The term ‘worship’ is not listed as one of the seven deadly
sins of Christian lore. But it probably should be. It is also not one of the seven virtues –
which is promising.
Worship has connotations beyond a Sunday church service. Cults
worship leaders; religious orders worship gods, prophets and supernatural deities;
cultures can worship monuments, flags, the pledge of allegiance, sports heroes,
a national anthem,… you name it – we humans will figure out some way to make it
something worth ‘worshiping’.
The terms ‘worship’ and ‘faith’ are often used together, if
not interchangeably, but they are not interchangeable. You can have faith that something
is going to happen without worshiping the result. You cannot worship anything
without faith in its infallibility. To me, that is one of the deadliest sins.
Today in America there is widespread destruction due to civil
unrest. Destruction of what some people, and entire cultures, worship. Confederate flags, monuments and memories are challenged.
The U.S. flag and monuments to founders are being challenged. Monuments to explorers, conquers and empire
builders are being challenged.
The current President (worshiped by many) wants a mandatory
10 year sentence for anyone caught defacing or damaging a monument (worshiped
by many) or desecrating the American flag (worshiped by many). Young people, many teenagers, with a can of
spray paint, will not be sentenced to clean, repair or pay for restorations, they
will be sent to federal prison. Where, I am told, they worship teenagers.
As a military veteran I thought I was serving my country for
a different purpose. I was serving to protect the Rule of Law and the right to dissent;
the right to assemble; the right to burn a flag (if I owned it, of course).
While I agree that civil destruction of public or private
property is NOT one of the rights I fought for, I can see where 400 years of
systemic racism can boil over into the destruction of all things worshiped by my
oppressors. When they react with more oppressive tactics – like a 10 year
sentence – it justifies the unrest all that much more.
It also shows the white right will never learn – because they
never listen. They only worship.
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