Photograph of the American Flag compliments of Ian Britton atwww.freefoto.com
A few months ago I read Cornel West's newest book Democracy Matters and made a note of copying my favorite chapter called The Crisis of Christian Identity In America. It is a fascinating critique of what West refers to as Constantinian Christianity. The following paragraph is typical of this piece of prophetic scholarship:
"Most American Constantinian Christians are unaware of their imperialistic identity because they do not see the parallel between the Roman empire that put Jesus to death and the American empire that they celebrate. As long as they can worship freely and pursue the American dream, they see the American government as a force for good and American imperialism as a desirable force for spreading that good. They proudly profess their allegiance to the flag and cross not realizing that just as the cross was a bloody indictment of the Roman empire, it is a powerful critique of the American empire..."
I encourage you to read the book if you are curious about how exactly "Constantinian Christianity" is defined by West as well as to decide for yourself if you agree with the above statement. I include it because I think that is captures the essence of the "crisis" West is pointing out in American Christian identity and has provoked and deepened some of my own Baha'i thinking regarding the broader issue of the problem of political religion itself.
I define political religion as the effort by individuals or institutions to manipulate the power of religion to achieve narrow, partisan agendas. This includes both theocratic projects that seek to seize state power in order to impose particular interpretations of religious truth on society and secular progressive projects that utilize the language, symbols, organizational resources of faith communities, and the passion of religious individuals to impose their interpretation of reality on society. Both sides of this coin of political religion have their forms of zealotry and fundamentalism, though each attempts to claim moral superiority in the discourse regarding the future of the human race on this planet. The problem with political religion is not simply an issue of "church-state" separation but rather goes to the heart of what politics and religion are.
Politics, as currently practiced in American society is fundamentally divisive in nature, operating on a pitched battle between partisan interests whose ultimate goal is to win at the expense of their opponents. The prize is power, the power to create a society in the image of one's own group at the expense of others (though often while professing that it is for the good of everyone).
Religion, as defined by Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith has a very different purpose:
The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 215)
Political religion has little patience or use for the way that religion is described by Baha'u'llah. Even in the most enlightened and inspired efforts toward social change, the politically religious person must ultimately square off against his brother or sister and struggle for power. One will win, one will lose and the cycle "of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity" will roll on and on driving both the winners and losers further from the "fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God...to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men." At a time in human history where daily events demonstrate the urgency of unity, political religion is ascendant all over the world, fueling division that some thinkers have described as hastening us toward a "class of civilizations". This is the very reason that Baha'is abstain from involvement in partisan politics. It is not a practice of a religious community passive in the face social problems but a powerful, counter-cultural discipline of a religious community committed to promoting change through the power of unity. For more on my understanding of the Baha'i perspective on abstaining from politics, you can read here, here, and here.
Thank God that humanity has the capacity to chose its future and recognize the truth of these words:
My hope is that in this enlightened century the Divine Light of love will shed its radiance over the whole world, seeking out the responsive heart's intelligence of every human being; that the light of the Sun of Truth will lead politicians to shake off all the claims of prejudice and superstition, and with freed minds to follow the Policy of God: for Divine Politics are mighty, man's politics are feeble!
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 150)
And furthermore:
Our hope is that the world's religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 215)
I share these same hopes for humanity. Do you?
4 comments:
I have a couple reactions.
First, for all the partial awareness of America in the place of the Roman Empire, almost no one seems to wonder where the Christianity of the day is too.
Second, with respect to a Baha'i approach to the issues, I think it first to highlight that 'Abdu'l-Baha praises Constantine (and his mother). And note the Lesser Covenant of Christianity survived another 500ish years after Constantine (and, btw, the challenge of Arius) albeit not without changes in the empire (like half of it falling into the Dark Ages).
Consider this (starting paragraph 152)
The station of a philosopher, in that age and in the mind of Galen, was superior to any other station in the world. Consider then how the enlightening and spiritualizing power of divine religions impels the believers to such heights of perfection that a philosopher like Galen, not himself a Christian, offers such testimony.
