The Political-Right Get “Judeo-Christian Values” Wrong

In the American Culture Wars there are a number of trigger words and phrases used by Political-Conservative American Christianity. They are often used as weapons, but lack precision, context or accuracy; that is how they survive and perpetuate a perverse tradition separate from both Scripture and Tradition.  For example, one phrase used is: “Traditional Christian Family Values:” What are those precisely?  Does anyone ever read what Jesus says about the family before using that phrase?  Another trigger phrase is “Judeo-Christian Values.”  Again, what is precisely meant by this? It is an ambiguous term used by the political-right to add legitimacy to its so-called moral authority.  But what are some values held in the wisdom literature of these traditions.  Let us look at Ecclesiasticus:

My child, do not cheat the poor of their living, and do not keep needy eyes waiting. 

Do not grieve the hungry, or anger one in need. 

Do not add to the troubles of the desperate, or delay in giving to the needy. 

Do not reject a suppliant in distress, or turn your face away from the poor. 

Do not avert your eye from the needy, and give no one reason to curse you; for if in bitterness of soul some should curse you, their Creator will hear their prayer.

Endear yourself to the congregation; bow your head low to the great. 

Give a hearing to the poor, and return their greeting politely. 

Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor; and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict. 

Be a father to orphans, and be like a husband to their mother; you will then be like a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than does your Mother

(Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 4:1-10)

This is a most difficult saying, and I must admit I fail at it.  But this is what I see in Scripture, and recognize as our core Judeo-Christian Values.  This is a part of that which I strive to become (as do many Jews and Christians).  Proper, Healthy Religion transforms one to become a better human being; and in doing so more like the Divine.  I am typically politically neutral, and make it a point to have the ability to argue the point of both sides of the political divide.  But, what I will not tolerate is Christianity being hijacked by people claiming moral superiority at the ignorance of Scripture, and the neglect of those we are charged to care for.  When outsiders hear “Judeo-Christian Values” it should not be a herald of darkness and hypocrisy.  When outsiders hear “Judeo-Christian values’ they should know that justice, mercy and compassion is on its way…it should be a beacon of Good News to the oppressed.

"First You Decide, Then We Will Study."

In this two-part blog, I am going to talk about politics; well, sort-of, but not really.  In this two-part blog, I am going to talk about atheism and belief in God; well, sort-of, but not really.  What I am going to talk about is being human; something we can all relate to being.  I am going to talk about a spiritual/philosophical/psychological dynamic of being human which I am finding very curious these days.  I believe whole-heartedly that humans are more loyal to their own egos than to the truth; that humans can take very little reality without having to put their defenses up and say “no.”  There comes a point in conscience development when the mind stops accepting things as they are, and begins to try to bend them to how they are desired to be.  And, while I believe it is the job of philosophy and psychology to help diagnose and understand this phenomenon, I believe spirituality and psychology can offer a way out of the situation (if that is even desired). 

I begin with a story I heard in college: a man comes to a rabbi, and asks to study the Torah and Prophets.  The rabbi asks, “Why do you want to study?”  The man says, “Rabbi, I am trying to study all the religions because I want to see which one is most true.  So I am studying them all, and then I will decide on which is the most true.”  The rabbi said, “I will not teach you.”  The man upset asks, “Why Rabbi? I want to study, I am genuinely interested. Will you not teach me?”  And the rabbi answered, “No, first you decide, then we will study.”

I have always been intrigued by this story, and the rabbi’s demand: “first you decide, then we will study.”  And whether I like it or not that is how we as humans come to our knowledge as time goes on; we make a decision, and then we study.  The error of this order is obvious, but necessary in many ways.  Pre-conceived belief is an easier way for our minds to take in mass amounts of contradictory data.  Without a belief or beginning prejudice this process would almost be impossible. However, once one decides on a point-of-view, then one begins to see how information and facts help fortify that view.  Likewise, one sees more readily facts and information that attack or dismiss any opposing view.  In the long-run, without another opening up of the mind, the mind begins to be completely warped by prejudice or beliefs; and data collection will inevitably shut-down. What is worse, is that the ego begins to identify itself with the belief; or perhaps it is better to say, that the idea or prejudice becomes more of a matter of ego than truth: the ego's identity is in the belief.  To see the consequences, one only need to look around our world today.

For an example let us take our current Presidential race. Many many have decided long ago who they were going to vote for in this election (Was that necessary? Responsible?).  And once they made that decision, they usually only see data that confirms and conforms to their view or prejudice; likewise they dismiss any data that attacks their view.  Take a look and you will see Pro-Hillary Clinton persons see very little or nothing wrong with her.  Every bump in the road is a challenge she rose up against; she is not a messiah, but she is certainly on a pedestal.  Everything her opponents say, whether it is Donald Trump or Gary Johnson is wrong, and deserves condemnation.  Likewise, many who support Donald Trump laud him. They see that he does nothing or little wrong (and if he does it pales in comparison to the treachery of the opponents).  Likewise, they can see no good in either Hillary Clinton or Gary Johnson, both would literally “ruin” this country.  Supporters of Gary Johnson…well, I think my point is clear.  In reality, if we are honest, all three are human beings; and being human does mean that they are not 100% evil, or 100% great: those are abstract concepts, not human beings. Likewise, their supporters are not 100% evil or 100% good; again an abstract concept.  And what does it mean if one can honestly say they find NOTHING wrong with the views of their candidate, or NOTHING good about the views of the persons they are not voting for?

