Everyone, Noone

Deep in the throes of studying for my Thomas Cranmer comprehensive exam that is coming up one week from tomorrow, I felt inspired to write a little about the relationship of the church and politics. I have a great difficulty reading Cranmer's view of the state, as he believed Henry to be the head of the church on earth. I'm too much of a believer in the first amendment to believe that church and politics should be formally connected.

But on the other hand, I don't like the tendency of some Christians to say that the church has nothing to do with politics. Some say that the only thing that matters is evangelism or spirituality, so that more earthly matters are subordinated to these priorities. I'm not interested in dining on this flavor of "pie in the sky" Christianity.

Now don't get me wrong, as I said above, I am a firm supporter of the separation of church and state. I don't want my (theoretical) children's Buddhist friends forced to pray to Jesus or take a class on the Bible. But I firmly believe that Christianity has unavoidable political consequences. What I mean by "political consequences" is that our faith must sometimes be enacted through human systems other than the church or our individual selves. Systemic problems require systemic answers.

And most of the evils in our society are systemic evils. What do I mean by systemic? I mean that these evils are complex, with multiple participants and factors. This collective sin is not one person's fault. A finger cannot be pointed to one person, because it is caused by a system that has been in place, often for many years. Granted, people put these systems in place. But it was multiple people rather than just one.

Here are a couple of examples:

1) I am often frustrated when I hear white people discussing the issue of slavery or segregation, claiming that they bear no guilt, because they were not born in the 1800's or the 1950's. Yet the actions by our ancestors have present social and economic consequences. And merely by perpetuating these present consequences, we participate in that slavery or segregation by not doing anything to rectify it. To the point: We who live in 2005 are as bad as slaveholders if we are unwilling to rectify the current consequences of slavery.

This is what I mean by the complex and systemic nature of evil and sin. We might be able to point the finger at Jim Bob and blame him for the murder of an African American in 1850, but we must point multiple fingers at society collectively to really get to who is blameworthy. And we must realize that this collectiveness extends into the past and into the future. This is why political answers are necessary for collective sins.

2) As I was making my 1 1/4 hour commute to Drew University today to do some preparation for this comp, I listened more carefully than normal to the lyrics of Jack Johnson's "Cookie Jar" in which he diagnoses the problem well, giving me another concrete example of a systemic evil that must be confronted systemically.

The first verse is narrated by a boy who murdered someone and denies that it's his fault because he's too young. The second verse is narrated by the boy's father who blames his son's actions on the violent images on TV. The third verse is narrated by a "media man" who blames the public for demaning violent images on TV. The fourth verse is narrated by a singer of violent songs or director of violent films who claims that its only entertainment. Johnson's next verse I'll quote in full:

It was you; it was me; it was every man
We've all got the blood on our hands
We only receive what we demand
And if we want hell then hells what we'll
have.

Johnson says it well. He doesn't give us an answer, but points out that something that may seem black-and-white is actually complex. The answer isn't moralistic, as some would say "just turn of your TVs." It isn't one person's fault. It is everyone's fault. It is society's fault that we allow violence by guns. And a societal problem requires a political and systemic answer. Something more than just "be sure to lock your guns up."

So, back to Cranmer, or really, the Episcopal Church. Cranmer's view of the relationship between church and state wasn't real popular in America after 1776, thank God. [While Episcopalians respect Cranmer as a genius at prose, they don't generally look to him as the founder of Anglican theology.] And the Episcopal Church has not always historically been on the side of justice for the poor and oppressed. Yet the Episcopal Church has always understood the necessity of the church's influence in an informal political way. And more and more over the last century, the Episcopal Church has officially stood on the side of the oppressed.

Some Christians would have us re-connect church and state, enforcing prayer and bible study in schools, or the like. Others Christians would say that Christians have no reason for being involved with politics. But I think we Christians who believe it is important to seek justice here and now in our society, must be willing and active about incarnating our faith in political action. This may mean voting. This may mean marching. And this may mean supporting increasingly unpopular policies, like affirmative action, gun control, or gay rights.