One demonstration of the excellent character of the Christians in those days was their dedication to charity and good works, and the fact that they founded hospitals and philanthropic institutions. For example, the first person to establish public clinics throughout the Roman Empire where the poor, the injured and the helpless received medical care, was the Emperor Constantine. This great king was the first Roman ruler to champion the Cause of Christ. He spared no efforts, dedicating his life to the promotion of the principles of the Gospel, and he solidly established the Roman government, which in reality had been nothing but a system of unrelieved oppression, on moderation and justice. His blessed name shines out across the dawn of history like the morning star, and his rank and fame among the world's noblest and most highly civilized is still on the tongues of Christians of all denominations.
What a firm foundation of excellent character was laid down in those days, thanks to the training of holy souls who arose to promote the teachings of the Gospel. How many primary schools, colleges, hospitals, were established, and institutions where fatherless and indigent children received their education. How many were the individuals who sacrificed their own personal advantages and "out of desire to please the Lord" devoted the days of their lives to teaching the masses.
When, however, the time approached for the effulgent beauty of Muhammad to dawn upon the world, the control of Christian affairs passed into the hands of ignorant priests. Those heavenly breezes, soft-flowing from the regions of Divine grace, died away, and the laws of the great Evangel, the rock-foundation on which the civilization of the world was based, turned barren of results, this out of misuse and because of the conduct of persons who, seemingly fair, were yet inwardly foul."
Third with respect to the Baha'i Faith in particular, beware taking stances based on stances and foibles of the day we live in. We live on the hind end of 1 or 2 thousand years of religion without enough benefit from a Manifestation and if you check into the early days of religion nearer the time of it's Prophet, the role of religion in raising civilization is far far different than the world experiences today from the effects of religion.
In particular you should bear in mind, study and investigate the implications of paragraph 84 of the Aqdas - "How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will arise to aid My Cause in My kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark--the Ark which God hath prepared for the people of Bahá. All must glorify his name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountainhead of blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, O people of Bahá, your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance."
Indeed the rise of a king who would hold up the Baha'i Faith is claimed to be prophesied by Shoghi Effendi - paragraph 10
"In the Lawh-i-Ra'ís He actually and categorically prophesies the rise of such a king: "Erelong will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones. He, verily, encompasseth all things. He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent." In the Ridvánu'l-`Adl, wherein the virtue of justice is exalted, He makes a parallel prediction: "Erelong will God make manifest on earth kings who will recline on the couches of justice, and will rule amongst men even as they rule their own selves. They, indeed, are among the choicest of My creatures in the entire creation." "
Thanks anonymous for your response. Let me clarify that I used the quote from West because it provoked some of my own thinking about political religion, not because I agreed with the substance of it. For example, I would not characterize America as an "empire" in the way that West does. In his book his point is not to engage in criticism of Constantine as a leader but to contrast what he considers to be "Constantinian-Christianity" and "prophetic-Christianity". As a Baha'i I likewise have no interest in critiquing any leader of the past or present but exploring the strengths and weakness of various forms of thought and practice when they are weighed against the teachings of the Baha'i Faith as I currently understand them, and the implications of these forms of thought and practice for the future of humanity.
Second, while the Baha'i writings anticipate that in the future their will be leaders who either through their own embrace of the Baha'i Faith or simply recognizing the positive impact Baha'i teachings can have on the betterment of his or her people, my post was less about the future than about the present. Right now, today, people of good will can recognize the limitations of political religion and explore together alternative forms of religious engagement in the social order. The Baha'i Faith offers a perspective on what these alternatives could be and experience in carrying them out which should be offered unconditionally to all humanity.
In review of the current situation of much of the religio-political world, we are all three in fair agreement. The danger comes from extrapolating a true review of the situation with some kind of eternal truth, and appealing to Constantine, a figure so removed from the actuality of the moment, if present in the pregnancy of the moment, seems to appeal to that eternal standard and thus take a situation here and now and magnify it beyond those confines.
A stronger position, more reliably dependent on eternal truths, is to investigate the parallels between Rome then and now. In that case West's analysis of modern day Christianity would equate to the religion of Rome - that demanded appearance and rituals of supporting the powers of the day and excused every abuse as long as it served the interests of those same powers of the day. Then to go beyond such concerns and note by example, that the religion of God is also present in the pattern and embark on the ride of the millennium ahead of us.
Post a Comment