In the posts over the mosque in New York City various posters have responded to Father Orthoduck, accusing him of either relativism or theological liberalism. Father Orthoduck had to point out time and again that the issue was neither. The issue was the Constitution of the United States of America and the first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights. There is no other issue, as long as the people involved remain peaceful and obey the laws of the United States of America.
But, one of the charges that most interested Father Orthoduck was the charge that Christians do not behave like the Muslims and that when they are in charge they do not force themselves on people. Father Orthoduck must assume that most people who wrote that know little of the sadder facets of Church history. For instance, among many examples, let me cite just three:
1. The Inquisition as an instrument to maintain Roman Catholic power in Europe and wherever there were colonies that were controlled by a Roman Catholic country. The Inquisition lasted until the 1800’s in some countries.
2. The anti other Christian laws of England that prohibited anyone who was not a member of the Church of England from holding high public office. These laws were not repealed until the 1800’s.
3. The burning of a Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia in the 1800’s to prevent papism in this country. The burning was done by Protestants.
Now many of you will say that this was back then, but it is not now. However, recently the same thing has been happening in the USA. Just this year alone, in 2010, a mosque was vandalized in Texas, a mosque was vandalized in California, a mosque was vandalized in Georgia, a mosque was vandalized in Iowa, a mosque was vandalized in Michigan, a mosque was vandalized in New York, a mosque was vandalized in Wisconsin, a mosque was burned in Tennessee.
Now, Father Orthoduck can just hear the typical excuses. “The people who did that were not really Christian.” “The people who did that were simply extremists.” “The people who did that are misinterpreting the Bible,” and so on. Do you realize that when you do that you are using exactly the same language as moderate Muslims in the USA who keep trying to tell you that the jihadists are not really Muslim and that they are simply extremists and that they are misusing the Qu’ran?
There is little doubt that our extremists have yet to descend to the awful level of violence that the jihadists have used. But, our extremists have already begun using violence as a technique to intimidate Muslims. I have only reported on the mosque incidents. I have not reported on vandalized cars, feces smeared cars, physical and verbal violence against Arabs (whether or not they were Muslims) and so on.
The jihadists are murderers and evil people who have self-deceived themselves into thinking that they are heroes. Father Orthoduck’s fear is that sooner or later some of our extremists will drop one more level, from destruction of property and non-homicidal violence down into homicidal violence. Let us pray that this does not happen.
But, the point Father Orthoduck wishes to make is that there is current history, right here in the USA, of people claiming to be Christian and committing acts of violence. And here is what makes the comparison even more interesting. Just like in countries with strong Muslim populations, there are many Christians who have not abjectly and openly condemned those acts. Nay, there is a Christian population that has mildly cheered on the acts of violence, just like what happens in countries with a large Muslim population. Sadly, there is an even larger population of Christians that is against the violence but would happily change the law in the USA to permit the legal prohibition of mosques and even “non-approved” religions, just like in countries like Saudi Arabia.
So Father Orthoduck would say that we are not as far from them as we would wish. Let me repeat we are not where some of the Muslim countries are. But, Father Orthoduck fears that we are trending in that direction.
But of course, there’s nothing wrong with the way Muslims do things in their own countries.
Hmm, what part of, “The jihadists are murderers and evil people who have self-deceived themselves into thinking that they are heroes,” was unclear?
But, in one sense, the way the Muslims do things is indeed not relevant. This country was founded precisely as a rejection of the way that things were being done in other countries. Our ideal, that so many today have decided to forget, was to be an example to a different way to do things, a way in which one does have freedom of religion within very broad bounds, a way in which an American citizen cannot be forbidden his or her rights based simply on what is done in another country.
That is what the Religious Right is trying to change. They are trying to limit the Bill of Rights in ways that go completely contrary to our Founding Fathers.
I for one am against the vandalisms, if only because I am against vandalism in general, and also because the Muslims can play the martyr card and use it as leverage to bring in creeping shariah (footbaths in the UK, anyone?)