Tangled Truth
We welcomed the Prince of Peace as we watched the public execution of Saddam Hussein.—Grim.
We welcomed the Prince of Peace as we mourned the passing of President Gerald R. Ford.—Better.
We welcomed the Prince of Peace as we buried two earthly “princes”, one revered and another rejected.—Maybe.
As I searched for the right headline I found myself wondering about the connections; wondering if by following the tangled strands of history we can find a healing balm and the elusive peace proclaimed by our holiday greetings.
President Ford’s administration was very brief and remembered by many of us only vaguely. His image was that of the guy next door and he sought to restore our faith in the office of the President. To this end he was remarkably successful, if not well appreciated.
But as I flipped through the pages of history remembering Ford’s presidency, I was surprised to rediscover that those were also years of United States involvement in shoring up the power base for a Ba’ath Party leader in Iraq; for the man we would learn to despise, for Saddam Hussein.
As I’m reading about our support for Hussein (with our guns, our money, and our blessing), I also realized that political power in the United States shifted several times during this rise. The political parties changed, the stump speeches varied, even the wedge issues moved! But our support for a known tyrant appeared unwavering until the Kuwait incident.
Tragically I think our support was, in fact, well intentioned. Our support was intended to bolster weak alliances that would preserve some sense of what we might call “order”. Although my cynical nature cannot ignore the vast oil reserves to which our alliances provide access, certainly our commitments to Israel and other vulnerable populations were also in play.
Still the history reads more like a return to Herod’s reign of terror than a welcoming of the Prince of Peace. The abiding truth played out once again is the lesson we tried to learn in Kindergarten—that the ends do not justify the means. Slaughtering innocents will never bring the Prince of Peace, support for tyranny will not build democracy, and oppression for even a few will not result in freedom for anyone.
Our Rainbow Fish Tree couldn’t not be more timely. This is a quirky tradition we began at our church in memory of Matthew Shepherd. We begin each year by taking the decorations off our Christmas tree and placing a Rainbow Fish on top. The fish reminds us of the ancient Christians who, then a minority people, were persecuted. The rainbow is a modern symbol for inclusivity and also a biblical sign of promise. Throughout the season of Epiphany we hang ribbons on the tree in a commitment to becoming a more inclusive community.
In the shadow of the garish tree we see with stark relief the unpopular truths to which Jesus bore witness. In the shadow of the tree we remember that justice doesn’t flow from tyranny nor peace from violence. In the shadow of our tree, we pray for peace as we work for justice.