"In a worship setting nothing should come before the center of our faith in whose presence we have gathered to worship, the Triune God," said the Rev. Clayton Childers, director of annual conference relations for the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society.
Writing in the May 10 edition of the board's newsletter, Faith in Action, Childers also argues that "the presence of a national flag in worship can imply endorsement of national policies which often run counter to the teachings of Jesus Christ and our Christian faith."
First, a bit of history. The flag was not in most church sanctuaries until the First World War. Many Americans were deeply skeptical about our participation in that particular European fiasco, and church leaders - partly for sound theological reasons, partly out of a deep distrust of Britain and (Catholic) France - were vocal about their opposition. It was former President Theodore Roosevelt who started the clamor, insisting that such preaching was unbecoming of true American Christians, and started to insist that true American Christians would display the national flag in sanctuaries. By war's end, most had caved, and there the flag has stayed ever since.
Mark Tooley, director of the Institute for Religion and Democracy's United Methodist Project, has wasted no time being and idiot, er, I mean, commenting on this:
The United Methodist Church, under its liberal leadership, is losing over 50,000 members a year, and this church lobby official is oddly worried about getting American flags out of our churches.
Unlike the blood-soaked Swastika flags that the Nazis forced upon German churches, American churches voluntarily display their country’s flag as a reminder of the country in which God has providentially placed them. Typically, American flags stand against the side walls of American churches, quietly and obtrusively. They are hardly the idolatrous object of imperialistic worship against which the United Methodist lobby official warned.
Religious Left figures, like the United Methodist official, are hardly concerned about idolatry when their politically correct, rainbow paraphernalia and peace banners are woven into church worship services. They oppose the United States flag because they are contemptuous of our country, its history, its institutions, its culture, and its leadership role in the world.
Yes, of course, it isn't because the Church needs to stand outside the culture and nation in which it exists, to act as a check upon its less savory actions. It's because we all hate America.
Such stupidity is truly a wonder to behold.
Just as an aside - get it out, now. It has no business, and serves no function, in the sanctuary of the church.
