Affirmation of Faith
Affirmation of Faith: October 15, 2020
On Facebook the other day I saw a meme that said something like, “Stop asking politicians whether they believe in climate change; start asking whether they understand climate change.” It’s a fair point, because if I ask a person whether he believes in something that does, in fact exist, then I weaken the certainty of its existence. It gives the person the option to deny it. Do you believe in the Holocaust? Do you believe 2+2=4? Do you believe warm air rises? Understanding is another couple of levels up.
Still, clearly someone can deny a fact. Maybe she denies that the Holocaust happened; it effectively frees her from the messy implications of that horrible policy decision. And apparently, people can deny that humans are a major engine driving the changing of the climate and get themselves off the hook for making any behavior or policy adjustments. So, if I want someone to modify his behavior—that is, understand and do something about it—it helps a lot if he believes in the underlying concern.
This got me thinking about the grand experiment we affectionately call America. Do we believe in it?
I don’t ever recite the pledge of allegiance. I’ll stand and look at the flag and put my hand over my heart. But I won’t say the words. It’s not that I want to be disrespectful, it’s that I refuse to pledge allegiance to any human-made institution or political entity. I have and will only ever pledge allegiance to God. Not to a church, not to a school, not to a religion, not to a country.
To join our congregation, I did have to make a profession of faith. Profession, confession, those are good, humbling things. But no church should ask for a pledge of allegiance. If it does, it’s not a church, it’s a cult.
The church does, however, have creedal statements, which are often read in unison, and which are a profession of belief. I’ll admit, this is always a tense moment for me in church services, because at any given time I don’t believe all of those creedal statements. I’m just a real stickler about meaning what I say.
Let’s take the Nicene Creed. We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty… see? Right there I’m already flinching. No. I don’t believe in God as a divine male parent. I don’t believe in God the Mother Almighty either, nor God the King or Queen. God is bigger than gender or our small renderings of power. If you want to call God ‘Father,’ have at it. I’m not telling you what to believe or how to say it. I affirm that God is sovereign and is creator of heaven and earth. Though I prefer the next phrase: of all that is, seen and unseen. The ambiguity seems so much more honest. Plus, there’s a whole lot more I believe about God! Unfortunately, the creed speeds right into some theological points about Jesus’s birth and death, but no mention of his life or teaching. The Holy Spirit gets a little shout out at the end, and it wraps up with baptism and resurrection. Creeds are, at best, incomplete.
But the fact of having a creed is a stake in the ground, a way to consider and have constructive dialogue (some would say argue) with one’s tradition. Do I believe this? Do I believe it the way the Council of Nicaea believed it? Do I believe it to be relevant in context of today’s society?
My maternal grandfather, Harry Holland, was a Presbyterian minister. He died when I was about Emma’s age, but he lives on in family lore, my brother Harry’s smile, my son’s sense of humor. I confess I don’t know much about his theology or preaching, but I know he was a dedicated servant of the church. And I also know that at some point in his life he undertook an exercise to write his own, personal creed. His own statement of faith. He kept it in the front of his Bible, and I have a copy of it in mine.
Maybe we should have a national Affirmation of Faith. Instead of having a pledge of allegiance or an oath of citizenship, maybe a more constructive statement would answer, in what do you believe? Because if you believe in it, then you are more motivated to (in oath language) support, defend, speak truth of and be obedient to it.
I took a stab at an affirmation of faith for the United States of America. It’s a work in progress.
If I believe in it, then I’m much more willing to support, defend, speak truth of and be obedient to the ideals I describe. And if you clarify your own American Affirmation of Faith, it might help us decide why we can or cannot agree on some things. Maybe you believe the Constitution must always be interpreted the way the men who wrote it said it. I don’t believe that, any more than I believe the living Church can only be interpreted through the lens of the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 . Or even the lens of the second Council in 381, because that first creed was amended after more thought. As was our Constitution.
I don’t understand how anyone can be comfortable where the church or the country or the world is right now. If you’re uncomfortable and wanting it to ‘go back’ to some mythical better time, then I respectfully ask that you do some more research. Even if you think you would have been more comfortable then, just the merest historical scratch will show how very, very, very many other people were exploited, discarded, invisible, sick or miserable. And how can you live knowing that? How is your comfort, how is your feeling right, more important than the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all those other people? America has not achieved its ideals yet, but I believe it can, and that the way to get there is for its citizens to move forward, respectfully, conscientiously, together.
“The tragedy in the lives of most of us is that we go through life walking down a high-walled lane with people of our own kind, the same economic situation, the same national background and education and religious outlook. And beyond those walls, all humanity lies, unknown and unseen, and untouched by our restricted and impoverished lives. ”
