A Time to Prophesy
Therefore the land will mourn,
and all its inhabitants will perish.
The wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and even the fish in the sea will perish.
Do not let anyone accuse or contend against anyone else:
for my case is against you priests!
You stumble day and night,
and the false prophets stumble with you;
You have destroyed your own people!
(Hosea 4:3-5, NRSV)
Tonight, just 8 days before the election, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the senate as the next Justice to the Supreme Court. This confirmation not only breaks the precedents which Republicans themselves advocated, it leaves us in the LGBTQ+ community in a troubling state of anxiety: will our country take away our ability to marry? For those that barely notice this confirmation, we can only say: “check your privilege.” To never have to worry about whether a political party will decide your future is a privilege. Barrett’s refusal to answer questions regarding Obergefell, the case that granted same-sex couples the right to marry, leaves us in a state of anxiety because her conservative colleagues on the court, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., made a joint statement in which they expressed their desire to overturn Obergefell. Their reasoning, “it stigmatized people of faith.” As we all should know, the right to religious freedom does not mean a right to impose the ethics of your religion (or your interpretation of your religion) on the rest of the U.S. This is not religious freedom, this is religious domination and tyranny disguised behind the pitiful conservative Christian veil of victimhood—of not wanting to live in a world where people have the ability to love in ways they don’t agree with.
I can be gracious toward conservative Christians and tolerate our differences in beliefs. I can engage in thoughtful conversations and earnestly hear their desire for holiness. What I cannot do is allow their beliefs to dictate my identity. So, is Amy Coney Barrett’s rushed confirmation a legitimate threat to gay marriage?—yes. It is indicative of the broader (though small in number) evangelical movement to define Christianity in the U.S. as an oppressive force which imposes its own ethics under the guise of religious freedom. These are the false priests of our time, those claiming to invoke the name of God for the efforts of injustice.
As progressive Christians, our task is to speak like Hosea, to condemn the priests who have become false prophets, using our faith in such a way that they are destroying their own people. The priests of ancient Israel held important roles in the regulating of community life; they kept the laws and interpreted them for the people; they were tasked with maintaining the relationship between the Divine and the human. But even in Hosea’s day, some priests sought personal gain and propped up systems of oppression. When the priests become false prophets, the prophets of YHWH must speak. Now is the time beloved. Now is past time. We must continue to stay engaged, educate about the intersections of racism, homophobia, and classism. We must not be afraid to claim our faith as a liberative one. We must not be afraid to prophesy!
In this election season—and beyond—may we powerfully prophesy the radical love of God. May we follow our words with actions. May we listen deeply and also confront and condemn misinterpretations and hate speech. May we be the vessels through which God’s justice and righteousness flow. May you feel this anointing to proclaim release to the religiously captive. Let the false prophets tremble. Let justice flow!