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The Politics
of the Cross
A
Christian
Perspective
on "Christian
Democracy"
By Phil Ropp
December 1,
2012
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From
the outset,
let me state
that I find
the overall
concept of
"Christian
Democracy"to
be nothing
more than an
idiotic
oxymoron and a
cruel hoax.
There is
nothing
"democratic"
in the
slightest
about
Christianity.
To the
contrary, the
language of
the faith is
monarchic and
theocratic and
makes no
allusion
whatsoever to
God sharing
power with
anyone outside
of the three
persons of the
Godhead. And
there most
certainly is
nothing
Christian
about
democracy,
which
originated
among the
Greek pagans
of Athens some
five centuries
before God
walked the
earth in the
flesh in the
person of
Jesus Christ.
What we think
of as
democracy
today has it's
roots more
firmly planted
in the ancient
soil of the
Roman system,
and there is a
most profound
example of
Roman
democracy
preserved for
us in the New
Testament
gospel
accounts of
the trial of
Jesus. Pontius
Pilate, the
Prefect of the
Roman Province
of Judea, puts
the Lord's
fate up to a
vote of the
people as
witnessed in
this passage
from theGospel
According to
St. Mark:
And
among
the rebels in
prison, who
had committed
murder in the
insurrection,
there was a
man called
Barabbas. And
the crowd came
up and began
to ask Pilate
to do as he
was wont to do
for them. And
he answered
them, "Do you
want me to
release for
you the King
of the Jews?"
For he
perceived that
it was out of
envy that the
chief priests
had delivered
him up. But
the chief
priests
stirred up the
crowd to have
him release
for them
Barabbas
instead. And
Pilate again
said to them,
"Then what
shall I do
with the man
whom you call
the King of
the Jews?" And
they cried out
again,
"Crucify him."
And Pilate
said to them,
"Why, what
evil has he
done?" But
they shouted
all the more,
"Crucify him."
So Pilate,
wishing to
satisfy the
crowd,
released for
them Barabbas;
and having
scourged
Jesus, he
delivered him
to be
crucified.
(Mark15:
7-15).
The fact
that it is Our
Lord's
encounter with
democracy that
leads him to
the Cross
should give
pause to those
who would
connect the
words
"Christian"
and
"democracy"
into a single
concept. In
this pause, we
have the
opportunity to
consider the
facts of the
matter in such
a way as to
lead us into a
deeper
understanding
of just what
it is we are
saying when we
bandy about a
term such as
"Christian
Democracy."
And this
deeper
understanding
should also
create within
us a sense of
the tremendous
responsibility
that is
inherent in
the very
concept
itself.
Democracy,
then, is
inextricably
linked to the
Cross because
the
crucifixion of
Jesus was an
event
determined by
the will of
the people, as
influenced
through the
campaigning of
his enemies,
and as
executed by a
civil servant
who performed
the duty of
his office
against his
own better
judgment.
The
politics of
the Cross is,
then,
democratic. It
is emblematic,
in a most deep
and profound
way, of the
danger
inherent in
giving the
power of self
determination
to the people,
for it
demonstrates
to us in no
uncertain
terms how
grave the
error of the
majority can
be when the
mob is allowed
to rule. The
politics of
the Cross both
raises and
answers the
ultimate
question of
sin: if God
should present
Himself to us
in a wholly
innocent and
vulnerable
way, do we
respond to Him
by falling to
our knees and
begging
forgiveness
for our human
failings? Or
do we commit
the atrocity
of deicide at
the urging of
the experts
and to quiet
the shouts of
the unholy?
And to those
who would
claim that the
Cross is an
object of
horror
consigned to
our barbaric
history, and
that the
choice would
be different
in our
civilized
world of
today, I would
point you to
the corpses of
the 50 million
innocent and
vulnerable
unborn who
have died in
the US alone
since the
process of
abortion
became legal
in 1973.
Imagine 50
million little
crosses on 50
million little
graves and
picture Our
Lord crucified
50 million
times and one
begins to see
life in
America from
heaven's point
of view. The
politics of
"choice" is
very much
related to the
politics of
the Cross.
