A Good god is a Dead One
Some of my more evangelical and fundamentalist sisters and brothers would say that atheism and secularism are two chief sources of woe and misery in our society.[1] The argument is a simple one and it takes on various forms. Some will say that secularists want to “kick God” out of our government, our schools, and even our businesses. You may hear folks of this persuasion speak about the removal of prayer from schools as a catastrophic destruction of all moral values. Atheism, so these political pundits, Republican politicians, and evangelical pastors argue will naturally lead to weaker government, a weaker nation, and the wrath of God.[2] These sentiments provoke a lot of feelings within me. For one thing I am not really sure how God can be “kicked out” of anything. God does not seem to be a great respecter of the “sovereignty” of the United States and its laws, so any law that bans school prayer (how do you ban prayer in the first place?) does not strike me as a particularly potent obstacle to the Source of all Being. I also have to say that the god that these politicians and evangelicals seem to think is being kept out of these public spaces strikes me as more than a little unimpressive.
Exactly what impact secularism has on the fabric of society is up for debate and honestly not really something I am very interested in.[3] I do think however that evangelicals and others like them have misunderstood the problem. It seems to me that the issue is not that God has been removed or is being removed from the world(I am not exactly sure how that is possible) but rather, there are far too many gods that demand worship in human life.
A world of many “gods”
Something important to remember is that for Christian and pagan antiquity, there was no discernible difference between the religious or the political. The idea of “religion” as a category isn’t really invented until sometime during the Enlightenment. Prior to that, cultural, social, and political forms of life were all saturated with the spiritual and the divine;[4] to pay one’s taxes was also an act of worship of the gods of Rome, to make sacrifices to the gods was also to offer political and social allegiances. This saturation of the spiritual is easily confirmed in the biblical and Christian worldview as well in its recurring outcry against idolatry and the worship of false gods. These false gods (note the lower case) range from physical idols that we erect in the world (statues to Baal, The Golden Calf, church buildings)[5], spiritual entities (the passions, spirits, patriotism)[6], and of course political powers (thrones, dominions, The United States)[7] Where we would see different “spheres of life” (the private, the public, the religious, the political, etc…) the Christian tradition insists on one sphere where all things exist together or if I may put it another way: everything is spiritual and political all at the same time.
With this in mind, consider these words from Saint Justin Martyr, one of the earliest known Christian writers. The Martyr is writing to the Emperor of Rome in the early second century:
“We have been taught that [God] has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense. We praise him to the utmost of our power by the exercise of prayer and thanksgiving for all things wherewith we have been supplied. We have been taught that the only honor that is worthy of him is not to consume by fire what he has brought into being for our sustenance but to use it for ourselves and those who need, and with gratitude to him to offer thanks by solemn hymns for our creation.”[8]
One important thing strikes me from this passage. The Martyr is speaking out against the system of sacrifice and worship that Rome has instituted. If the One, True God, the Source of Being does not require sacrifice (streams of blood and libations and incense) than the entire sacrificial/religious/political system of the empire is rendered powerless for the Christian. This is both a deeply political and theological statement (and one that got Justin killed). It calls into question the divinity of the gods of Rome, the political systems that those gods support, and the practices of worship and civic life that these systems demand. We are talking about treason and apostasy all at the same time.
Treason and Apostasy-Disruption
Our world is not terribly different from the world of classical Christianity, the “gods” are very much still alive and they still have a claim over our lives and our imaginations. The god of war may not be called Ares anymore but his power can still dazzle and entrance us. We still witness his power on the news, we still willingly send our daughters and sons as sacrifices to his altar. Other powerful ideas and institutions have a claim on our lives as well. Patriotism can whip us into a frenzy, move us to tears, and drive us to attack any who do not express enough patriotic fervor (consider the Colin Kaepernick backlash). Our fetishization of libertarian freedom causes us to resist gun control even if it means the sacrifice of children and teachers in school shootings.
Perhaps the only correct action a Christian can take in this world is to be bold committers of treason and apostasy. Following the Martyr’s lead we can see that to deny these gods worship is also to deny to some degree action in civic life. The Martyr teaches that false gods demand sacrifices of blood and we continue to offer them sacrifices and keep them alive. These false gods, for as long as they live, will continue to terrorize and feed on human life. In light of the liberation of the gospel Christians are called to cast away all false gods and idols in their life. This isn’t merely a private affair, the false gods are present in our public spaces and continue to bring havoc upon human life. The Christian can resist these gods by starving them of the sacrifices they need. The Martyr provides this insight by suggesting that anything that would be used as an offering to the gods should instead be used for the benefit of the church and those who are in need. Perhaps this is the key to disrupting the hold that the gods have over human life.
Starve the gods and let them die.
O God, save us from the gods.
Liberate us into being more fully human.
Reveal yourself in all the places we think you are not.
Transform our world.
Amen
[1] One can find examples of this more or less at random among members of these communities but one of my favorite examples has to be Fox News and their coverage of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. The hostess offers that perhaps the reason behind the Vegas Shooting came from a hatred of God. I have included the clip here. https://youtu.be/nV5fXPVeZoQ?t=276
[2] Again, the examples are endless… But one easy example is the entire existence of the Institute for Religion and Democracy https://theird.org/
[3] If this is something that you find interesting, I can list a few of my favorite sources: On the social theory side I would recommend the sociologist of religion Peter L. Berger particularly his book A Rumor of Angels. On the theology side I would recommend William Cavanaugh and his book Theopolitical Imagination. For a simply delightful and fascinating take on secularism, its history, and what it does in contemporary life I would recommend David Bentley Hart’s (poorly titled) Atheist Delusions.
[4] See William Cavanaugh The Myth of Religious Violence for a fascinating study on this idea.
[5] See: Isaiah 45:20, Exodus 32, Hosea 11:2, Revelation 9:20
[6] See: Galatians 5:20–21, 1 John 4:1, Ephesians 1:21
[7] Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, Revelation 17
[8] Justin Martyr The First Apology, chapter 13.
