America's Would-Be Sun King

[Louis XIV. Check out amusing parodies
of this painting here and here.]

"Is it treason? ... It's treason," the president said at the Montana rally last night.

He was talking about the New York Times op-ed piece in which an unnamed White House insider criticized the president for his amorality, the basis for at least a dozen other of his listed failings. If you've only read about the op-ed, but haven't read the actual article, you really need to read it now. It's short. And if you're a Republican, never fear: so is the writer of the op-ed piece.

Interestingly, treason is specifically defined in the Constitution, Article III, Section 3:

Treason against the United States, 

shall consist only in levying War against them, 

or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. 

Criticizing the president is not treason. The president is not the United States. France's King Louis XIV may have said "L'État, c'est moi" (I am the state), but divine right kingship, at least so far, has not been popular here. As a New York Times editorial reminds us, "Twenty months into the job, Mr. Trump has yet to grasp that the highest law of this land is the Constitution, not whoever occupies the Oval Office at any given moment."

In fact, this president seems to be waging war on the Constitution, not preserving, protecting, and defending it as he solemnly swore to do when he took the oath of office (which you can read, if you like: it's in the Constitution, Article II, Section 1). He seems particularly upset with the First Amendment.

"There oughta be a law," he frequently grumbles - not only against people who criticize him, but also against newspapers that publish stories he doesn't like, protesters who oppose him, and religious groups he doesn't like. The First Amendment explicitly disagrees:

Congress shall make no law 

respecting an establishment of religion, 

or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

or abridging the freedom of speech, 

or of the press; 

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 

and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Christian Trump supporters would be wise to consider that a president who attacks every clause in the First Amendment is not protecting freedom of religion, even if he helps some Christians achieve their current pet goals. Evangelicals' "dream president" (according to Jerry Falwell, Jr.) may well turn out to be their worst nightmare.

The First Amendment protects the nation against tyrants. It may seem nice to have a would-be tyrant on your side right now, but beware. White evangelicals are in serious decline - from 23% to 15% of the population in just 11 years. With a weakened First Amendment, a future tyrant  (or even this one) could easily turn on you.

FINDING MYSELF IN BRITAIN by Amy Boucher Pye

If you're an American and spend much time in the U.K., somebody will undoubtedly quote you something that apparently George Bernard Shaw never actually said:

"England and America are two countries
divided by a common language."

Once upon a time I was the American editor for a British publisher, and I heard that aphorism frequently--probably because part of my job involved translating children's books from British to American English (please don't mention schoolchildren taking their rubbers to school!), or explaining to my British employers, for example, that the American author who referred to patting someone on her fanny was not being impossibly vulgar.

Altogether, my children, grandchildren, and I have studied or lived in Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Colombia, Taiwan, and China--so books about cultural differences interest me greatly. I was delighted to learn that my friend Amy Boucher Pye was writing such a book, and thrilled when she sent me a copy of Finding Myself in Britain: Our Search for Faith, Home & True Identity.

Amy is a Minnesota-born writer, editor, and vicar's wife (translation: her husband is a pastor in the Church of England) who has lived in Britain for nearly two decades with her U.K.-born husband and two children. When she moved to Cambridge (U.K.) as a new bride, she had no idea how isolated she would feel with an ocean between herself and her family and friends. Frequent moves as her husband finished theological college (seminary) and then took on several short-term appointments made it hard to feel at home anywhere. As a vicar, he was always busy on Christmas and Easter, so no trips to Minnesota for those holidays.

And then there was the plumbing: showers that barely trickled, separate hot and cold taps (faucets) so that warm running water was impossible. And the perpetual cold: drafts blowing the curtains out from the leaky windows, the radiators that came on only twice a day. All exacerbated by the legendary British stiff upper lip that would rather cope with discomfort than try to eliminate it.

As you can tell from the title, however, Amy grew to love her life in Britain, which has become her home if not her native land. What's not to like about free medical care? Twenty days a year of paid vacation plus bank holidays? Frequent breaks for tea (which is properly made in the U.K.)? Deep friendships that transcend cultural differences?

God, prayer, scripture, and evangelical writers and speakers show up frequently in Amy's story of her transformation from lonely foreigner to contented dual citizen. Herself a writer of devotionals, she encourages her readers to foster spiritual growth by keeping journals and rereading them at the end of each year--perhaps an intense evangelical form of the Ignatian daily examen.

If her approach to spirituality feels a bit over the top to people who do not share it, there is still plenty to enjoy for Anglophiles, expats, and Brits who spend time with Americans. Amy has a great sense of self-deprecating humor (how British!). Her Minnesota recipes may intrigue Brits unused to chewy cookies and pumpkin pie. And her abundant observations about British/American differences could spare eager Americans from self-inflicted indignities (the wrinkled nose, the tight smile) such as may occur, for example, if they prematurely introduce themselves (as one of her English friends explained, "Higher up the social scale it is still considered terribly forward to volunteer your name before having been formally introduced").

