The evening of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Jen and I were watching the news and were both reacting to the early calls against “politicizing” the mass casualty event. I was thinking about how many Christian people line up behind easy access to guns as a voting priority. I remarked to Jen that it sometimes seems, to me, that large portions of American evangelicalism have ceased to be a Christian religion, and, instead, have become a form of idol worship. The idols are the American flag and guns, and one of the rituals of the idolatry is child sacrifice. It has become clear to me over the last few days that I am not the only one thinking this. I have come across articles and editorials presenting similar ideas. I remember learning about various ancient religious customs that included child sacrifice. Like others learning about such things, the concepts carried a kind of feel of terrible, psychotic, ancient and horrifying evil. The assumption was that we were far past such things.
My prayer, after the shooting in Uvalde, stemmed from the thought that perhaps we are not. As I heard Ted Cruz offer his explanations of what would stop such shootings, and as I heard Tucker Carlson describe Joe Biden as a bitter, angry, frail old man using the murder of children to divide a country, I felt as if I was hearing the high priests of an idolatrous system tell us why things can’t change and who is really to blame. The high priests know that it is all an idolatry, but their wealth and status depend on continued allegiance to the cult, so they tell the masses that it must be protected at all costs.
I felt uneasy about accusing people who think differently than me of idolatry. I did not want to fall into the danger of thinking that the problem in the world is other people, people different than me. As I prayed from this metaphor of idolatry, I hoped that I would be able to not only pray in one direction - only pray against THOSE people.
I asked a friend, who has become a spiritual advisor, about this. He told me that he thinks there is something in the child sacrifice metaphor and added a thought that has informed my praying: “I suppose that is what some right-wing people who are against the right to abortion think. They maybe would say that the values of the nation include a willingness to sacrifice children.”
I am not advocating a political position on guns or on reproductive rights in this reflection. I have my personal opinions on the matters, but I am presenting these thoughts to try to help us see that many of the views we hold, that we identify as political, are actually theological and religious and sometimes idolatrous.
Changing our religious views, or accepting that others have different religious views than we do, requires self-reflection and criticism. How might the other side view my “faith”? If people wanted to describe my faith as dangerous how would they do so? How do I do the same to them?
I do think that guns and the American flag may have become the real objects of worship in Christian nationalism, but I am praying that WE would be strong enough to consider where WE are idolatrous. Christian faith, like humanity in general, has always been prone to idol making and idol worship. This is not new. It is never only the other side that has idols.
Dear God;
It is beyond upsetting to hear of what happened in Uvalde. How do we overcome our idolatrous tendencies and who might help us to do so? The people who think just like I think have not always been the most helpful people in my spiritual growth. I need to be helped by people who think differently than me. I have a question I’d like to ask you. Have you abandoned us to our idolatries? Are you willing to let us pay such an unthinkable price?
Lord, have mercy.
Amen.
Todd thank you as always for your perspectives. I love that you actually put in time to examine these many issues that appear to be gross misinterpretations of God’s word.
Any thought of child sacrifice is horrifying and the minds that would support this are twisted, sad representatives of Christian values.
When my husband and I were in Rome nearly 20 years ago we took notice that the elementary school directly across from our hotel was surrounded on all sides by a very tall chain link fence.
I would guess that the fence was 8-10 feet tall. Had I wanted to enter the school grounds it would have been pretty much impossible. The image has stayed in my mind. The children in that school were being protected at all costs.
Well-said. Sad as well. Shared on FB and Twitter.....Might get some folks thinking a little deeper.....