There
is an old
1950's science
fiction movie
entitled, "Red
Planet Mars"
that is a
particular
favorite of
mine. In this
film a
scientist, as
portrayed by
Peter Graves,
makes radio
contact with a
civilization
on Mars. In
his
conversations
with the
Martians, he
is given
instruction on
how Mars was
able to fix
the various
ills that
still plague
earthly
civilization,
and soon
hunger,
disease and
the various
hardships of
human life are
on the way to
being cured.
This creates a
tremendous
distrust and
panic, as
markets begin
to collapse in
the face of
the Martian
potential, and
the masses
react
violently to
what they
suspect to be
a sinister
inter-planetary
interference.
This prompts
our hero to
ask his
Martian
contacts how
they came by
this knowledge
and why they
are sharing
it, and he is
told that God
walked among
them and
brought them
peace,
prosperity and
harmony. The
idea is to
prompt the
audience to
ponder just
what it could
have meant if
the crowd
present at the
Praetorium
that day had
cried out the
name of Jesus
instead of
that of
Barabbas.
The
question for
us supposed by
the politics
of the Cross
is simply, "Is
it too late?"
Do the
conditions of
the present
day
demonstrate
for us that
the powers of
evil that
condemned
Jesus to death
are as firmly
entrenched
within our
modern world
as in that
ancient one,
and that there
is no hope of
turning the
tide? Are we
doomed by the
curse of
history to
endlessly
repeat it, or
is it possible
to stand today
in the public
square, choose
correctly, and
shout the name
of Jesus over
that of
Barabbas?
Further, is it
too late to
overcome a
system and a
society that
has been
corrupted with
sin and
polluted with
unbelief to
the point
where we are
not even
allowed to
shout for
Jesus in
public, but
must choose
instead
between the
murderers and
robbers who
are chosen for
us? Is this
not the
consequence,
after all, of
allowing God
to be denied
in our
cultural
reality and
banished from
our public
life? And is
this not the
consequence,
after all, of
a Church that
has spent too
much of the
past two
millennia
wielding the
power of
religion as a
weapon rather
than leading
the huddled
masses to fall
before the
Cross of
Christ, so
that from the
bottom of
every sinful
soul and every
broken heart
the cry might
be heard in
heaven, "Lord,
be merciful to
me a
sinner!"
That's the
answer to the
politics of
the Cross for
each of us
individually.
It is a
decision that
must be made
in the depths
of our being
and offered up
by the free
will that was
the gift from
God that
condemned us
through
rebellion in
Eden, and yet
saves each
that chooses
resubmission
at the Cross.
The
larger
question is
what of the
nation that
drifts from
God and denies
Him? When is
her
condemnation
complete? The
lesson that we
know from
history is
that when
ancient Israel
played the
harlot with
foreign gods,
the Lord
deserted her
to her lusts,
yet kept open
the door to
true and deep
repentance.
And when the
chastisement
of the pagans
was visited
upon the
people of God,
there were
those times
when she
turned back to
Him, rent her
garments and
mourned, and
there was the
time when she
was utterly
crushed and
defeated and
was carried
off to weep in
sackcloth by
the rivers of
Babylon. Even
so, the Lord
brought back a
remnant of her
people, and
even yet her
savior came.
And the woes
of our world
today are the
result of her
choice, by
free election,
of the killer
Barabbas over
the author of
life, Jesus
Christ. In the
gospel, there
is but one
disciple who
follows Jesus
all the way to
the Cross and
joins his
mother there
and so is
saved. In the
days after
Christ is
risen, the
others find
their way back
to him until
even Thomas
places his
hand in his
side, is
confronted by
the reality of
the Cross, and
ceases to be
faithless but
believes. And
many others
come to
Christ, as the
witness of
these new
apostles
spreads across
the land. But
the nation?
She
mercilessly
persecutes the
Christians
until the city
of Jerusalem
and the Temple
of God are
destroyed, and
remains
spiritually
blind and hard
of heart until
the nation is
led into utter
devastation
and ruin by
following the
gospel of
violence as
proclaimed by
the false
messiah, Simon
Bar Kochba.
