“God, the Gospel and Mr. Glenn Beck”
As you probably know, this past Sunday there was a quasi-religious gathering in DC, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, led by conservative political commentator, Glenn Beck. There is an excellent article on this by Russell Moore of Southeran Baptist Theological Seminary, “God, the Gospel and Mr. Glenn Beck”: http://www.russellmoore.com/2010/08/29/god-the-gospel-and-glenn-beck/ I suggest you read it but I do not think you need to to hopefully make sense of my remarks below on this article:
This past Sunday there were actually two marches/rallies: one led by Mr. Glenn Beck and the other by the Rev. Al Sharpton to protest Mr. Beck’s rally to bring the nation back to God. Both men have now positioned themselves as religious figures and obviously the one conservative and the other liberal.
Years ago, a dear friend and colleague, now of blessed memory, said to me in a political and religious discussion: “The political liberals and conservatives are simply trying to see who will be America’s chaplain…I think the conservatives may win, but it doesn’t matter.” In the wake of the utter demise of American mainline Protestantism as our de facto civil religion, by both post-modernism and it’s own hand, (cf. article, “The Death of Protestant America: A Political Theory of the Protestant Mainline” by Joseph Bottum, originally in First Things, posted here: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8381), Mr. Bottum makes the convincing case that we should not be too exuberant on the demise of the old civic religion. I think it has left in it’s wake a vacuum in the now naked public square and literally marching into the void are self-appointed leaders, left and right, to show us the way, their way. On Monday, after the rallies, Rev. Sharpton was interviewed on the Today Show and towards the end he said, “We are going to transform America to make it one.” I think the demagoguery in that statement is frightening. But I so is Mr. Beck saying, “We are going to take back America” or “restore honor to America”. The old civic religion knew from the Bible the doctrine of original sin: the Latter Day Saints know nothing of it, and I would also guess Rev. Sharpton. They know nothing of that doctrine and are ostensibly building the Kingdom or actually, their own, thinking, hey, we’re good…and that’s the worse statement a group of sinners can make. We’ll make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered said the people on the plains of Shinar.
So, I partially disagree with my dear friend’s comment, “…but it doesn’t matter”. It matters to the point that both movements raise the specter of political tyranny. In the Lutheran understanding of the two kingdoms, to pursue and use the penultimate authority and power of the left hand kingdom to bring about the right hand Kingdom invites both confusion and the prospect of fascism, left or right. I know I am probably overstating my case but as the saying goes, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”.
Russell Moore’s call to return to the Lord’s call to His Church as the place and time of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus Christ is meet, right and so to do. No, being “salt” and “light” are not immediately persuasive political action, but, as silent as light, they preserve and save. G.K. Chesterton had it right: ““If salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?”…If the world grows too worldly, it can be rebuked by the Church; but if the Church grows too worldly, it cannot be adequately rebuked for worldliness by the world.”
Tags: Luther's theology, politics, religious movements, Two Kingdoms
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