The Sacred Secularist

This month marks the sad anniversary of the passing of Rachel Held Evans. She unexpectedly died on May 4th, 2019 due to health complications. She was an award winning columnist and author. She also had her own blog and regularly shared thought provoking articles. Often Rachel was noted for calling out tropes of evangelicalism and turning them on their head. Some loved her and some not so much. I certainly felt both challenged and encouraged by her. She was an inspiration for this blog. I first heard of Rachel during a really hard time in my life. It was something she said that gave me permission to accept and deal with a major part of who I am. It was a landmark moment in my life. Suffice it to say, when I first heard Rachel Held Evans, I was at a crossroads in my faith.  At this point, I was dealing with sorting out how the Jesus I had been told about was nowhere to be found, and watching all the certainty I was supposed to have, unravel.  Compounding these questions...

" You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. " Exodus 20:7 It's always odd to me that people quote the 10 Commandments when someone says "oh my god", but not when people use God's name for their own personal gain. Using God’s name for one’s own gain is a very old trick and comes in many forms. From pharisees calling Jesus a demon (Matthew 12:22), Constantine plastering the Cross on soldier's shields so God would help him win a battle (c. 312 C.E.), to Donald Trump bringing his Bible to political rallies (c. 2016 C.E.), people use religious rhetoric to get what they want all the time, and it's not hard to see why, it's very effective. Invoking the Almighty covers a multitude of sins...and sells a ton of merch... The God Card Playing the "God Card" can get people elected, killed, and even laid. It's the ace up your sleeve that you play...

As I am writing this, we are all experiencing an unprecedented event: the COVID-19 outbreak. We've all seen parts of our lives evaporate in a flash of confusion and anxiety. Many of us are exhausted and uncertain of what’s next. In Ohio, we huddle around our screens each day at 2pm for “Wine with DeWine”, where our governor informs us of the most recent and tragic numbers, what we need to do to slow the spread, and how we can help in the everyday fight against this pandemic. Amidst this terribly tragic event, we have seen stories of heroism by law enforcement, health workers, and “essentials” everywhere. We see our teachers rising to the challenge of educating our youth in new and innovative ways. We can also see the darker side of it all. Social media, as it does, has become a labyrinth of opinions parading themselves around as answers. Hogging more than their fair share of the internet are conspiracy theories, misinformation, and a cynical apathy. Right now, we are all cla...