Now
the
question is
posed to
America: Can
she be saved?
Should she?
Before that
question is
answered,
perhaps we
should take a
look at
America from a
more prophetic
perspective,
because if the
tendency
towards a more
Christian
democracy is
based upon the
idea that the
nation's ills
can be cured
by merely
informing
policy
decisions from
an academic
point of view
more favorable
to Christians,
then it must
be noted, and
with no undue
alarm, that
this more
traditional
approach is in
a state of
utter failure
within both of
the parties
currently
holding power.
The reason for
this is not
necessarily an
outright evil
intent on
either side of
the aisle, but
rather that
both have come
to reflect and
represent the
viewpoint of a
majority
poisoned by
the Kool-Aid
of a corrupt
and not only
unchristian,
but
anti-christian,
intelligentsia.
The
problem in
America is not
political, it
is spiritual.
The so-called
"culture war"
has already
been lost and
this is merely
reflected in
the political
process.
Therefore,no
political
solution is
possible until
the heart and
mind and soul
of the
citizenry is
turned back to
God and away
from the sin
that destroys
her.
What
is
the nature of
this sin? Who
is America
today?
Consider this:
She
plays
the harlot in
abject sin and
outright
debauchery,
and with an
arrogance
unspeakable
even to the
ancients. Her
youth are
corrupted by a
rampant and
destructive
sexual
deviance that
is celebrated
in the streets
and
promulgated in
the public
square as the
free and
joyous
expression of
a brave and
liberated new
world. A
secular
"spirituality"in
the form of a
21st century
new age
paganism of
"tolerance"
has arisen to
fill the
vacuum created
by those
respected
theologians in
our colleges
and
universities
who proclaimed
God dead and
passe in the
20th century.
We
witness
now many new
churches
claimed for
God that
proclaim a
gospel of
prosperity and
mammon rather
than the
gospel of
eternal
salvation at
the Cross, and
they have
become as
bereft of the
Lord's
presence as
were the gold
filled temples
of Rome. We
witness in the
ancient and
Holy Church
even priests
consecrated by
Holy Orders to
Jesus serving
up the bodies
and souls of
children on
the unholy
altar of
Ba'al, while
serving the
faithful at
the Holy Altar
of
Christ.
It should not
surprise us,
then, that our
land has
become a place
where the
lusts of the
flesh are
given
precedence,
while the
needs of the
spirit are
denied and the
resultant
empty souls
are filled
with
meaningless
diversions and
destructive
amusements.
Men lie with
men, and women
with women,
and demand
that the
government
recognize this
somehow as
"marriage."
They demand as
well that the
Church that
has yet to bow
the knee to
Ba'al proclaim
their union
"holy." And
many in the
government
concede that
this should be
so and -- as
if they speak
for God
Himself --
demand the
Church to
follow suit.
Across
the
land not only
the first but
often the
second, third
or fourth or
more conceived
in sin, or
those merely
proclaimed
deficient or
an
inconvenience,
are passed
through the
fire of
abortion to
Moloch, while
those who
protest this
horror are
said to be
hard of
heart,narrow
of mind and
haters of
women. As if
the slaughter
of the
innocents of
our own land
was somehow
insufficient,
the United
Nations is
enjoined by
American based
capitalistic
interests to
spread this
abomination
that maketh
desolate to
the far flung
corners of the
earth.
Those
callow
youth
fortunate
enough to
escape the
abortionist
grow up to be
recruited and
trained as
killers for
the war
machine of an
evil empire
that spills
the blood of
manufactured
enemies abroad
for profit.
Coolidge once
said that,
"The business
of America is
business," but
today that
business has
moved offshore
for cheaper
labor, while
the true
business of
America
increasingly
is death. And
we are urged
to wave the
flag and cheer
while our
leaders, like
Ahab and
Jezebel,
demand the
right to
justify this
sin for
themselves and
the people by
denying
evermore the
reality of the
God of Israel.
