Goodness gracious, our illustrious statesmen do like to get the Christians worked up!
U.S. Representatives Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber and retired state Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka all voiced horror this week that the Minnesota Satanists erected a holiday display at the State Capitol.
Stauber called it a “disgrace.” Gazelka called it “a huge insult to Christians.” Emmer felt that it insulted all Minnesotans.
Well, gents, as a Christian, I’ve gotta tell you something. I’m not insulted. What I am is saddened — by you. You want me to feel insulted. You want me to be angry. You want me to forsake my Christian values that call me to turn the other cheek, to radically love others. Jesus said that if someone takes my shirt, to give them my coat also. Jesus said that if someone forces me to walk with them one mile, that I should walk with them for two. You tell me the opposite, that I should practice the politics of umbrage, to bridle at an imagined insult, that I should react in outrage instead of compassion and understanding.
Never mind that the Minnesota Satanists don’t even believe in Satan. Never mind that the primary display is of a phoenix rising from the ashes, a symbol of renewal found in ancient cultures around the world. It even resonated with at least one early Christian leader. In a letter to the Corinthians, Clement, sometimes called Clement of Rome or Pope Clement I, referred to the phoenix as building a nest of frankincense and myrrh (sound familiar?) and other spices as it prepared to die and be reborn.
With the new year around the corner, it’s a timely symbol. It’s not the only religious display there. There’s also a Christmas tree and a manger scene, with a menorah on its way.
The Satanists are actually trying to do something commendable. At a time when Christian nationalism has some people mistakenly believing that we are a Christian nation, the Satanists are reminding us that we are a secular nation that protects the right of all of us to worship as we see fit, as long as we don’t harm anyone else.
It is true that for generations, Christian identity prevailed in the United States. As late as the 1990s, about 90% of the population considered themselves Christian, according to the Pew Research Center. But just because most people belong to one religion doesn’t mean that the government itself is religious. In America, the government has no religious role to play; a good thing, if we want to avoid the bloody sectarian power struggles of the past. Sects and denominations can come and go and the government keeps chugging along, paving roads, funding schools, protecting the nation.