Should THIS be called a victory?

Our hard working friends in the House have recently passed a bill, no doubt at the urging of the so-called Christian right which seeks to deprive the federal courts of jurisdiction to hear cases relating to the wording of the pledge of allegiance. The rather transparent objective of this maneuver is to prevent the federal courts from strking down the "one Nation, under God" reference in the pledge.

As Glenn Reynolds has pointed out - however - the bill, which does not (and could not) affect the jurisdiction of state courts to hear the same issues, may ultimately serve only to create a void of precedent which could be filled with findings by left-leaning state courts that the "under God" wording is unconstitutional.

But even if this rather bizzare ploy survives a Senate vote and makes its way to W's desk (where it will almost certainly be signed, with appropriate pre-election spin), and even if all of the blue state Supreme Courts fail to act, is this really the sort of thing that Christians want to characterize as a victory?

C'mon, folks! People are filing these constitutional challenges for a REASON. They don't WANT to talk about how this nation is "under God" because they don't believe it. Do the anti-pledge-changing folks really think they're going to win these folks over by using their influence at the highest levels of power to create legal weapons that can be used to cram these constitutional attacks down their opponents' throats?

Here's a radical idea, on which - I must again say - Mike (bless his heart) has got me reflecting.

Maybe mainstream America isn't now (and never was, really) "Christian," at least not in the sense that the majority of its citizens are serious about discipleship (as opposed to just showing up at church on a semi-regular basis and claiming the "C" label). Maybe, as a lot of Chrisitan leaders are beginning to point out, the Church now finds itself in a secular society which values material gain and the preservation of capital and youth and "sexiness" more than it does anything that comes close to the values of Jesus. Maybe we need to come to see ourselves - again - as foreign missionaries in a strange land, rather than the heirs of a religious/political system that needs to be defended.

If that is the case, then perhaps the best solution is not a political one, nor a social one, nor a legal one. Perhaps the best solution is to stop fighting to preserve an illusion of what this country is about, and to instead focus on bringing the presence of Jesus back to the streets. Feed the hungry. Clothe the homeless. Heal the sick. Lift up the downtrodden. Proclaim good news to the poor. Become a beacon of light in places in the world where there is suffering.

Perhaps the real pathology in the pledge battle is in the Christian camp. Somehow, some of us have been convinced that taking a stand for our values means manipulating the political and legal system to our perceived benefit. But does "winning" that battle fix anything?

Instead of forcing people to say this is a nation "under God," why not put away the briefcases and legal pads and briefs, and bring the REAL Kingdom to the streets?