They have used
the same
politics that
sent Jesus to
the Cross to
fill our
governmental
halls with the
sons of
Barabbas, and
our courts
with those
possessed of
less character
than Pilate.
This
unchecked
descent into
mortal sin in
America has
gone on so
long now, and
has become so
pronounced and
entrenched,
that it has
produced a
situation that
is more
systemic than
it is
political.
Dishonesty and
deceit, so
long accepted
as the usual
business of
politics, has
spread
unchecked like
a cancer into
the very bones
of the
American
system. So
weakened,this
very system
upon which the
business of
the nation
operates has
been usurped
and corrupted
by an elite
who have
placed
themselves
above God, let
alone the
prosecution of
the people.
They have
stolen from us
the family cow
of true and
traditional
American
morals and
values, and
have traded it
on our behalf
for the magic
beans of a
demonic new
world order.
Their
unchecked
thievery has
resulted in a
fiscal crisis
of
unprecedented
proportion,
and their
stooges in
government,
elected by
what we are
told is the
will of the
people,and
functioning
under what now
passes for the
rule of law,
have handed us
the bill. And,
as hapless as
lemmings, and
as helpless as
sheep, we have
no choice but
to pony up the
dough. It
isn't enough
that we merely
render onto
Caesar what is
Caesar's,
because they
have
determined,
and demanded
that, in His
absence, they
also want what
is God's. And
this has
resulted in
such human
suffering for
profit
enterprises as
abortion and
war on
demand.
They
want
it all,
and,much as
they have, it
isn't enough.
It never is
enough.
More
and more,
these money
changers have
succeeded in
moving the
wealth of the
people into
their own
private
coffers while
creating a
debt that the
public
subsequently
is expected to
pay. Not
satisfied with
stealing the
wealth already
produced by
the masses,
they have
devised ways
to take the
wealth they
have not yet
generated, and
when this is
no longer
possible -- a
situation that
approaches
rapidly --
then the
ruined public
becomes a
liability
rather than an
asset: and
increasingly
expendable.
The so called
"elite" buy
off and pay
for ever
slicker and
dirtier
politicians
and for the
company of
high profile
celebrity
functionaries,
who meld into
a lower level
controlled
"news" media
which, in
turn, bends
reality to
their point of
view and
points the
finger of
their
propaganda at
everyone but
them. And so
we are told by
those who
shill for
those with the
most (who pay
the least)
that those who
have more
should pour
more of what
they earn into
the bottomless
abyss of this
human greed,
so the ones
with less can
be satisfied
that more is
being done to
"save the
planet" and
care for the
rapidly
growing
numbers of
"the poor." In
this way, more
and more can
be enslaved
and controlled
in a "welfare
state" that
pays out
barely enough
to maintain
survival and
never enough
to foster
escape from
it. In this
way, those who
have had their
hard earned
wealth shaken
from their
pockets join
those
entrapped be
their own lack
of ambition,
and those who
supplement
this meager
income through
criminal
activity, and
what we used
to call the
"middle class"
is transformed
before our
eyes into a
growing and
alarming
underclass,
and the very
foundation of
American
society
crumbles
beneath our
feet.
In the
Orwellian
doublespeak of
post modern
times, the
extermination
of
undesirables
through
abortion,
euthanasia and
eugenics is
now called
"healthcare,"
and
participation
in this system
is ordered up
for one and
all by the law
of the land.
And when the
Church of
Jesus Christ
finally finds
her voice in
protest of a
forced
participation
in such
policies that
outright
violate not
only the
Constitution,
but the
natural laws
of God, a
majority of
her followers,
like the dog
of Proverbs,
return to
their own
vomit and
reelect the
administration
that
perpetrates
this sin.
The
politics of
the Cross
remains
unchanged and
the voice of
the mob has
cried out once
more, "Give us
Barabbas!" And
so they shall
have him!
