When in Rome
The jets are always flying overhead in Hampton Roads, Virginia. When my family moved here when I was a child I raised my eyes skyward in wonder, identifying the various models of military hardware. 10-year-old Cory loved “playing guns” and GI Joe, and this region epitomizes that 80’s jingoistic ‘Murica ideal. God, Guns, and Country is our battlecry, with a side helping of Old Dominion good ol’ boys business networking.
That sounds so cynical, and I’ll admit it is. I’m working on separating the historical, economic, and sociological conditions that created this frankenstein of Christianity, commerce, and war from the 1.7 million individual humans who live here, most of whom are kind, well meaning humans, caught in a religious-political-military-industrial-machine.
This is the land of Pat Robertson, an influential televangelist who ran for President in 1988. My father worked in his advertising department during the Launch of Pat’s corporate enterprise “The Founder’s Inn.” I myself worked in the dinner theater there for several years.
It was created as a 4 diamond luxury hotel with a high class restaurant — the finest of both in the whole region at the time. Pat Robertson is a man obsessed with diamonds, it seems.
He created the “Christian Coalition,” — essentially a Christian Republican PAC, which is very much responsible for creating the unholy alliance of bible-belt Christianity and libertarian philosophies that is one of the biggest contributors to the dissonance of our discourse in these times.
Though responsible for plenty of charitable works globally, he unquestionably does not understand Christianity itself — He is a worshiper of avarice, of “The Sun God” aligning himself with the likes of Donald Trump.
This false prophet had the audacity to tell Donald Trump, “You inspire us all.”
Mr Robertson, if you ever spoke for Christians, you lost your way years ago.
You are blind to your own gaping, obvious hypocrisy, sir.
Jesus humbled himself to wash the feet of others — you profane that message by not only selling that same service, but also by promoting “feeling good” through cosmetic services.
You are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You are an antichrist, if there ever was one.
You have turned the Good News into an empire — something Rome has been doing for years, something the latest (and maybe last?) Pope seems to working to reconcile.
I’m just “some guy.” I am a man who left the franchised version of religion you called Christianity and was lost in the wilderness for many years.
But, beginning in March, I have started to see a magic in the world that I never believed existed. Real signs and wonders that appear as big as billboards, if only you are open to see them.
A series of events that cannot be described as anything other than “incredibly unlikely” have led me back to this place, in this time. I am working on “my testimony” but I have felt led to publish this warning.
The Force is awakening, Mr. Robertson. Also known as The Holy Spirit. You have profaned the message of Christ.
Here’s the thing, American evangelical Christians. You like to use the “Render unto Caesar” clause in the Bible to wash your hands for the behavior of your government, but you failed to understand a very important distinction:
In America, we live in a Capitalist Democracy. We vote for our leaders, and vote with every dollar we spend. You cannot claim innocence under the “Render Under Caesar” clause when we are Caesar.
I’m not saying the Democrats are any better — they are largely as corrupt as the Republicans, and it will be a difficult task to sort through our broken American Values.
But it is possible. There is still hope. I believe we will find it in the most unlikely of places, in a chorus of voices that rise up from the darkness.
We are at a crisis point of our species, a Cross Roads, if you will. And we have lost the thing we called “God.”
It’s difficult for a guy like me who has been such a miserable human being, such an outsider, to stand up and say to his Christian town, “Many of you are not actually Christians, even though you think you are.” And yet, I want reconciliation more than anything — and I believe something is happening.
I believe [God/The Universe] has spoken to me in a way I never knew was even possible. I believe spirituality that looks like magic is real.
I believe in the power of “The Christ.” And it’s not what most people think it is. And that’s terrifying. I am scared, but I believe “something is happening” and I believe many more feel it too.
I would love to discuss this in person with anyone at CBN. I believe that “media” corrupts the one-to-one connection that is required to share the love of human connection.
Time is running out. And I believe that we can feel this discomfort on some level — but we blame others. The problem is us, and the time to address this is now, before it is too late.
