These questions need to be thought through in light of the
Sacralist or anti-Sacralist position.
The waters are muddied because there are some Sacralists who
argue against the Pledge...because of its Socialist origins, not because
Americans are swearing allegiance to a 'nation under God.' They have no problem
with a Sacral pledge, just not that one.
Some wouldn't have a problem with it if the country was
cleaned up and made Christian. Because it's not at present, they (at this
present time) have a problem with it. Same with the motto on the currency.
Change the Constitution to acknowledge Christ...and then yes, 'In God We Trust'
belongs on the coins.
'We all know it means the Christian God,' they argue. Okay,
then it must be removed. This nation has no right, Biblical imperative or
sanction to enter into covenant with YHWH/Jehovah.
And if it's not the God of Scripture...then why would we as
Christians argue for it? Either way, I'll be happy when it's gone. Frankly to
try and pretend the US Dollar represents a nation and economic system that
'trusts' in the God of Scripture is a mockery of the Christian faith if not a
blasphemy worthy of antichrist.
If Sacralism syncretistic idolatry? Is it just another
representation of the false church in collaboration with Bestial power? The
whore on the beast? (Revelation 17)
Of course for many it's about getting a paid day off.
Christmas falls on Sunday this year and so now everyone has to get Monday
off...to insure getting a weekday off work. My won't the retailers be pleased!
Everyone will be off to the temples of consumption first thing in the morning.
How many Christians make so much noise about the
day...keeping Christ in Christmas and all that rot...but then skipped Church
today? Or perhaps their Church didn't even meet? How many Christian homes have
I been in that trumpet the cause and then fail to crack open a Bible on the
supposed holy day?
Navigating the law, society, the theological issues
regarding the state and the holiday...it's all something of a tangled mess.
Perhaps it would be better if the state just stayed out of
the religious holiday realm altogether?
Perhaps if employers treated their employees decently and
allowed people to have special days off then we wouldn't require state action?
You see Free Market Republican Christians like regulation (a
Federal Holiday)...a mandatory paid day off...when it suits their purposes, but
scream when it doesn't. I guess some want the stores closed and resent having to pay their employees.
I went to school with lots of Jewish kids. Hanukkah of
course lasts many days and yet some years it's all done before Christmas. They
never really got any of those days off. I'm afraid the Jews in general have a
better concept of living as a Pilgrim people than most Christians. For
centuries they lived in non-Jewish Sacralist environments... and they just dealt
with it. They prospered anyway. They kept their days and minded their own
business. Where they failed (aside from rejecting the Gospel) is in making
converts. They were salt but little light. We can't shut ourselves off into a
ghetto. My rejection of Christmas isn't Pietism, but I also reject the default
Transformationalism of American Evangelicalism.
The Jews don't clamour for the state to recognize Hanukkah.
Until the Holocaust happened, they generally speaking were not a people that
asserted themselves. Despite centuries of being an underclass and suffering
occasional persecution, they were hardly destroyed. They forged a strong sense
of identity. They knew very clearly there was an antithesis.
Incidentally the same may be said for many of the Medieval
Nonconformists. Society was Roman Catholic and Orthodox. They weren't looking
to take over, they just want to live out the gospel. As I mentioned in an
earlier piece, I like the opening scene in Fiddler on the Roof when Tevya
introduces the beloved Rabbi. The old man is asked...
"Rabbi,
is there a proper blessing for the Tsar?"
"Of
course. May the Lord bless and keep the Tsar....far away from us!"
Dominionists click their tongues at that line. I nod and
raise a glass.
The Jews maintained a Pilgrim identity and they sure had a
better sense of community. Pity that they've strayed so far even from the
Judaism of the Old Testament.
In fact from a sociological or anthropological standpoint,
their survival is quite remarkable. I reject the Dispensational teaching that
their survival is due to prophetic-based national revival. They are our
covenantally estranged spiritual cousins. They possessed the first oracle and
it's a glorious thing when they embrace the True Prophet. It's like the
prodigal coming home and a reason to rejoice. Providence has maintained them,
but in terms of the Revealed Will...they are the enemies of the Gospel. (Rom
11.28)
Dangerous words when spoken by a Sacralist! Theologically true
and with no threat of earthly violence when spoken by a Two Kingdom adherent.
I'm happy to have them as neighbours and if I employed Jewish workers...it
would be my social duty as a Christian to let them keep their days. It doesn't
mean I theologically would agree with them. But forcing them to keep Christmas
provokes wrath. Showing them humanity and love furthers the cause of the gospel
which what they ultimately need.
GO TO PART 3