The loss of special privilege is not persecution.
Let me say it again: The loss of special privilege is not persecution.
Furthermore, the loss of religious privilege is neither religious persecution nor an infringement of religious liberty. Rather, it is an honoring of the American ideal that no religion will receive special government patronage.
Unfortunately, this failure of basic logic is a major source for confusion and poor political posturing among the conservative block of America Christianity.
It also is symptomatic of the way in which too many Christian leaders hunger for dominance over our public life, believe that they know what’s best for everyone, and don’t really trust the Holy Spirit’s ability to hold his own on a level playing field.
All of these political, spiritual, and logical shenanigans were on full-blown, gory display in the Rose Garden on Thursday when president Trump read his Proclamation on the National Day of Prayer and then signed his Executive Order on the Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
According to the Religious News Service, Trump’s executive order “aims to give faith groups a stronger voice within the federal government and serve as a watchdog for government overreach on religious liberty issues.”
What’s wrong with that? Well, a number of things:
First, let’s recall that we have traveled this road several times before, and it has never turned out well. Required reading for all of today’s faith-based enthusiasts should be David Kuo’s book, Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction. Kuo was the Deputy Director of the
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush. He offers a moving confession of political seduction and “a heartfelt plea for a Christian reexamination of political and spiritual priorities.”
Washington D. C. has not changed, and I very much doubt if anyone in the Rose Garden last Thursday either remembers David Kuo or has read his book of confessions.
Furthermore, the current crop of evangelical advisers — the “court evangelicals,” as Professor John Fea aptly labels them — appear even more eager than their predecessors (if that were possible) to sell their ever-lovin’ souls for that much coveted “access” to the devil’s own hallowed halls of power.
Get ready to watch history repeat itself and the Christian church be publicly shamed again and again.
Second, if you have read Trump’s Proclamation, or if you listened to his speech, I hope you noticed that it had as much to do with Jesus Christ, the gospel message, or the kingdom of God as a tea-teetotaler at an Irish wake.
There was absolutely nothing particularly Christian about any of the glad-handing, obsequious antics going on at that pompous affair. A sure sign of things to come.
In fact, it was a full-out, no-holds-barred display of America’s false gospel of civil religion, pure and simple. Followers of Jesus Christ have no business signing on to such spiritual quackery, much less “praising the Lord” and 
polluting the Body of Christ with its deceitful promises. (I unpack all of this anti-Christian messaging in my new book, I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st Century America).
Of course, I recognize that the best way to safeguard any religious expression in America is to protect all religious expression in America. So such Executive Orders must be generic. I enthusiastically applaud religious freedom for everyone — including those who choose not to believe — in our country.
But that is not my problem. My objection is two-fold.
First, I believe that evangelical lament about religious persecution is a Trojan Horse being used to promote their agenda of evangelical superiority and control over public policy (more on this in a future post).
Second, as a Christian, and an evangelical one at that, I believe that the public embrace — which is a public endorsement! — of civil religion is a form of idolatry. It is a betrayal of the good news of Jesus Christ.
As an American, I applaud the reaffirmation of religious liberty for all religious groups in this country.
But, as a citizen of God’s kingdom, I have no interest in confirming others in the validity of their prayers to a deity other than the heavenly Father of our crucified, resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus.
THIS is what followers of Jesus Christ ought to care about most deeply!
Neither Trump’s Proclamation nor his Executive Order will provide a diddly-damn’s worth of influence towards advancing the kingdom of God in this world.
So why are “Christian” leaders applauding presidential edicts sanctioning policies and actions that could deceive the very people who may actually be searching for the answers that only Jesus Christ can provide?
Power and privilege. It is all about the acquisition of power and privilege.
Finally, we return to where I started — the disentangling of religious privilege and the perceived threat of religious persecution.
Christian radio and television have managed to brainwash many evangelicals into thinking that if Christianity is not sitting at the head of a government table, then their religious freedom will be violated. (Read my earlier post on this subject).
For instance, take the long-standing debate about prayer in our public
schools. Evangelicals have long insisted that, unless there is a specific law sanctioning their prayers in public schools, then they are experiencing oppression at the hands of government.
We might call this the cry-baby approach to religious liberty in America.
I grew up in public schools, and no one ever stopped me from praying inside the building whenever I chose to. In fact, I have never needed a law specifically sanctioning my approach to personal spirituality anywhere in public. (My children also attended school in a nation with mandatory religious instruction. I had to deprogram them after each indoctrination session).
But, then, religious freedom is not really the point of the prayer debate.
The real point is that evangelicals want a bigger piece of the public policy pie, which they will use to wield greater power over what is acceptable and unacceptable in public discourse.
I fear that this is the motivation behind a portion of Trump’s Executive Order which says its purpose is “to reduce…burdens on the exercise of religious convictions and legislative, regulatory, and other barriers to the full and active engagement of faith-based and community organizations in Government-funded or Government-conducted activities and programs.”
In other words, the point, in
part, is to make it easier for future Hobbie Lobby-type companies to force their employees into abiding by the employer’s religious convictions. In the case of Hobby Lobby, it was to deny female employees the sort of health care coverage that would pay for their choice of contraception, despite the fact that these employees are not necessarily 
Roman Catholic.
Folks, it is all about power and privilege. Power and Privilege.
Other illustrations could be listed, but this one must suffice. (I also suspect that this new Executive Order is another feature of the long-term Republican strategy to dismantle the New Deal by starving public programs like Social Security, Medicare, affordable public housing, and more. But that argument must wait for another day).
Honestly, I felt a bit depressed last Thursday after watching men and women who should have known better, so-called Christian leaders accountable to the Church, scurrying around the Rose Garden like a gaggle of glad-handing geese gobbling up the stale crumbs of white bread thrown to them by the White House.
There is an old saying (that I just made up) which goes — when the monks come calling be sure to hide the wine.
Well, look out public policy! The Religious Right is coming. And they ain’t necessarily working for you.
