Easter
approaches with its egg hunts and colorful dress and the festivities of people
celebrating bunnies and cashing in their Easter coupons on online shopping and at
the mall.
Holy
Week is here too with its shadows of darkness, its Last Supper where cowardice
and betrayal transcend devotion and trust. The disciples never really understood
what Jesus had in mind. Many of them still don’t.
I
often worry that all of his teachings on kindness and generosity and love remain
on the Cross beaten and dead to his followers; all of those wise and difficult
truths; all of those calls to deeper living crushed by selfishness and fear, by
greed and prejudice and the lust for power.
The
governor of Indiana and his legislative devotees have passed a brutal law primarily
against the LGBT community shallowly disguised as “religious freedom.” Arkansas legislators came up with an even more appalling law with even worse prejudicial intent.
Why are these discriminating laws necessary?
We
have the United States Constitution which certifies religious liberty for all of
our citizens. But that of course is never enough for some within the political
and religious community. They demand control. They apparently are not
interested in freedom for everyone. But their bigotry cannot be hidden within
God talk. Their hate for gays and other minorities cannot be turned into some
kind of “protection for Christians.” Their contempt for people not like them is
as glaring as a bloody Christ mocked and crucified.
The
use of Christianity as a way of making abhorrent actions and crudely ignorant
theology acceptable and even respected is the work of manipulative and deeply
disturbed people. What poses as religious devotion in this country is too often
little more than a thin veneer covering loathing and the scorn of others.
Is
this what Christ died for, to make his followers rigid keepers of moral rules
that hurt and divide people? Did he give his life for intolerance, for
bullying, for preening self-righteousness, for keeping people in their poverty,
for damning people for the way they were born, for breaking hearts and marring
beautiful lives with cruel labels and crude talk and obscene pretentiousness?
Is
the Cross a symbol of love or a weapon wielded by politicians and religious fomenters
and small-minded believers to exact pain, to judge, to condemn, and to dismiss
those they disagree with?
Where
in our Easter celebration is there any room for open hearts, for grace, for
generosity and the affection of Jesus?
“Today
you will be with me,” he said to the thief on the cross beside him. A convict.
A criminal. A law breaker. A nothing. And yet, included by Jesus.
Shouldn’t
followers of the crucified Jesus welcome all humanity whatever their sexual orientation?
Shouldn’t
followers of Jesus today, without discrimination, embrace broken souls and bring them into their circle of support?
Shouldn’t they openly include those shamed and bewildered by their crumbling
lives; those lost in some psychological wound; those in spiritual crisis; those
hurting from prejudice from being hated because of who they are?
Can
you truly follow Jesus in your life and exclude anyone?
Author Dan
Barker has written, “Love is not self-denial. Love is not blood and suffering.
Love is not murdering your son to appease your own vanity. Love is not hatred
or wrath, consigning billions of people to eternal torture because they have
offended your ego or disobeyed your rules. Love is not obedience, conformity,
or submission. It is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority,
punishment, or reward. True love is respect and admiration, compassion and
kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.”
That’s pretty good stuff coming
from an active atheist. It sounds to me like what Easter is supposed to convey.
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