But we will explore this more in the second half when we correlate it to belief in God.  I leave the reader with a challenge: can you observe yourself apart from yourself?  Can you see and identify your beliefs and prejudices (whether good or bad) and how they affect the data and news you see?

9/11: Mourning Innocence Lost

Scrolling down social media walls on this day, one will not have to go far before one sees a meme with the picture of the twin towers saying “Never Forget 9/11.”  I see these memes and I see pictures of some of the flight crew members who lost their lives; I see the number of first responders who lost their lives (as if the lives of the other innocents are somehow a different loss).  I see bald eagles over the pentagon, American flags over the twin towers, I see some very thoughtful posts recalling where one was when it happened.  And as I look I have mixed feelings of extreme sadness mixed with a feeling that somehow it is all a fraud.  And so it got me thinking: why do we revere 9/11 so much? Are there any other holidays we remember or revere?  And what makes it different from other holidays or other sad events?

               

 The only other day that I can think comes close to having the same mournful reflection on a single event is Pearl Harbor Day.  Some might say Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day have a reverence to them, but I disagree.  First they do not mourn a single event.  Second, when you have car and mattress sales on a holiday, there is no real reverence.  Those days only matter to those who have lost someone in battle, or have someone they know who was in a battle.  When it comes to our culture as a whole, we do not revere these days.  So what do 9/11 and Pearl Harbor Day have in common?  Well, of course both were days in which we were attacked on our own soil by a foreign entity.  They are days when “They” attacked “Us” for no apparent reason.  It is my belief we remember these days, and we revere these days culturally because it supports our cultural tribalism, our nationalism; we even call today “Patriot Day.”  Nothing unites a nation like a common enemy, and nothing justifies violence like an attack on the innocent.  We need these days to justify our own violence.  Am I off?  Perhaps.

             

   If it is the loss of innocence we seek to mourn, then one could wonder why we don’t have other days of National Mourning and Reflection.  We do not have a day of mourning for the Oklahoma City Bombing, which was the 2^nd largest terrorist attack on “our soil.”  Why?  Timothy McVeigh was one of our own.  It really doesn’t add to our nationalist/tribalist pride.  How about a national day of mourning for the children killed in Sandy Hook, CT; could there be a more vivid example of innocence lost?  Or maybe the number is not enough.  How about a day to remember the innocence that were killed as a result of our military action in the Iraq War (which we justified because of 9/11)?  No? Maybe it is the number of American Lives; in that case why do we not have a day to remember those lives lost in The American Civil War, the war in which the most Americans died?  No.  Are we still obsessed then with American innocent lives?  Why not have a day to mourn those lives lost in the slave trade, in slavery, and in years of racist violence?  Of course we have Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but that celebrates the vision of a man, not the loss of innocent lives.  And then what about the loss of Native American lives and culture, should we not have a day to mourn them? Again, we can feel bad about it, but to take a day to mourn that loss may be a bit much.  

               

 Now, one might protest that we cannot mourn every sad event that has taken place, and I will answer you are correct.  But take note what days we do revere?  They are days in which we can with good conscience say, “They attacked us, and we will never forget.”  Forget, or forgive?  After 9/11 this nation was in fear and rage, and our leaders used that rage and fear to invade a sovereign country that had nothing to do with 9/11.  We didn’t care…we wanted revenge, and we have blood on our hands as a result.  9/11 has been used as the main reason for our “war on terror,” in which we have used drone warfare, bombing of other nations, and torture as methods to win our justified war. In this war, how many innocents have we killed going after suspected terrorists?  What is the moral ratio of innocent lives lost to suspected terrorist lives eliminated?  And how about our service men and women who fought?  How do we take care of them when they come home?  Nationalism preaches the greatest feat of heroism is to die for your country, and implicitly preaches the worst thing you can do is to come back damaged physically or mentally.  How we treat our veterans is a disgrace.  For many (not all) the memory of 9/11 fuels this blood lust, this vengeance, and this mentality that we are absolutely justified to kill them (whether innocent or not), because they attacked us first.

               

 And so that is why I mourn on 9/11.  I did not lose anyone on this day.  But to my generation, we lost our country as we knew it.  We lost it to blind nationalism, vengeance, and war.  We saws our values of due process and 4^th Amendment rights crumble.  Worse, we saw our nation do the same crimes to other nations that was done to us (we have killed innocent lives because of our own sense of self-righteous justice).  If it is innocence you want to mourn, then surely you are right to mourn this day.  For we became the killer of innocence too.  And the worst: through it all many cry “God Bless America?!?”  This can be absolutely justified if one is not a Christian.  But if one is a Christian, how could they utter such words after what we have done?

”But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn him the other also.”

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” –Jesus of Nazareth, Luke 5

               

 It is quite proper to reflect on this day.  But there is a profound difference between remembering and grieving; and for our national culture, I fear we use this day to grind the axe, instead of burying the hatchet.  And in doing so we betray wisdom and our values.  To those who lost family and friends on this day; the loss is incomprehensible, it is a daily pain, no holiday can take that away.  For those who were there, remembering is a healthy way to process, to heal, but again that does not need a holiday.  But as a nation, what are really doing on Patriot Day?