In, but not of

The rise of the Religious Right was one of the more significant political stories in the last 20 years of American history. Unfortunately, its ultimate failure was preordained from the start, even if the moral and spiritual bankruptcy of the party it brought to power has only become widely understood in the last two years.

A desire to end the national abomination of abortion was the primary driving force behind the Religious Right's entry into politics. The theory was that electing a Republican president, House and Senate would lead to a pro-life majority on the Supreme Court. But 25 years and seven Republican Supreme Court justices later, no progress has been made on that front.

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In fact, from a national perspective, it is clear that an invisible counterforce has made far more headway than the great bogeyman of the Democratic Party's fund-raising letters. Gay marriage was not an issue in 1980, now merely halting its advance is hailed as a great victory of sorts. Divorce rates are down, but only because fewer couples are bothering to marry in the first place. Now it is not only God and prayer that are banned from the public schools, but the Boy Scouts and anyone else insufficiently enthusiastic about men inserting foreign objects – safely covered in latex, of course – into their rectums.

Who would have ever imagined, 25 years ago, that the very words "Christmas" and "Easter" would be banned by government bodies and assiduously avoided by soulless corporations? If every action inspires an equal and opposite reaction, surely it would have been better if the Religious Right had remained in the churches.

Many recent political and social developments are rightly considered unwelcome by any sane Christian, and yet, they are no cause for individual despair. For if the fate of the nation and the prospects for the freedom of its citizens are all but sealed already, these things matter little, if indeed they matter at all, when viewed from an eternal perspective.

Time and space, the scientists tell us, are an illusion. So, too, are the mass hallucinations to which so many Americans still cling, from "democracy" and the fiction of our money to the so-called rule of law. But some verities remain. Christians in America must remember what Christians living under governments from ancient Rome to Communist China all knew very well: Earthly authority is evil. This does not, however, mean that it is illegitimate, indeed, the Apostle Paul writes precisely the opposite on several occasions in the New Testament.

Consider this apparent dichotomy. In Romans 13:6, Paul notes that "the authorities are God's servants." And yet he later notes in Ephesians 6:12 that the Christian struggle "is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

But nowhere does Paul state the human authorities are good or that the spiritual authorities are illegitimate. Indeed, Jesus Christ never disputed Satan's ability to deliver on the promise to give him all the kingdoms of the world, if only he would bow down. So, we must struggle against God's servants?

This seems confusing, but perhaps a fictional example from "The Lord of the Rings" might help sort through the confusion. In the absence of Aragorn the King, the Steward of Gondor, Denethor, rules the White City. Denethor is not only mad, but he is arguably evil, being soft on Mordor as well as harboring a certain patricidal inclination. Does this make his rule illegitimate? As Paul would say, by no means! The evil Steward is still due the same honor and respect that is normally due the rightful king in his royal absence.

The key, I think, is that we are to give nothing that is not owed, and the Christian does not owe obedience to the state, but to God alone.

As the current president repeatedly insists, Americans live in a democracy, or possibly in the tattered remnants that remain of their former constitutional republic. Christians, however, are citizens of an eternal monarchy and they must never forget that loyalty to the Risen King always comes before any lesser loyalties.

Patriotic anthems notwithstanding, America is, like Rome, merely another fallen earthly power, and one day she too shall fall amid chaos and fire. Render her the honor and respect that she is due, but place not your trust in her. The way to the Father, after all, does not come through two-party systems and ballot boxes, but through the Son.