Larry Johnson wrote this article.
“This court has
no jurisdiction over me, I am a German,” insisted Herman Goring as he stood
with other Nazi war criminals in 1946 before an international military tribunal
in Nuremburg, Germany. But Robert Jackson, chief counsel for the United States,
responded that “…there was a ‘law above the law’ that stood in judgment of all
men in all countries and societies.”[1] These contrasting views of the source
of laws by which men should be judged continue to be at the heart of the
cultural conflict in America—is the ultimate source of law to be God or man?
Modern America and the American church face the same dilemma as faced by
Germany and the German church of the 1930s.
We have previously quoted Eric Metaxas with
regard to the dramatic changes in German life following the democratic election
of Adolf Hitler on January 30, 1933. In less than two months the democratically
elected Reichstag (parliament) succumbed to pressure from the Nazi political
machine and placed the whole power of the government under Hitler’s control.
Thus began a series of radical changes to conform all of German life to Nazi
rule. Metaxas’ eloquent assessment of events bears repeating.
With the tools of democracy, democracy was
murdered and lawlessness made “legal.” Raw power ruled, and its only real goal
was to destroy all other powers besides itself…In the First months of Nazi
rule, the speed and scope of what the Nazis intended and had begun executing
throughout German society were staggering. Under what was called theGleichschaltung (synchronization), the country
would be thoroughly reordered along National
Socialist lines. No one dreamed how quickly and dramatically things
would change.[2] (emphasis added)
Herman Goring, the second most powerful man
in Germany and founder of the Gestapo, called this dramatic reordering of
society merely an “administrative change.”[3] “Everything must now be
synchronized under the Fuhrer’s leadership and under the idea of
Gleichschaltung—and the church must lead the way.”[4] The synchronization of
the church began with a series of regulations and laws that effectively wed the
church to the state and compromised the very biblical principles upon which
their faith rested. These laws and regulations initially dealt with the “Jewish
question” and included restrictions on Jews from serving in professions such as
the law, medicine, teaching, literature, the arts, theater, and film.
Christians of Jewish blood were also prohibited from serving in the
ministry.[5]
Casting
aside two millennia of Christian orthodoxy, the majority of the German churches
willingly allowed themselves to be synchronized with
the prevailing German political and social goals instead of the teachings of Jesus
Christ. They wanted a strong state-oriented church, a “positive Christianity”
that was “very aggressive in attacking those who didn’t agree with them and
generally caused much confusion and division in the church.”[6] Eventually, the
German church of the 1930s separated into three groups: the large apostate
German Christian church, the Confessing church which initially opposed Hitler
but became the silent church of appeasement, and a small but faithful remnant
that became the uncompromising and suffering church. We see much the same
divisions between churches in twenty-first century America, only the dividing
factor is now centered on humanism which Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “the most
severe enemy” that Christianity ever had.[7]
Bonhoeffer was a leader in in opposition to
the Nazis and the German apostate church. Bonhoeffer preached that the purpose
of the state was to make possible law and order as opposed to lawlessness and
disorder, and it was the church’s role to “continually ask” whether the state’s
actions could be justified as legitimate. But Bonhoeffer also recognized that
the state could not only fail by in the provision of law and order but could
also harm society with the imposition of “excessive law and order.”[8] Metaxas
quotes Bonhoeffer’s indictment of the Nazi regime.
And if on the other hand, the state is
creating an atmosphere of “excessive law and order,” it’s the job of the church
to draw the state’s attention to that too. If the state is creating “excessive
law and order,” then “the state develops its power to such an extent that it
deprives Christian preaching and Christian faith…of their rights.” Bonhoeffer
called this a “grotesque situation.” “The church,” he said, “must reject this
encroachment of the order of the state precisely because of its better
knowledge of the state and of the limitations of its action. The state which
endangers the Christian proclamation negates itself.”[9]
An excess of
law and order makes it difficult if not impossible for the church to question
the state regarding the legitimacy of its actions. By questioning the state’s
excessive laws and order imposed on its citizens, the church may violate the
very laws to which it objects. The inability of the church to question the
state with regard to its actions is particularly relevant to the twenty-first
century American church which finds itself at the same point of decision as
faced by the German Church in 1933. Here we return to our initial observation
that essence of the modern struggle in America is to determine whether man’s
law supersedes God’s law. Put another way, is man’s law above God’s law as
implied by Herman Goring and much of the humanistic leadership in American
society? Two immediate examples expose theseriousness and immediacy of
the challenge to the church.
Annise
Parker is the left-leaning and openly gay mayor of Houston, Texas, America’s
fourth largest City. In May she imposed the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance
which prohibits businesses from discriminating against gay and transgender
residents. The ordinance became known as the “bathroom bill” because one of the
provisions allows transgender individuals to use either a male or female public
restroom facility. Opposition to the ordinance began growing during the summer
as pastors and various religious leadersgathered signatures for a referendum
to be placed on the November ballot which would repeal the ordinance if passed.
