A6
East Oregonian
COMMUNITY
Whose are you?
MATT
HENRY
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
O
n Jan. 7, one day after the
aborted coup d’état on our
nation’s Capitol, an old friend
and I were discussing the state of
things. We both agreed that our country
appears to have skidded off the rails;
only for the second time in our almost
two-and-a half-century-old experiment
since 1814 has the architecturally beau-
tiful seat of our nation’s government
been occupied by malevolent forces. My
92-year-old father, dyed-in-the-wool
Fox Ohio Republican that he is, was
aghast. My friend seemed to be as well.
After a hushed silence, he softly
spoke: “I voted for the man in 2016.” I
could detect the pain in his admission.
Like me, my friend is a retired pastor
of the charismatic, evangelical stripe,
although ideologically there is or was a
bit of separation between us. He began
to unburden himself of his profound
disappointment in many of those who
claim his banner, his flag, and were
wielding it on Jan. 7 on the Capitol
steps.
He decried the images of a presi-
dent holding a Bible as a political prop. I
was touched by my friend’s painful and
honest feelings, and as a bona fide radi-
cal-Communist-Antifa-libtard Christian
pastor hell-bent on the overthrow of our
country, or at least the entire white race,
I told him so. I could relate to his having
to come to grips with the dilemma
proposed for all Christians by Jesus the
Christ: Whose are you?
I’ve been watching a fascinating
series on Netflix called “Messiah.” The
writers have a very Jesus-like figure
appearing in the 21st century out of
nowhere. For those of the Christian
faith, it is presumed this is indeed the
promised “Second Coming.” For a
spinoff on the basic Gospel accounts,
it is contemporary, intriguing, and
well-written considering past attempts
on the subject. In a recent episode, the
character playing “Al Masih” cate-
gorically states, “The question is
not whether one worships; everyone
worships. It’s a question of who and
what.” I could hear Robert Zimmer-
man softly singing in the background,
“You’re gonna serve somebody.”
In the Gospels, let alone the entire
biblical canon, there is one message
abundantly clear: the Hebraic-Chris-
tian God is a monogamous interest only.
Suitors — if they be genuine — cannot
worship, glorify, be influenced by, give
allegiance to anything or anyone but this
God who, from the very beginning, has
been telling people, “Take your pick.
But you must choose. There’s no getting
around that.” When it comes to absolute
fealty, this no holds barred deity busts
right on out of the gate with the very
first commandment, “You shall have no
other gods. You are my people and I am
your God.”
In what is commonly known as the
Deuteronomic Choice at the threshold
of entering the Promised Land, God
flatly states through Moses, “It’s your
choice. You can follow my ways and
things will go well with you. But if you
do not, things will go badly for you.”
Fast forward centuries and you have the
Christian Son of God saying the same
thing: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s
but give to God what is God’s.”
It would appear that Jesus, the Bible
and genuine Christian faith are decid-
edly unhelpful to ideology, politics,
national economy, and the all-hallowed
Second Amendment to our Constitu-
tion. Isaiah’s “Prince of Peace” is indeed
known for bending down and draw-
ing uncompromising lines in the sand,
always asking each of us the question,
on what side of the line do you stand?
Bob Dylan again: “It might be the Devil
or it might be the Lord, but you’re gonna
have to serve somebody.”
For honest, authentic Bible-based
Christian believers familiar with the
entire scriptural collection, it is clear
what God thinks about death guaran-
teed by the Second Amendment. Jesus
makes it unequivocally clear: “If you
live by the sword, you will die by the
sword.” For Jesus, you see, if not for
God, a true believer must take the road
not taken — the road to peace, equal-
ity under God, and a willing self-sacri-
fice to much of what I may desire in life:
in short, “My constitutional rights to
self-fulfillment at any cost.”
Unfortunately, for Christians who
have a deep and profound relationship
with their maker, there is no allegiance
to the flag, there is no ownership of
a must-have assault rifle, there is no
national economic interest. No, there is
nothing but full allegiance to this jealous
God and uncompromising son to which
I have signed on board, not without a
goodly share of personal suffering and
pain.
Many clergy are constantly battling
for their congregations not to be seduced
by the civil false and perverted gods,
the many Caesars clamoring for our
unquestioning and uncritical allegiance
in the Sunday pews. For the self-sac-
rificial symbol of the faith that is the
cross, having to share God’s holy altar
area in most churches with the striped
and starred symbol of Caesar smacks of
effrontery and the common cult roads
we all too often take wrapped in the
packaging of the Christian Bible and
Prince of Peace while teargas flows in
the streets as we all sing “Jesus loves
me.”