Given
these
circumstances
of our present
day reality,
it is
understandable
and even
expected that
a cry should
go up across
the land for a
more Christian
brand of
democracy. As
with the Judea
of Christ's
day, so in our
own times,the
politics of
the Cross
leads
invariably to
wreck and to
ruin. In
America this
wreck and ruin
is so fast
upon us and
the moral
fabric of our
society so
rent that it
is indeed a
fair question
to ask, is it
too late? Is
it hopelessly
naive to
suppose that,
in the face of
such
formidable
odds, and with
such a deeply
entrenched and
powerful
opposition,
that it is
possible to
affect any
kind of
positive
outcome at
all? However,
this was also
true in the
Rome that gave
us the
politics of
the Cross, and
the end result
of that
fateful day in
Jerusalem was
the rise of a
faith based
culture that
lasted some
two thousand
years and
lifted the
world to new
heights even
in the midst
of the same
ever-present
malevolence
that threatens
our
destruction
now. And,
while it is
this same
culture that
dies in our
arms today,the
most ultimate
and meaningful
truth brought
home to us
through our
history, and
by the
politics of
the Cross, is
the eternal
hope of
resurrection
for not only
individuals,
but for the
nation that
chooses to
return to God
in true and
deep
repentance.
While
it is hard to
envision a new
reality akin
to that of the
faded print
and red menace
mentality of a
poorly made
and forgotten
1952 film -- a
film in which
America and
the world do
wake up and do
turn back to
God -- the
fact remains
that there are
many in
America who
remain
sympathetic to
the cause of
Christ, and
perhaps the
worst we could
do is
sacrifice this
devotion to
Jesus on the
altar of
hopelessness.
Perhaps that's
just what
those who
would see us
brought down
the rest of
the way to
hell would
have us do.
Christian
democracy does
not have to
remain forever
an idiotic
oxymoron.
Democracy
itself,
despite it's
pagan origins,
does not have
to be a cruel
hoax that
invariably
leads Our Lord
to the Cross.
It is hard to
imagine, given
the impact
Jesus had on
the society of
his day
through the
deep truths of
his teaching,
and his
awesome and
mind-bending
display of
God's
power,that
there were not
those present
at the Praetorium
that day who
were also
sympathetic to
his cause. In
fact, it is
hard to fathom
that the
crowds that so
vociferously
welcomed him
to Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday
could have,
with such
ferocity,
turned to
condemn him
unanimously on
Good Friday.
Had those
touched by
Jesus raised
their voices
that day at
Pilate's
urging,
perhaps the
election so
rigged by the
chief priests
could have
been
overturned,
and the
echoing cry of
"Give us
Jesus!" would
have made our
human legacy
the politics
of salvation
rather than
the politics
of the Cross.
The message of
"Red Planet
Mars" was,
simply, that
it was not too
late for
planet earth.
In the film,
Peter Graves
came to
understand
that this
message
received from
Mars came from
God Himself.
Perhaps we,
too, should
come to
understand
this about the
same message
that comes to
America, and
the world,
from the Holy
See in Rome.
Given
the state of
America in the
21st century
and the death
of faith that
has given rise
to the new and
jealous pagan
religion of
"Secularism,"
it should also
be understood
that the road
ahead for any
political
movement that
seeks to not
only call
itself
Christian, but
truly be so,
will be
fraught with
danger and
loudly, and
even
violently,
opposed in no
uncertain
terms. Those
who have --
either through
malice or
ignorance --
moved the
nation so far
in the
opposite
direction,worship
their pagan
gods of
Secularism and
the emperors
who support
them as surely
as did the
ancient
Romans. The
popular idea
that Christian
ideals can
somehow be
fostered
through
negotiation
and compromise
in the midst
of this is
truly naive
and totally
unrealistic.
There is no
negotiation
with the
devil. There
is no
compromise at
the Cross. The
road to
salvation for
America is
through the
deep and true
conversion and
reconversion
of enough of
her souls to
fill the
public square
with a voice
that shouts as
one the name
of Jesus, and
shouts down
the call for
Barabbas. This
is no quick
nor easy fix.
The
conversion of
Rome was won
upon the blood
of the
Christian
martyrs. It
may be safely
assumed that
the conversion
of America
will be won
with nothing
less.
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