Faith Matters: For religious people, it is never about winning or losing — it’s about honor
Forget Genesis 34, that’s old school. Set aside Deuteronomy 22 and 28 as well — they’re from another time. Chapters 19 and 20 in Judges, the 13th chapter of 2nd Samuel, the 14th Chapter of Zechariah? Fuhgettabout it.
It’s all ancient history. In fact, most of it is allegorical metaphor, stuff our religious forefathers simply made up.
Besides, none of it should apply to a baby Christian, someone just beginning to understand their own words when they say, “When I drink my little wine … and have my little cracker …”
And if it doesn’t apply to him, it certainly shouldn’t apply to someone, anyone, he likes or appoints to serve as a lifetime role model for a large country.
I’m sure Jesus said that somewhere — or something like it, since he would have said it in Aramaic. And so it goes. And with it, drop by drop, our honor.
By the time you read this, it is highly likely that large country, the Christian nation in which you live, will be holding its collective breath with respect to its honor.
Let’s start with a few incontestable facts: Our nation and our state are primarily and predominately controlled by men. Mostly older, mostly white — I among them.
Men are entitled. It we don’t earn it, we take it. And we’re lauded for both. We call it being self-made.
Those mostly-white, mostly-males don’t want you looking too far back into their lives. Heaven knows, I don’t want you looking into mine. We believe, as men in control, there is a statute of limitations on how far back you can go in holding us accountable.
The Bible doesn’t agree (see the first paragraph), but the Bible doesn’t have much of a chance against money and power — two things we older white males have more of, and keep readily weaponized, to preclude our professed honor being sullied by somebody else, particularly a female.
These past few weeks, in fact these past few days, a few rightly righteous voices have wanted to take a closer look at the behavior of certain males — mostly older, mostly white clergy, especially including how they dealt with young people placed innocently in their care.
But at least the churches involved are, for the most part, showing some measure of decency, if not deference, in at least claiming to listen and in wanting to get things right going forward. It’s not a complete solution, but it provides at least some semblance of honor.
Other mostly-older, mostly-white males vested with trust have not even tried to offer a semblance.
A woman comes forward and claims she was nearly raped. She says there was drinking, that she feared for her life. One of the men involved is nearing confirmation of a lifetime appointment to a place of honor on the U.S. Supreme Court.
He, and his cohort, deny the charge, adding, besides, it was a long time ago. She says she still carries the emotional scars and passes a lie detector test. The men say they’re not lying. The President backs up his nominee.
If she is heard, half the hearing will be in the form of an attack. On her.
It will be, “She said, he said, she has nothing to lose, he has everything to lose, owing to his older while male status he should be believed, and why did she wait so long?”
None of which will consider, other than for a quick moment, what she then experienced, the safe places which did not then exist for her, and the lifelong pain which will, for her, never go away, regardless of whatever happens to him.
Like children years ago (and quite probably today) trusting themselves to the priests they’d thought were their protectors. Or like those Bible portions cited above.
Are we able to understand, in all of those cases, with respect to victims, we as a people don’t get off the hook by becoming dumb or pleading the passage of time. We test our honor.
What’s more, we put our honor on full display. Who and what we choose to believe in the face of facts and experience declares that honor. Particularly if we claim to be Christians — baby or otherwise.
For religious people, it is never about winning or losing, religiously, politically or otherwise. It is about our honor.
Remember, even Jesus’ disciples took turns at trying to be first among equals as they did their best to jockey each other out of the way. Don’t think so? Check Matthew 20:20.
Let us not be the ones about whom Zola wrote when he published the words, “J’Accuse …!”
The Rev. Dr. Robert D. Sichta is the Pastor Emeritus of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Bradenton, an open and affirming body in pursuit of a 21st Century Progressive Theology. They meet at 10 a.m. each Sunday at 241 Whitfield Ave. Faith Matters is a regular feature of Saturday’s Bradenton Herald written by local clergy members.