The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, October 25th: Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5;1-6; Mark 10:46-52)

FOUNDING FATHERS NOT BLIND TO IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

In this week’s gospel reading, Jesus performed another spectacular miracle: he restored the sight of a blind man named Bartimaeus. Scripture tells us the name Bartimaeus means, “Son of Timaeus,” but I’ve got a feeling that in some people’s minds, it can also mean, “Politically Incorrect Religious Nut.”

Before the miracle occurred, when Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he shouted out at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

Now, this happened in a public place where a large crowd had gathered. Apparently, some card-carrying members of the J.C.L.U. (Judean Civil Liberties Union) were in the crowd, because we read, “Many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.” I’m surprised they didn’t file a lawsuit.

It seems no matter what the historical time or place, there are always people who become outraged when someone expresses his faith in public. And when that expression of faith focuses on Jesus of Nazareth, oh boy, the level of outrage shoots through the roof.

Bartimaeus, however, was not a wimpy American. He did not beg their pardon and mumble, “Oh, please forgive me for imposing my intolerant values on you.” Instead, he shouted out all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

I can just hear some people now: “That’s an unfair comparison, Dunn. Back then, their country was founded on religion. But our country was founded on freedom and law. In the United States the First Amendment tells us, ‘There shall be a wall of separation between Church and State.’”

Oh yeah, I forgot. Everyone knows it’s against the law to bring any religiously-inspired opinions or values into the public arena. Everyone knows that the First Amendment contains the phrase, “Wall of separation between Church and State.”

Or does it? Funny thing, when I actually got around to reading the Constitution (something few Americans bother to do, according to many surveys), the only thing the First Amendment says about religion is: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

It’s a basic, two-part declaration: (1) the government will not ordain a particular denomination as the official “Church of America” (to avoid the same problems they saw with the government-sanctioned Church of England), and (2) the government will not interfere with anyone’s right to exercise their religion freely.

That’s it. It’s quite simple. Our modern mind-set that “religious values are outlawed in public” is a complete distortion of the Founding Fathers’ original intent.

James Madison was the primary author of the Constitution. He said, “Religion [is] the basis and Foundation of Government….We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves…according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

What do you think ol’ Jimmy would say if he were around to see federal judges claiming that the Constitution outlaws the Ten Commandments?

OK, Dunn, I guess James Madison had some unfortunate “religious bias,” but what about the real genius of democracy, Thomas Jefferson? He originally coined that “separation of Church and State” phrase. He knew that bringing religious ideas into the public square was a bad thing, right?

Well, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but without His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

Jefferson also wrote in the opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence that the goal of forming a new nation was based squarely on “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” It was Jefferson who expressed the breath-taking idea that the citizens of this land “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

If the Declaration of Independence was ever brought before a federal court today, they’d probably find it unconstitutional because it mentions God so much.

Despite the relentless propaganda rammed down our throats these days, the fact is, this nation was built on the rock solid foundation of God and God’s laws. Our democratic Rule of Law did not replace religious values; it was built upon religious values.

If someone had asked the Founding Fathers back then what might happen if the majority of Americans came to view religious values as a private matter, excluded from public life, they most likely would have replied, “That, dear sir, would sound the death knell of liberty. Anarchy, chaos, and immorality would abound. The Republic would surely be on the verge of collapse.”

Our country needs more people like Bartimaeus. We need more people who refuse to be scolded into silence by the anti-God nannies. We need to look these A.C.L.U. types right in the eye and say, “C’mon, get a life. Can’t you see that your vacuum of values is ruining this nation?”

©2009