportunity to consider how that freedom calls for moral responsibility in various ways. Let me share a few things that are on my heart.
Few people seem to be aware that our Episcopal Church failed, by one vote of Congress, to become The Church of the United States. Being the state church in this country would have been a great honour, also a great burden. In their wisdom, the Founders instead decided that we should have a system of government in which there is freedom of religion but also freedom from religion. Every tradition and school of thought was to be respected, but there would be no coercion. Just imagine how you would feel as a hard-working taxpaying American citizen who is also a Muslim, a Jew, or Buddhist, or even secular, when you learn that your child's public school teacher is proselytizing for her Christian denomination. It happens. I have a Jewish friend whose son received a public school essay back marked with an "A" and also a notation asking "Are you saved?" We must reaffirm our commitment to the basic constitutional separation of the church and the state. We must do so in a spirit of mutual respect.
Another concern is that we seem to have slipped into the habit of making our religious values secondary to militarism. Today anyone who enters the Service and participates in combat becomes a "wounded warrior hero." That is reminiscent of the worship bestowed on Roman gladiators. We are perilously close to military worship. Don't get me wrong: I am a military veteran and I do appreciate all that veterans have done, but let us keep perspective. There is no sense anymore that an individual ought to exercise moral judgement as to participation in violence sponsored by our government. Our collect says that our nation "lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn." But how many times has our federal government supported murderous dictators who were allied to our national economic interests? How many times do we prop up a dictator one moment and depose him the next? How many democratically-elected leaders have we assassinated? Let us not be hypocrites!
Some people are so devoted to a particular political philosophy that they have managed to convince themselves that it is ok to bend Christianity to align with their pet tenets. Our bottom line in all these things must be that the Gospel stands above every other consideration and must be the lens through which we view and judge everything else in life. Otherwise, we are just playing at Christianity.
Have a wonderful Fourth, but stand strong in a faith that is confident enough to respect those who differ, that balances rights with responsibilities, freedom with obligation to the Gospel. That is our best gift to the Republic.
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