Be that as it may, if you happen to run into Amy, never fear. Though she now carries a British passport, she will be happy to learn your name!

In case Mr Trump couldn't make it to church this morning...

If Donald Trump, who is technically a Presbyterian, attended church this morning (not unthinkable - he did attend an Iowa church one Sunday just before the caucuses), here is the Epistle reading that he probably heard:

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things-- anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Colossians 3:1-11

Some prominent evangelicals have claimed that Mr. Trump may be a new Christian. If this is true, I'm sure he'll be especially interested in studying this passage, since it is addressed to new converts who are just learning what it means to follow Jesus.

Mr. Trump has said he collects Bibles. If he unavoidably had to miss church this morning, he might want to pick up one of those Bibles, look up the passage, read it slowly and carefully, and ask himself how to apply its words to his life.

A different idea for Ground Zero

Here's an idea for people who are unhappy about having an Islamic Center near the site of the World Trade Center, especially if those people are Bible-believing Christians and/or defenders of the U.S. Constitution. What if American Christians got together and offered to build an interfaith memorial instead?

Since we follow someone who suggested loving our enemies and forgiving seventy times seven (which we tend to ignore when we rant against the Islamic center), this would allow us to be more literal about our faith. And since believe in our Constitutional rights of religious liberty and freedom to assemble (which we might jeopardize by refusing to allow the Islamic center to be built), this would allow us to be more traditional about our politics as well - all without making the Muslims pay for the building.

See, we could pay for it ourselves. It would be cheap: only 50 cents from every American Christian would do it. We probably wouldn't want to call it Córdoba, since that brings to mind a city where medieval Muslims gave a fair amount of religious liberty to Christians (something Christians at the time were not doing for Muslims in neighboring cities). But we might call it something like The Reconciliation Center - a very biblical term that evangelicals should like.

We could include separate worship rooms for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and every other faith held by victims of the 9/11 attacks. We could also include a multifaith meditation room for everybody, with pictures of the deceased and symbols of hope and peace.

Just as important, we could use the memorial to bring the community together now and in the future. I don't know what the neighborhood needs - apparently it's rather rich in strip clubs and sex toys - but how about a gym where kids of all faiths could play together? A food pantry staffed by and serving all people? A library with great works from many traditions? An auditorium where speakers, films, and concerts promoting reconciliation could be featured? A clinic offering free medical care for the homeless?

The only drawback I can think of in building such a center is that terrorists would absolutely hate it. They're already upset at Sufi Muslims such as Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the Córdoba Initiative.Think how mad they would get if Christians co-opted his idea, improved it, and invited him to join them. They might even bomb the place!

But as Jesus said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake."

Fixing immigration: President Obama's speech at American University

President Obama is getting no respite from contentious issues. Today, speaking at American University’s School of International Service, he tackled immigration reform, held hostage for decades, he said, by political posturing. “We will not just kick the can down the road,” he promised his audience of faculty, students, and select legislators, police chiefs, mayors, and evangelical religious leaders. Despite the fact that the topic of immigration reform arouses emotions and "lends itself to demagoguery," he said, "I believe we can put politics aside and finally have an immigration system that's accountable."

I hope he is right. I have friends who are undocumented immigrants, despite more than 20 years of trying desperately to become legal residents. At last count they had spent over $30,000 on lawyers. They have appeared before panels of judges who manifested complete ignorance of their home country and the reason they need political asylum before turning down their petitions. Their amnesty applications were improperly handled by bureaucrats, who then said the deadline had passed and nothing could be done. They have been ordered to take time off work, only to wait for hours in immigration offices while the office staff rudely ignored them.

I'm not telling you their name or their country of origin, because I suspect they have simply given up and are now flying beneath the radar. There are networks of fellow refugees who will help them, but this is not the way they want to live. They are law-abiding people who work and pay taxes. They have raised their children in America (in fact, one child was born here so is a U.S. citizen) and now have American grandchildren. In fact, many in their extended family are Americans. And yet, due to a series of departmental snafus, they continue to wait for permission to stay in their adopted country. Apparently it would take an Act of Congress to legally admit this fine family to the United States - and indeed, two Senate bills have been introduced in their favor. Both bills died in committee.

As I watched President Obama's speech, I was thinking about my friends. They are part of the "steady stream of hard-working and talented people" that have allowed our country to thrive. If the president is right that "being American is not a matter of blood and birth, but of faith," then my friends are more American than I am. They still hold on to the hope that someday the system will be fixed and they will be fully welcome in the land they love. I hope so too, but unless something drastically changes the political climate, my faith is weak.

As the president pointed out, people are afraid of immigrants - especially during economic downturns. This was true in 1798, just 11 years after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, when the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. It was true in the 19th century when waves of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Poland swarmed our shores. It was true at the turn of the 20th century when Jewish immigrants fled persecutors in Eastern Europe, and from 1882 to 1943 when Chinese immigrants were routinely detained and deported. It is certainly true now.

