Musings from No One
Dear friends,
We receive a lot of bulk mail at church that lands quickly in the recycle box. I learned early in ministry that a postmark of Waco TX best not be opened. (There are a LOT of fundamentalist publishers in Waco!) So I’m not sure what moved Terri to read this particular postcard before tossing it,
maybe that it was local. But when I came back to the office, she pointed it out as a must read.
It’s an invitation to a live simulcast entitled “Defending our First Freedom” and it is happening this Sunday night in Arnold. After announcing the event and my welcome, it reads: “More and more we are seeing governments which condone homosexual behavior then being forced to condemn Christians who publicly identify with the Faith. No one can any longer question that the advancement of the homosexual agenda is a threat to religious liberty.”
I guess I am a no one because I question the threat.
As more and more states rush to add constitutional amendments to “protect” marriage from gays and lesbians, I cannot imagine what possible condoning is being done by governments; governments in Canada, perhaps, but not in the land of the free and the brave. And even if the government were protecting the rights of women who are raising children together, I fail to see how that would be a threat to someone else’s religious liberty. These are things that would be worthy further discussion.
Also worthy would be the victimized posture of the writer. The event is a presentation from the Family Research Council, an unapologetically religious, conservative, and current-administration-supporting group. The candidates supported by the FRC control both the legislative and executive branches of government- and soon even the judicial branch! How can the people with all the power still claim to be the oppressed?
But what I really want to know is when Faith got a capital letter. Given the style of writing, I would have to surmise that the capitalization makes the noun proper. Nouns that are “proper” are unique or one-of-kind. The Faith, then, is a particular kind of experience as opposed to faith which is common. I am a Christian, but no one has let me in on the secret of Faith.
Maybe that’s just as well.
