it's not about politics

humanity, the Gospel, and hero stories

Though most American Christians would agree there’s an immigration problem in our country that needs solving, we face a sharp divide today on how to solve it and the images we see daily – of masked, unidentified ‘agents’ chasing down farm workers with tear gas and ripping mothers away from children, of horrific conditions at a Florida concentration camp (among others across the country) where migrants are being housed, of cheerful people celebrating their suffering by taking selfies in front of those camps, and so much more – each image should make it very clear to us what Jesus would do and what He would not do. The line could not be more distinct.

Slashing funding to Americans’ health care, food support, education, USAID, FEMA, NASA, and much more in favor of tax cuts to billionaires and a domestic ‘police’ force whose budget now trumps most of the world’s military including our own Marines – well, it sure doesn’t sound like we’re putting everyday Americans first. Also, it doesn’t take a Biblical scholar to see how far afield of the Gospel we’ve gotten, yet this is an administration and its supporters who frequently claim the mantle of Christianity. How have we gotten this so very wrong?

There is no such thing as a neutral stand between good and evil. Anyone who professes a Christian faith ought to be able to read the Gospel for themselves and ascertain the difference between right and wrong according to the teachings of Jesus. Today, our disagreements are no longer about mere politics, but the central issue for those who profess faith should be about how we treat the least of these, about love of neighbor (that means everyone), and about whether we live as members of the Body of Christ as we claim.

I found a clear line between good and evil portrayed in the unlikely setting of a movie theatre this weekend, and I was surprised at what a welcome thing that was for my soul to witness. The lines are so murky now, with people conning and grifting and taking advantage and twisting the truth so frequently for so long that to see Superman simply sacrifice himself to stand up for goodness and care for others on a screen in that theatre was like breathing new air, like seeing the sky after too many days spent indoors.

But at one point in the movie, my husband leaned over and whispered, “The bad guys are winning.”

It’s something I say at least once a week when I’m tempted to despair over the state of things, but he was reminding me that there is still a common decency that is rooted in something bigger than ourselves. What if this is goodness is, as the Bible teaches, something that will ultimately prevail as it does at the end of a Superman movie? And what if we can participate in this goodness, standing strong on the side of what’s right today when it all seems so very dark? What if joy and kindness and self-sacrifice are the punk rock antithesis to evil in our day? What if our role really does matter in this story? What if we in the Body of Christ could turn away from the heresy of Christian nationalism and toward the authentic teachings of Jesus, becoming part of the solution this broken world really needs?

What if we are the supermen we’re waiting for?

Raised Catholic rewind:

Find 200 episodes of Raised Catholic on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for continuing to recommend these episodes to friends who might find them helpful on their journey.