A Timely Word from CapMin’s President on State Chaplains and “State” Prayers
The rapid jettisoning of America’s Judeo-Christian cultural underpinnings was starkly apparent this week evidenced by not only the capitol building being accosted, but by the more profound underlying causal effects in the eyes of God.
In that regard, several astonishing illustrations of this were provided in both the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. and the California State Capital.
On the Hill, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-MO, who is also a United Methodist pastor, ended his opening prayer for the 117th Congress with, “amen and a-women” after praying, in part, to “the monotheistic god, Brahma, and god known by many names by many different faiths.”
Revealing a stunning misunderstanding of the word “amen,” Rep. Cleaver later told the Kansas City Star he was offering up a tribute to women who were serving in Congress.
However, rather than representing a gender, the word “amen” means “may it be so” in Hebrew.
The Washington Times reported that with Rep. Cleaver’s prayer, the “Democrats set 117th Congress stage for godlessness.”
Indeed. And this will not bode well for our nation.
I find it to be more than coincidental that one day after the House prayer invoked Brahma and other false deities for the first time in congressional history God’s sovereign, restraining grace was lifted from the Capitol Building.
We must keep in mind that things did not go well for Old Testament Israel when their leaders too began worshipping false gods.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
In California, the online publication California Capitol Weekly reported that Imam Mohammad Yasir Khan made history after becoming the first Muslim chaplain appointed to the California Legislature.
Khan will be serving as chaplain for the 2021-22 session after being appointed to the position on Dec. 7 by Anthony Rendon, speaker of the California Assembly who said, “Khan shows a strong desire to contribute to the spiritual and civic vitality of California.”
Several points are worth making.
First, American federal and state government should not fund chaplains of any religion as this demonstrates bias and favoritism to one particular religion. A central motive of the framers was to jettison a theocratic England — with their dubious, incongruous exception of government-paid military and congressional chaplains! There is no way to resolve the duplicity and incongruity of the their actions.
History illustrates that whenever the church comes under the authority of the state that it is just a matter of time until the doctrine of the church becomes compromised.
The above serve to illustrate this principle.
Secondly, stemming from the first principle, secular political leaders will inevitably make syncretistic choices and constitutionally speaking, rightfully so. So what is wrong with that? When our government funds a chaplain of a particular religion, it shows favoritism toward that religion. It follows therefore that military and congressional chaplains should be paid for and supported by 501(c)3 organizations such as Capitol Ministries.
Thirdly, freedom of religion should both create and ensure a level playing field. For those who serve the God of the Bible, the one true God of the universe who has revealed Himself via the infallible, inerrant Word of God, freedom of religion should assure a level playing field and a fair competition amongst those religions.
These points are in keeping with CapMin’s belief that there should be institutional separation of church and state, but not influential separation of church and state. This point has been made in numerous Bible studies including:
Understanding the Separation of Church and State
Clarifying the Continual Confusion of Church and State
Why Believers Should be Involved in Politics
Five Wrong Views about Christians and Government
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
According to the Pew Research Center, the religious make-up of the new 117th Congress is much like the 116th Congress — a majority are Christian.
More than 88 percent of the 531 members profess to practicing some form of Christianity. The largest percentage — 55 percent — are Protestants, Catholics make up 30 percent, and Jews make up slightly over 6 percent of the total legislative body.
Protestantism saw the largest increase in the new Congress, with an additional 16 members, while other religious affiliations saw no changes.
The recent actions taken by these political bodies are not representative of the members and clearly serve to illustrate why Capitol Ministries and our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the political area throughout the world is increasingly important.
In His Service,
Ralph Drollinger
President and Founder of Capitol Ministries