Such hogwash. As if there is any real
choice who to give allegiance to for the
bona fide Christian, let alone orthodox
Jew. I believe the pain from my friend
— a pain I share with him too much —
comes from the seduction of charismatic
evangelical Christianity over the past
decades, for worshipping Moloch and
Ba’al instead of the Prince of Peace and
finally having to come to grips with the
idea that much of what he loved, cher-
ished and revered was and is contin-
uously manipulated for the true gods
we Americans are so enraptured with
— money, power, armaments, comfort
and influence. For this is the rub when it
comes to Jesus and the faith: it is uncom-
promising. There is no available space
whatsoever for the creation of ideologi-
cal wiggle room.
And this is my dilemma as well. Do I
give more time to the god of Netflix than
church? Do I feed the insatiable animal
of creature comfort more than giving to
others and volunteerism? Does Amazon.
com tend to get my monthly tithe? Has
my possession of multiple firearms
solved anything in stopping violent gun
deaths of kids in schools? Yes, no doubt
about it, we’re gonna serve something
or somebody. So when you look at your
reflection in the bathroom mirror before
heading off to church, the Christian God
makes it incumbent for each of us who
claim the faith to make the fateful and
faithful choice: Whose are you? A pres-
ident’s? A political party’s? Survivor
of the Confederacy? Smith & Wesson?
White nationalism? A violent ideology?
The quandary is, we can be on either
side of the line we want, but we cannot
stand on both sides at the same time.
———
The Rev. Dr. Matt Henry is a retired
American Baptist/United Methodist
pastor, who pastored the Pendleton First
United Church and now joyfully makes
“hippie food” for the houseless at the
Warming Station.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
COMMUNITY BRIEFING
Me and My
Prince Ball
postponed
HERMISTON — Due
to continuing health and
safety concerns related to
the COVID pandemic, the
Me and My Prince Ball
Committee has decided to
further postpone the 16th
community father-daugh-
ter dance until May 2022.
“Even in a best-case
scenario where every-
one was to be able to
get vaccinated within
a few of months, it still
wouldn’t give the commit-
tee enough time to raise
funds and make prepara-
tions,” explained Michelle
Kane, a member of the
ball committee, in a press
release. “Postponing the
event again was a hard
decision to make, but our
volunteers simply do not
have enough time to pull
everything together so
close to the event date.”
The Me and My Prince
Ball will be hosted by the
United Way of the Blue
Mountains, a partnership
that the ball and the organi-
zation established follow-
ing the last dance in 2019.
“After careful consider-
ation regarding the health,
safety, and financial impact
on our community over
the COVID-19 virus, we
feel this is the best way
to proceed in the midst
of such an unprecedented
global situation. We are
heartbroken that we must
postpone this event, but we
know it’s the right decision
based on the information
we have today,” Christy
Lieuallen, executive direc-
tor of United Way of the
Blue Mountains, said in
the release.
The event was sched-
uled to be held on May 15,
2021, but ball organizers
concluded that postponing
the event a second time was
in the best interest of both
the guests who attend the
dance and the businesses
that support it.
The ball will be held
May 21, 2022, at the East-
ern Oregon Trade and
Event Center in Hermiston
from 6 to 9 p.m. The theme
will still be “Tale as Old as
Time,” which is inspired by
Disney’s “Beauty and the
Beast.”
The Me and My Prince
Ball is a community event
with the purpose of promot-
ing healthy girl and male
role model relationships by
helping to strengthen the
bonds between girls of all
ages their fathers or other
male role models.
For more information
about becoming a sponsor
of the Me and My Prince
Ball or questions about
the United Way, contact
Lieuallen at 541-276-2661.
For general information
about the ball, contact
Kane at 541-564-5985.
DVS plans teen
dating violence
presentation
PE N DLETON —
Domest ic Violence
Services Inc., based in
Pendleton but covering
Umatilla and Morrow
counties, will provide a
virtual presentation on
teen dating violence on
Feb. 24.
Abusive relationships
in adolescence can have
serious effects. It can
cause victims to be more
susceptible to substance
abuse, eating disorders,
risky sexual behavior and
further domestic violence.
Though 82% of parents
feel confident that they
could recognize the signs
if their child was expe-
riencing dating abuse, a
majority of parents (58%)
could not correctly identify
all the warning signs of
abuse, according to a DVS
press release. One in three
girls in the U.S. is a victim
of physical, emotional or
verbal abuse from a dating
partner. More information
is available at http://loveis-
respect.org.
To register for the
presentation, or for more
information, email educa-
tion@dvs-or.org.
— EO Media Group