Feb 12
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Who is God? or, Whose God? – Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou
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Or, When the state becomes the church. . .
A few points from Gods, Gays and Guns by Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou:
- “[T]he use of god talk in American public life is often a lot less about religion and more about public policy.
- What matters is whose god has access to political power. . . .
- Hence, there must be many gods if not mini gods. I am attempting to name them in way that keeps track of the fallibility of gods constructed by humans, including my own.
- Consequently, god, is a poly-glyph- word that has multiple meanings at once. The word, god, is linguistic intervention that reflects a conservative ideology that historically limited democratic opportunity.
- To say the word god in American public discourse is to conjure up a number of images and ideas that serve to undermine democracy in name of religious freedom. What matters is whose god has access to political power will be the god that is the most powerful when it comes to making public policy.”
Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, Gods, Gays and Guns, (Excerpt): Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy (Campbell and Cannon Press, 2012). The Huffington Post (02/6/2012). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-osagyefo-uhuru-sekou/gods-gays-and-guns-excerpt_b_1252835.html?ref=religion
Some hypothetical questions:
- What would it have been like if the first European-Americans had lived as if they believed that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?”
- What if the churches had abolished slavery before the Civil War and the 13th Amendment?
- What if Christians had not endorsed segregation before the civil rights legislation prohibited it?
- What if the United States honored its commitment of separation of church and state?
- What if the church had done what it is uniquely called by God to do?
- We protest the churches’ influence upon the state and the government’s intrusion upon religion, but why haven’t we noticed that the state is becoming the church?