(Deep from within the Fortress of Quarkitude, this is a piece I wrote some time ago for a website called Dead to My Flesh and cross-posted at Street Prophets. I hope you find it interesting.)
As we were walking home from church the other week, I was talking with my oldest girl about the sermon. In it, the guest pastor had gone into a brief digression about the modern concern for “inclusiveness”. He didn’t specifically cite Barak Obama’s statement a while back that “there are many paths to God”, but I’m sure that was what he was thinking of. And to a certain point, I agree with him. Although many paths may lead in the direction of God, I know of only one reliable means of Salvation, and that is the saving grace of Christ. That’s basic Lutheran doctrine.
Then the pastor went on to say that this insistence on “inclusiveness” was weakening civil religion; and there he lost me, because the way I see it, “civil religion” has to be inclusive; otherwise it is worthless.
“What is Civil Religion?” my daughter asked.
Well, when the President calls for a National Day of Prayer, that’s Civil Religion.
When the President declares that the Third Thursday in November shall be set aside as a National Day of Thanks, that’s Civil Religion.
When we observe National Holidays -- that’s Holy Days --to remember and honor those solders who have given their lives for our country, that’s Civil Religion.
When we salute the Flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance, that’s Civil Religion
When our public servants swear before God and the Community to faithfully uphold the duties of their office, whether it be on a Bible, a Koran or a copy of the Humanist Manifesto, that’s Civil Religion.
When we put “In God We Trust” on our money, that’s Civil Religion.
Some people regard these things as offensive intrusions of Religion into the Public Sphere. Others see them as evidence that we are indeed a Christian Nation. But if we are a Christian Nation, as they say, we are Christian in our culture rather than in our doctrine. It is an external matter of the things we do rather than a spiritual matter of what we believe.
People often mistake Civil Religion for Real Religion; or, like that pastor, condemn Civil Religion for not being religious enough. But really, how can it be otherwise?
I was taught in Confirmation Class that there were two churches: the Invisible Church, composed of the souls of All Believers, and the Visible Church, the physical, earthly organization. To those two I would add a third outer ring. The Civil Religion does not encompass just True Believers or even Communicant Members, but All Citizens. For that reason it has to be inclusive. It has to make room for people of all doctrinal flavors because our citizens come in all doctrinal flavors.
The Keys given to Saint Peter were meant to unlock the Kingdom of Heaven, not the ballot box.
For that reason, if one of our rituals of Civil Religion is excluding some group of citizens, then it’s not “Political Correctness” to examine that ritual and judge its importance. It’s simple fairness.
In the days of the Roman Empire, one aspect of the Civil Religion was to burn a pinch of incense to the Emperor on his birthday. Many Christians had a problem with this; they saw it as idolatry; and for their refusal they were branded as bad citizens, as unpatriotic, even as impious. We who are Christians need to remember that when we seek to imprint the Civil Religion of all with our own doctrinal stamp; or when we cling to external forms in the Civil Religion that we regard as specially ours.
I told my daughter that Civil Religion is like Dr. Johnson’s dog. (Well, I had to explain to her who Dr. Johnson was first and wait for her eyes to finish glazing over, but I eventually got to the point): It’s like a dog walking on its hind legs: you don’t expect the dog to do it well, it’s a wonder he does it at all. By the same token, I don’t expect the Civil Religion to be Doctrinally Pure or even to have any doctrine at all. It’s not intended to bring us closer to God, but rather to bring our fellow citizens closer to each other by forging a common American culture.
How well it does so is certainly up for debate. But finding fault with the Civil Religion for being too “Inclusive” misses the point of what the Civil Religion is.
Far be it from me to say that Doctrine is unimportant. I am a Lutheran, after all, pig-headed and German; I resist compromising on Doctrine without some powerful persuasion. But at the Community Table, what you believe is unimportant; the only thing that matters is being part of that Community.
Which, come to think of it, is not that far removed from Christian Doctrine either.