As the president also pointed out, "without bipartisan support, we cannot solve this problem. Reform cannot pass without Republican votes."

Bipartisan action is possible. Some Republicans, "including my predecessor, President Bush," Mr. Obama said, "have shown courageous leadership." For example, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and the late Ted Kennedy (D-MA) worked together on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, though it failed to get through Congress. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have collaborated on a proposal to mend our "badly broken" immigration system that sounds a great deal like President Obama's suggestions in this morning's speech. And yet, as the president said, "the natural impulse among those who run for office is to turn away and defer decisions for another day, another year, another administration."

Perhaps that is why the White House invited evangelical leaders to join the audience this morning, and why megachurch pastor Bill Hybels was asked to introduce the president. Evangelicals, though far from a solid bloc, tend to vote Republican. However, as Hybels pointed out, many evangelicals know that "a recurring theme in Scripture is a mandate from God to care for widows, strangers, and orphans." Believing that religious salvation depends on faith, not on blood or birth, they may be receptive to the president's suggestion that faith (presumably in American ideals) is also the basis of citizenship. If Hybels is correct, "today an earnest bipartisan conversation begins that those of us in the faith community have been praying about for years."

I hope that good people of both parties will unite to fix our immigration system. I hope that we can find a just approach that is both hospitable and responsible. I hope that businesses who exploit undocumented immigrants will be forced to straighten up or shut down, and that people who wish to move here and work hard will be given the means to do so legally. I hope that my friends will someday be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance along with other new American citizens.

As the president said, "Fixing our broken immigration system is a moral imperative."

Review: The Unlikely Disciple

Kevin Roose was a 19-year-old Brown University student when he decided to try a unique variation on the traditional semester abroad: he would go undercover at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, Jerry Falwell's "Bible Boot Camp." Raised more or less Quaker by politically liberal parents, he took evangelical* lessons from a friend before signing up for classes: Contemporary Issues , History of Life (i.e., young-earth creationism), Evangelism 101, and survey courses in Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian theology.

He suffered instant culture shock, of course. He was amazed at his teachers' and fellow students' nearly obsessive concern with homosexuality. His parents and especially his lesbian aunts were terrified that he would go over to the dark side. And he feared his spontaneous reactions ("Holy shit!") would give him away--though he learned to admire Liberty students' creative alternatives ("son of a friggin' biscuit!").

I was in the mood for a comic novel when I absent-mindedly picked up Roose's tell-all book, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. Within minutes I was laughing out loud and reading his stories to Mr Neff (who was trying to read something else at the time). Maybe you have to have had a somewhat fundamentalist upbringing to fully appreciate the humor, though readers with no first-hand experience of right-wing Christianity should still enjoy this anthropological tour of a university that issues reprimands (for hugging! watching an R-rated movie! wearing torn jeans!) as frequently as Dolores Umbridge, Hogwarts' high inquisitor, issued educational decrees.

One reason the book is a good read is that Roose does not have an agenda beyond understanding an alien culture. Appalled by the anti-intellectualism and homophobia at Liberty, he is nevertheless interested in his Bible and theology classes, intrigued by chaste dating, and attracted by the atmosphere of prayer, both public and private. He examines not only the school's way of life but also his own shifting opinions. For example, he writes:

I'm still not totally settled on prayer. Part of me still thinks it's a waste of time, and another part of me wonders whether I could be increasing my levels of compassion some other way--watching Nancy Grace every day, maybe, or reading news stories about famine in third-world countries. It's probably a bad sign if the only way I can tone down my narcissism is by forcing myself to believe that God is monitoring my thoughts. But for now, it doesn't seem to be hurting anyone, so I guess I'll keep at it. When I think of the benefits I'm reaping, a little cognitive dissonance seems like a small price to pay.

Another good feature about the book is that Roose has done his homework. His website lists popular books he read to help him act evangelical, and the background information he weaves seamlessly into his stories shows that he must have read plenty of more serious works besides.

I appreciate Roose's stance as a conciliator, not an ideologue. Without giving up his pre-Liberty convictions, Kevin learns that even Jerry Falwell had a good side, and that people of widely divergent religious and political views can still be friends. "This particular religious conflict," he writes, "isn't built around a hundred-foot brick wall. If anything, it's built around a flimsy piece of cardboard, held in place on both sides by paranoia and lack of exposure."

As a politically liberal Catholic living among evangelicals in Wheaton, IL, I've run into ignorance-based paranoia. I've also run into it from the other side, when I was a theological conservative from DuPage County taking classes at Loyola University in Chicago. Most of us think we know what the other guys are like, even if we don't know them very well. Cheers to Kevin Roose for first-hand (and first-rate) reporting and for making us laugh heartily, with malice toward none.
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*Evangelicalism is a big tent. As Roose well knows--but too many journalists do not--evangelicalism is not synonymous with the religious right. Jerry Falwell called himself evangelical. So does Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It.