The Villager Voice
On the outside of the west wall of my former church is a large wooden engraving with the following words, which could be easily read by passers-by in car and on foot:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” – Jesus.
I’m certain it was placed there with the best of intentions. Still, that did not prevent an angry phone call I received one afternoon by one of those passers-by, who remonstrated that the two commandments are actually of Hebrew origin (like I didn’t know this), found in the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The caller was of course correct, and even though I thought the whole montage was mildly corny to begin with, I very pastorally tried to assuage his ire at attributing the quotation to Jesus. Most folks appreciated having that on the side of the church, and the congregation itself was proud to display it. Still, though it was placed there with the best of intentions, it probably should have been thought through a bit better. Leaving off the name Jesus would not have diminished the message at all, and would have been more correct and less sensitive.
I thought about that engraving when I read about the Governor of Louisiana’s decision to post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, and then again when the Oklahoma State School Superintendent mandated teaching the Bible in public schools. Even assuming the best of intentions on the part of both, I do wonder about the wisdom of either. The former strikes me as an unforced error on the same level as my former church: it tacitly appropriates something sacred to Jews for Christian purposes. As to the latter, how many public school teachers in Oklahoma are even qualified to teach the Bible? And to the wider picture, how many students and families will understandably feel fenced out because they are neither Christian nor Jewish? And what is the state doing establishing religion in public spaces? The Bill of Rights has its own ideas about the “establishment of religion” that contravenes the Governor and Superintendent. There is a certain road that is said to be paved with good intentions that I suspect most folks of good will would want to avoid.
This will be my last blog post for a bit, as I begin the second half of my sabbatical Sunday after church. I’m not going anywhere, or at least nowhere as exotic as the first half, but it will be six weeks of rest, relaxation and recreation, and I’ll return to work Wednesday August 14.
This Sunday we are delighted to welcome four new members into our covenant fellowship, please join us as we do so. Links to the bulletin and service are here: