Thought for Today
Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.
Proverbs 24:1 Do not envy the wicked, nor desire to be with them; 2 for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.
Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.
It seems unimaginable that anyone reading this is unaware of the events in Washington, D.C., this past weekend. But, just in case, there was another unsuccessful attempted assassination of the President of the United States. My thoughts right now are not about the Monday-morning-quarterbacking finding fault with the security arrangements. The attempt was unsuccessful in large part due to the heroic bravery of the security personnel.
I find special irony, however, in the timing of this attempt. This year our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary. For 250 years this nation has been “the home of the free and the brave.” The current king of the nation from which we won our independence is soon coming to our nation to acknowledge and celebrate the special relationship our nations have enjoyed for most of those 250 years.
What has happened to our country? When did murdering the President or any member of his administration become an acceptable way to express disagreement with that President’s policies? It is true that this was not the first attempt at assassinating a sitting President. There have been many other attempts, some sadly successful. Irrespective of our political views, our preferred political party or any other consideration, we should properly mourn the murder of any elected governmental official.
For people of faith, this current news should be especially troubling. It does seem that our nation has lost sight of the implicit faith in God embodied in our Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution. While I strongly support the separation of church and state (primarily as a protection for the church from the state), the Founding Fathers of our nation were people of faith.
One of the most basic commandments our Creator God has given us is “Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.” Just to make sure we understand, God repeated that commandment in Deuteronomy 5:17. There is no linguistic or translational confusion. The wording is simple and clear. Four short, simple words in any language, “Don’t do that!” Obviously, far too many have missed the message.
We can argue and debate continuously about whether or not this is the most politically divided time for our nation in the past 250 years. Historians may never agree on the issue. Examination, debate, conversation and even disagreement are all good, positive and even helpful actions. Self-reflection and evaluation are beneficial activities for individuals and for nations. Note, however, none of those activities involve violence or murder.
The question of whether any war can be morally just or whether or not a political assassination can ever be morally just is difficult and complex. There have been times in humanity’s history when that question has been timely and pertinent. I’m thinking especially of the middle decades of the 20th century. Two of history’s most brutal and repressive regimes existed in those decades. Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were responsible for almost unimaginable brutality, repression, torture and death of a staggering number of their citizens. Theologians did debate the question of the morality of war and assassination . . . and did not truly come to agreement.
Our own nation and much of our world today is again in a state of flux and an age of unrest. In the U.S.A. and elsewhere there are honest differences of opinion about how best to govern. Those opinions need to be openly and civilly discussed and debated. They need to be tried in the court of public opinion. They do not justify violence and they do not justify murder.
The U.S.A. was founded as a nation of law. Our founding principles are enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. We have a balance of power between our 3 branches of government, and we have elections. We have better ways of resolving our differences than by resorting to violence.
Stay safe, talk to each other, trust God,
Pastor Ray