I have a confession to make: I am a very bad Christian.
Oh, I believe that I am saved solely by my faith in God’s Grace, and that Jesus was that Grace made manifest. I believe, and do my best to live on a daily basis, that my neighbor is my brother and that I am obligated to reflect God’s Love and Grace as best I can. I know – not simply believe – that God’s Grace is all that is truly real and truly lasting in this world.
But however much I try, I am still a bad Christian, because I cannot bring myself to pray for "our president."
Well, that’s not entirely true. I sometimes, when I am feeling charitable, ask God to make Bush Jong Il go away, to leave us all in peace, and never bother us again. I asked the same for Bill Clinton. And Bush Il Sung (though I did not call him that at the time). And should Kerry get to be president, I suspect I will find myself pretty quickly praying for him to go away as well.
It is about as charitable toward human leadership as I will ever get. Free men and women do not need to be led. Nor do we need to be governed.
I have never prayed for leaders. Not while I was Muslim (from 1988 until earlier this year). The Muslims I prayed with never prayed for the corrupt kings and venal presidents of their part of the world anyway. We prayed, instead, for the mujahedin of whatever places were at war at the time – Bosnia, Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir. They needed our prayers more anyway. (The causes seemed significantly more noble at the time than they would later…)
And I have not prayed for leaders as a Christian either (Martin Luther was a brilliant man, but I have a hard time swallowing his ideas of government). I simply cannot bring myself to.
Now, I know God’s Grace applies even to the arrogant and powerful. I understand this, and I am glad that God’s Grace is so great that it applies even to the ambitious, the cruel, the venal, the capricious, the craven, the misguided, and the powerful. Were it me, well, I wouldn’t be so merciful. I am grateful the burden and the judgment are not mine. Most days, I have enough to worry about taking care of myself.
If ever there was a world when a man (or woman) who did not want power but achieved it through no effort of their own, we surely no longer live in that world. It is impossible, today, for a noble prince or princess of conscience to become a leader by accident. Everyone who aspires to become president or prime minister must strive for that power, must reach for it, must yearn for it, must lust after it. They must want that power. Badly.
And by wanting that power, they must believe that murder and theft – because that’s what government is – are the best way, or the only way, to accomplish things.
So I’m sorry, part of me is completely convinced that those who have the power, or aspire to wield the power, of life and death over other human beings – the power to rob men and women of their lives, their liberty, and their property with impunity – voluntarily separate themselves from God’s Grace. Part of me wants desperately to believe there can be no forgiveness nor divine mercy for those who seek, grasp and wield that kind of power over other human beings.
I know I’m wrong. And I thank God that I am wrong. But it’s a struggle every day to remember that.
Supporters of our uniquely American form of caesaropapism – a Calvinist caesaropapism that believes that God chose us to either herald in the millennium or fulfill scripture – like to cite Romans 13 as the foundation for their misguided and idiotic nationalism. It was that way in the early 1980s, when I was a young teenager full of pre-millennial dispensationism. If you questioned Ronald Reagan, missile defense, Central America policy, or the battle against the Soviet Union, Paul was trotted out and the correction administered. Obey and love your leaders because God says so.
(Funny, was Carter’s presidency or Clinton’s defended in the same way by the same people? I don’t know, but I rather doubt it…)
So I’m glad to see so little has changed, and that Paul’s call for "Every person to submit to authorities in power, for all authority comes from God, and the existing authorities are instituted by him" is still useful to compel obedience to a Republican president and demand devotion and allegiance to the United States of America as God’s chosen nation. I’m glad to see the idea of theocratic kingship is not only alive and well, but healthy and happy and snuggled down deep in the GOP. It’s nice we have something other than the desire for authentic self-government to keep us warm at night.
Now, I’m not inclined to like Paul very much (never have), though I have grown to appreciate his writings over time. Especially when he writes about Grace. He’s at his best when he writes about Grace.
Take a look at the passage. I’m no expert on Biblical Greek (my Qur’anic Arabic is much better), but I don’t see any mention of the United States of America, of the Republican Party, of Ronald Reagan, or of Bush Jong Il (sorry, bad habit). Paul speaks of governments – in the plural. Now, maybe he is distinguishing between the city of Alexandria, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the host of federal authorities loitering nearby astride both banks of the Potomac, but I doubt it. As I read the passage to obey "existing authorities," it could just as easily apply to Soviet Communist Party politburos, Saudi kings, Iraqi Ba’ath Party dictators, French presidents, and North Korean Dear Leaders.
Paul merely seems to be commanding the faithful not to rebel against authority if they don’t absolutely have to, and maybe even not at all (I see little wiggle room for rebellion, even against English kings, so where that puts George Washington, Patrick Henry and the Adamses is anyone’s guess). And given the nature of the Roman state and how it treated rebels, that probably wasn’t bad advice. But the rest of the chapter reminds us of what is truly important — "the debt of love you owe one another” and “Love cannot wrong a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
Hardly a call to worship the state and the leader and believe they are the articulation of God’s will on earth. Hardly a demand to bow down before that state and voluntarily sacrifice your life and wealth for your “leader.”
Still, I want to be a good Christian. Mr. Bush is my neighbor. I pass his house every morning on the way to work and can see it from my office window. I owe him the same charity I owe any neighbor.
So I will pray for him.
"Lord, grant President Bush the wisdom to see and understand his many errors. Especially those that have led to the deaths of many thousands of human beings, children of Yours equally worthy of Grace and Forgiveness. Grant him the wisdom to resign, that he may serve You better in humility and peace. Make sure no one takes his place."
"Amen."
October 21, 2004
Charles H. Featherstone [send him mail] is a Washington, D.C.-based journalist specializing in energy, the Middle East, and Islam. He lives with his wife Jennifer in Alexandria, Virginia.
