Copyright Signe Wilkinson, 07/04/2014
Copyright Signe Wilkinson 07/03/2015
We have two pictures of America in our minds this July 4th. One is the traditional image of hot dogs, parades, and remembering the events that led to the founding of this country. The other one is the image of an America that is tearing itself apart as it polarizes into two camps, neither of which represents a majority of the citizens of the USA. Both camps are trying to be the tail that wags the entire dog.
I posted the two cartoons above because they are both from the same editorial cartoonist. She drew one of them last year, the one that says “one nation, under fireworks.” She drew the other one this year. Look at the difference that one year has made. In the one from 2014, she pictures a nation united in spite of political differences. One nation is watching the fireworks. One nation is remembering its past. One nation is celebrating its future.
The one from 2015 is not nearly so sanguine. Our nation is pictured as two extremists fighting against one another while an increasing number of citizens are beginning to reject them both. There is no sense of unity in the picture, rather the sense that our nation is in a perilous plight, with both sets of extremists fighting over the flag, trying to claim that only their side is the true American side. Meanwhile, an increasing number of citizens find themselves alienated from the political process. Just one year has made that much of a difference.
Among the Orthodox, we have priests actively advocating for secession. Civil disobedience I do not mind, because there is a long American tradition of civil disobedience, particularly among the left. I actually find it ironic that the law and order right-wing has finally realized that civil disobedience can be a good thing. But, I do mind talk of secession. I find it odd that those who preach about Satan’s sins of pride and rebellion are the ones who are now preaching rebellion. Civil disobedience can easily be justified from Holy Tradition. From Joseph in Egypt to Daniel in Babylon to Peter and John before the Sanhedrin to the martyrs who refused to offer incense before false gods, there is a long history of civil disobedience in Judaism and Christianity. “We must obey God rather than men.”
What there is not is a long history of rebellion. The rare times that there is rebellion in the Scriptures, it is God-initiated. It is God that told Moses to go to Pharaoh. It was God that had the prophet Samuel anoint David as king, and even then he did not openly rebel, but waited for King Saul to die, lest he be guilty of rebellion against his sworn king. It was God who sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam to tell him to rebel. and even then, it was only after King Solomon’s death. Others there may be whom I do not remember, but generally it is God who approves the carrying out of his judgment, so that the one rebelling is actually carrying out the judgment of God rather than engaging in rebellion.
Much more often, from the Old Testament through the martyrs of the Church, civil disobedience is the route that is taken by the saints, lest they be guilty of rebellion. It is as though the Church is saying that it is better to personally suffer than to engage in rebellion. Moreover, this upside-down way (from the world’s viewpoint) of looking at things often has more influence than the violent approach. Frankly, what changed the view of Americans about segregation in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s was the peaceful campaign waged by African-Americans. The pictures of the bombings, the fire hoses, the attack dogs used against a non-resisting, but civilly disobedient, group finally overcame the inertia that prevented change. I will argue that the same thing could happen now, if the cause is truly just.
And, if the cause is truly just and change does not come, then it may be your lot to share the witness of the saints, the witness of those who are persecuted. Just make sure that you differentiate between persecuted and inconvenienced. But, what you must not to do without clear direction from God to rebel—and that direction is very very rare—is to advocate for rebellion. For to do so is the opposite of placing yourself on the side of God, or at least not the right way. The ends do not justify the means.
So, this July 4th, remember the Union. Remember also the saints who suffered rather than engage in rebellion. Finally, remember the saints who engaged in civil disobedience, yes, even including those who disobeyed in Selma, Birmingham, etc. They may not be saints in the technical Orthodox sense of the word. But, at the least, they are certainly examples of carrying out a committed Christian campaign of civil disobedience that brought change, respect, and honor to those who participated. Our own Archbishop Iakobos, of sainted memory, participated in those campaigns, thereby blessing their efforts. Our own Archbishop Demetrios recently participated in the funeral of those who did not resist being killed by a white racist, thereby blessing their behavior.
If we must refuse to obey, let us not rebel, but rather let us respectfully disobey. More important, let us separate ourselves from the political parties that would, and have, led us into non-Christian extremism in order to strive for the unity of the faith. Then we can become an example of, “in order to form a more perfect union.”
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