To prevent the referendum, the city attorney subsequently rejected thousands of
signatures he believed did not qualify.[10]
Under the
guidance of the mayor and city attorney, both still smarting from the
significant efforts of the religious community to repeal the human rights
ordinance, five
pastors were subpoenaed and ordered to turn over to their
sermons, text messages, photographs, electronic files, calendars, and emails
and virtually all communication with members of their congregations on topics
such as homosexuality and gender identity. The pastors face fines and possible
incarceration if they fail to do so. The obvious goal of the mayor and city
attorney is intimidation. However, one pastor responded, “We’re not intimidated
at all. We’re not going to yield our First Amendment rights—even if it ends in
fines, confinement, or both.”[11] With opposition growing to the mayor’s effort
to silence the church, Houston City Attorney Feldman remained unfazed and
warned the pastors that, “The fact that you happen to be a pastor and you
happen to be at a church doesn’t provide you with protection.”[12] ButTexas Attorney General Greg Abbott had a different
interpretation for Feldman contained in an official letter to the city,
“Whether you intend it to be so or not, your action is a direct assault on the religious liberty guaranteed by the First
Amendment. The people of Houston and their religious leaders must be
absolutely secure in the knowledge that their religious affairs are beyond the
reach of the government. Nothing short of an immediate reversal by your office
will provide that security.”[13] [emphasis added]
Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho, is a lot smaller (about 46,000) and a long way from America’s
fourth largest city. But for the liberals and other advocates of the homosexual
agenda, no place is too small to be overlooked when rooting out any perceived
violation of human rights. Ministers Don
and Evelyn Knapp who have been marrying couples for twenty-five
years at their Hitching Post Wedding Chapel recently discovered this when the
city told them that they would go straight to jail if they refused to “marry”
same-sex couples (180 days in jail and fines up to $1,000 per day for every day the ministers refuse to perform the
ceremony). Unlike the Colorado cake baker’s business, the Knapp’s chapel is a
religious corporation. But this makes little difference to the
Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender mafia as they trample religious freedom
guaranteed by the First Amendment under the guise of achieving their perverted
definition of human rights.[14]
Albert Einstein was exiled from Germany
because he was a Jew. Although he did not believe in a personal God, he was not
an atheist. He described himself as somewhere between an agnostic and belief in
a pantheistic god in which nature is the totality of everything and is
identical with divinity. Yet, even though he was not a believer in
Christianity, the suffering church had a profound impact on his life.
Being a lover of freedom, when the (Nazi)
revolution came I looked to the universities to defend it…the universities took
refuge in silence. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers…but
they, like the universities, were silenced in a few weeks. I then addressed
myself to the authors…They are, in turn, very dumb. Only the church stood
squarely across the path of Hitler’s campaign for suppressing the truth. I
never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great
affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage
and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced
to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.[15]
As it was for the German church in 1933, it
is decision time for the American church of today. We must ask ourselves: At
what point do we have to become lawbreakers rather than betray our faith? The
Houston pastors have given their answer.
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Erwin W.
Lutzer, When a Nation Forgets God, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody
Publishers, 2010), pp. 60-61.
[2] Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010), pp. 149-150.
[3] Ibid., p. 157.
[4] Ibid., p 176.
[5] Ibid., pp. 150-151, 156-157, 160.
[6] Ibid., p. 151.
[7] Ibid., p. 85.
[8] Ibid., pp. 153-154.
[9] Ibid., p. 153.
[10] Josh Sanburn, “Houston Pastors Outraged After City Subpoenas Sermons Over Transgender Bill,” Time, October 17, 2014.
http://time.com/3514166/houston-pastors-sermons-subpoenaed/ (accessed October 21, 2014).
[11] Tony Perkins, “Houstunned: Pastors Vow to Fight Mayor’s Sermon Grab,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 15, 2014. http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/houstunned-pastors-vow-to-fight-mayors-sermon-grab (accessed October 21, 2014).
[12] Tony Perkins, “A Subpoena for Your Thoughts…”, Tony Perkins Washington Update, October 17, 2014. http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/a-subpoena-for-your-thoughts (accessed October 21, 2014).
[13] Tony Perkins, “Pulpit Friction: Texas Leaders Rally to Pastors’ Defense,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 16, 2014. http://www.frcblog.com/2014/10/pulpit-friction-tx-leaders-rally-pastors-defense/ (accessed October 21, 2014).
[14] Tony Perkins, “Natural Marriage in Idaho: Give it Arrest,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 20, 2014.
http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/natural-marriage-in-idaho-give-it-arrest (accessed October 21, 2014).
[15] Lutzer, p. 89-90.
[2] Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010), pp. 149-150.
[3] Ibid., p. 157.
[4] Ibid., p 176.
[5] Ibid., pp. 150-151, 156-157, 160.
[6] Ibid., p. 151.
[7] Ibid., p. 85.
[8] Ibid., pp. 153-154.
[9] Ibid., p. 153.
[10] Josh Sanburn, “Houston Pastors Outraged After City Subpoenas Sermons Over Transgender Bill,” Time, October 17, 2014.
http://time.com/3514166/houston-pastors-sermons-subpoenaed/ (accessed October 21, 2014).
[11] Tony Perkins, “Houstunned: Pastors Vow to Fight Mayor’s Sermon Grab,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 15, 2014. http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/houstunned-pastors-vow-to-fight-mayors-sermon-grab (accessed October 21, 2014).
[12] Tony Perkins, “A Subpoena for Your Thoughts…”, Tony Perkins Washington Update, October 17, 2014. http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/a-subpoena-for-your-thoughts (accessed October 21, 2014).
[13] Tony Perkins, “Pulpit Friction: Texas Leaders Rally to Pastors’ Defense,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 16, 2014. http://www.frcblog.com/2014/10/pulpit-friction-tx-leaders-rally-pastors-defense/ (accessed October 21, 2014).
[14] Tony Perkins, “Natural Marriage in Idaho: Give it Arrest,” Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, October 20, 2014.
http://www.frc.org/washingtonupdate/natural-marriage-in-idaho-give-it-arrest (accessed October 21, 2014).
[15] Lutzer, p. 89-90.
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