The most realistic fictions are the ones that do not seem most realistic, but rather the ones that gives us what we want most. In America, grace given for free, is anathema. Neither left-wing Christians nor right-wing Christians wish to embrace what the German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "costly grace." The left wishes to demonstrate its benovolence through its "good works" while the right wishes to prove its grace through its "economic gifts." Both miss the point that Christianity is not about what you get out of it. It is a world view in the purest sense precisely because it resists the things it can get out of the world and accepts the blessings of a good day and the suffering of a bad day with the same joy. It is absurd, I know, but those who argue that absurdity is a reason to discount it, miss the point that life itself is absurd and dictated by the absurd. However, I am not arguing Christianity right now, but rather the fairy tales created by the right and left in order to ignore their Christian heritage.
I voted for President Obama, lets get that on the table right now. I believe he is a good "American." And by this I mean he is a pragmatist who is willing to reach concessions and willing to try anything that might conceivably get us out of this financial dilemma. He has the country's best interest at heart and it probably wouldn't matter if he were Christian, Muslim, Atheist, or whatever; his first loyalty is to the country. So, when certain segments of society criticize him for not being Christian enough; I respond, "We probably wouldn't like that too much if he were." Mr. Obama was not elected to be the "high priest" or "pontifax maximus" of the United States. He was elected to be the president of the United States of America. If he were elected to be the bishop of a synod or the pastor of my church; then I would not have voted for him to hold this office. His views on Christianity are very "works-based" righteousness and it wouldn't take any great theological master work to punch holes in his viewpoints.
I bring up Mr. Obama not to discredit him, but to highlight two very important points. Firstly, in America, the separation of church and state is not only something beneficial to our survival; it is actually something quite deeply rooted in our Christian heritage. From Jesus saying, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's (the state) and give to God what is God's (the church)" all the way through Augustinian and Lutheran notions about the "Kingdom of the Right and Kingdom of the Left." Christians work within the state and follow the state's rules, but adhere to further dictums of their religious affiliation. The two come in conflict a great deal less than critics believe. Mr. Obama's faith and his reason for what he does are not mine. He is not Lutheran. His speeches are to deal with finances, the environment, and the Constitutionality of such-and-such; not on the theological aspects of free-will v. determinism or the Trinity. He has a job, his own brand of Christianity informs him of it; but I am not looking to him for theological insight and I highly recommend that you do not either.
The second point that I would like to make is that his Christianity is one that I find to be flawed. It expects that works are the cause rather than the fruits of grace. His decisions and his involvement allow him to have a good cache in the Bank of Heaven. He was fortunate enough that his politics was able to accept Christianity; and that he could get by with a little work's based righteousness. This is anathema to the good Lutheran, who, though we do good works, see it as a gift rather than an obligation. To many leftist Christians any "good work" is seen as the ultimate sign of faith and even trumps the Christian who "doesn't do enough good works." I don't know who is going to get into heaven, Jesus doesn't know who is going to get to heaven, and Barack Obama doesn't know who is going to get into heaven (and he has the good sense to keep quiet about it).
The right on the other hand seem to leave their faith at the door when they pursue their issues. Gay marriage and anti-abortion and (I don't know how) the tax code; become enmeshed not in their Christian world-view, but in their Pharisaical desire to be "right." To them the issue is paramount and their faith is secondary. They have a fervor that is not found in anyone in the New Testament except Saul of Tarsus before he saw the light. And so, when someone comes to the table with viewpoints they do not particularly care for, they do not argue the point but attack the issue. Dialogue cannot continue in that environment. However it is more important to know that Christ befriended the extortionists, the prostitutes, and whoever else would listen to him. He didn't do it to prove some point and he never accepted their excuses for why they did what they did; but to him the message of God's saving love was more important than some political plank. I wonder how many we needlessly alienate by not trying to figure out how God went missing in someone's life and how we can be like Philip and say "come and see." Instead the right is trying to legalize morals and ignoring that the law was fulfilled by Christ. We are not free from the law or tax codes or obligations to the state by Christ's death, but we are free to share the good news. That's what it means, and so much more.
The fictions of the religious right and the religious left are so desirable because they require us to be in charge. They allow us to delegate and regulate good works or morals. They don't allow the Holy Spirit and God to be at the center of our lives and so they should be disregarded as fairy tales that we ignore now that we are older. Our faith in God is bigger than our faith in the state or even in our own determinism. Our grace should be the determining factor in our lives.
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