Mask Mandates Unmask a “Christian Nation”

(I know that some will insist this is more political than Christian. But the thrust of the argument is aimed at Christians who shun the very things that we say are the foundations of our faith.)

Jayson D Bradley writes a blog called “Honest to God” at Patheos. In mid-May, 2020, he took on the Christian Nation myth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read his post here (assuming it is still active at Patheos).

Like Bradley, I have noticed how many of the people I know through church, both current and prior affiliation, are more concerned with their “rights” as Americans than they are the commandments of the God that they claim to follow as part of a “higher calling.” Parts of this higher calling are to follow, to love all, and to become servants to others — many distinctive actions that seem to always put someone else ahead of ourselves.

The Kingdom of God is Like Leaven

Right before Christmas 2019 I took a look at facebook — something I had done very rarely in the years up to then — and was greeted with a post by a niece (my brother’s daughter) of her roughly 7 month old daughter. She had the cutest face and smile, and a bow in her hair with a very out-of-focus tree and lights in the background. Maybe a professional photo but I suspect that her dad is more than capable of the feat.

But as I looked at the photo, while I am not that good at seeing resemblances, I realized that this face I was seeing is a combination of particular genes flowing forward from numerous family lines that came together in my niece and her husband, and then just those that surfaced in my great niece.

And I was reminded of the rather brief analogy Jesus gave to describe the Kingdom of God.