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The Fouth Sunday after Pentecost Thirty years ago, I graduated from college with a double major in Religious Studies and American History. Now, it goes without saying that I have gotten a lot of mileage out of my first major. But it is the second major, American History, that, in recent days, is reviving itself in my thoughts and feelings. And on this weekend, when we are celebrating our nation’s independence, all of us who are Americans, I believe, are invited to do some soul-searching, some digging into our history. We all love our country. That is a undisputed fact. A poll in the current issue of Newsweek reports Americans have more nationalistic pride than any other country. We love our country, but what does this mean? To what extent is our love of country borne out in our actions? Or in our commitment to democratic principles? Or in our vigilance to ensure the rights and responsibilities for all of our fellow citizens? We love our freedom. Our passion for our independence which was kindled 230 years ago burns brightly even now. Passion is one thing, however, genius is quite another. 1776 marks the date of our independence, but it was thirteen years later in 1789 when the true genius of our democratic republic was established in the signing of our Constitution. Our founding fathers knew well the risks and dangers of unbridled passion for liberty. They had a deep appreciation of the anarchistic impulse in the human spirit. And so, they made provision for the separation of powers. And they made sure there were checks and balances to guard against the tendencies towards power and corruption. The primary aim of the Constitution was to create a strong elected government that was responsive to the will of the people. By 1789, in the Bill of Rights, ten amendments were added to clarify the freedoms inherent within a true democratic republic. Now this is all well and good, you may be saying to yourself, but you and I know you didn’t come to church this morning for a civics lesson. What on earth, you may ask, does our constitutional democracy have to do with our religion? Well, to be quite blunt, everything. Especially for us in the Episcopal Church. Did you know, for instance, that in 1789, the very year the U.S. Constitution was ratified, the Constitutions and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church were also established? Or did you know that 88 of our 175 founding fathers, or 55 %, were Anglican? And did you know that many of these same individuals signed both the U.S. Constitution and the Constitutions and the Canons of the Episcopal Church? This is no blind coincidence. In fact, when the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1789 to sign the U.S. Constitution, a number of these men simply walked down the street where Anglicans met for the purpose of consolidating and uniting the Church in new republic. In this meeting, “certain fundamental principles were adopted which are the basis of its organization: that the Episcopal Church be independent of all foreign authority; that it have full and exclusive power to regulate the concerns of its own communion; that the doctrines be maintained as in the Church of England; that bishops, priests, and deacons be required; that the canons and laws be made by a more representative body of clergy and laity conjointly.” At this first general convention of 1789, a constitution and canons were finally adopted, and the Book of Common Prayer was set forth If you look at our polity in the Episcopal Church today, it is symmetrical with our form of national government: it is bi-cameral, with a house of deputies and house of bishops mirroring the Senate and House of Representatives; the House of Deputies is made up of lay and clergy representatives elected from each of the dioceses; legislation must passed in both houses; the Church’s judiciary is exercised through its General Convention; its executive branch is exercised through the office of the Presiding Bishop in his/her moral and spiritual leadership.. Interestingly, this more closely resembles the original intent of the Founding Fathers, and not the bloated, overreaching, and increasingly unchecked executive branch in our modern government. In form and substance, the Episcopal Church, therefore, is a microcosm of our constitutional democracy. It shares a common history, shares a common vision, embraces a common commitment to this unity of spirit written large in our collect for today. We are a truly a Revolutionary Era church with a revolutionary charter and identity. And thus, I believe as Episcopalians, we do well on this holiday weekend to affirm and uphold our constitution, both in our polity and in our political system. And, frankly, I have a deep sense of urgency about all of this. For we live in a time when there are forces which are seeking to dismantle our constitutional democracy, both within our form of government and within the church. Today, there are organized cell groups in our country which are meeting with the explicit aim of shaping public policy to restrict if not end constitutional guarantees. In their numbers are military, business, and government officials, members of the present and past administrations, familiar names like Attorney General Ed Meese, and Chuck Colson. In their documents there is explicit reference to replacing our constitutional democracy with a theocratic form of government, where the separation between church and state is suspended, and where the government is led by Christ’s will alone. Today, there are also well organized groups that are spending literally millions of dollars to discredit and undermine the Episcopal Church. Recent disclosures in research done by the Diocese of Washington reveal that five wealthy families in the U.S. donated money to politically right wing advocacy groups whose express purpose is to destabilize the Episcopal Church. Why? On the surface, their agenda is about their opposition to homosexuality, but just below the surface, it is about subverting the constitutional foundation of the Episcopal Church and its standing in the Worldwide Anglican Communion. More and more, it appears to be a naked grab for power, and more disturbing than this, it is an attempt to change fundamentally our democratic system of self-governance. The collusion between these secular and religious forces is, at the same time, a threat to our constitutional democracy and our church polity. This July 4th, it is a time to be vigilant. As Americans, and as Episcopalians. A fellow Episcopalian, Sandra Day O’Connor, appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1982 said recently that the efforts of those who are attacking our judicial system, and seeking to subvert the constitution are edging us toward dictatorship. Her words, not mine. I have heard the same sentiments in recent days in Columbus from Republican Senator John Danforth, who also happens to be an Episcopal priest, who has warned against the subversiveness of the religious right in his own party . Yes, we love our country. Yes, we love our Episcopal Church. So let us honor and uphold the constitutional framework that has made it strong and free for these past 230 years. Let us resist those darker impulses in us that are drawn to power and corruption. Let us shake off any political apathy that would render us ruled purely by a radically individualistic, libertine spirit, and ignore the common good. Let us remember and hold fast to our history, born in revolution, guided by democratic principles, that we are called to be one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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