Joe Biden and Isaiah 6

Caveat

I am not in any way, shape, or form an expert on politics, let alone the state of affairs in Afghanistan. As such, I won't pronounce judgment on whether or not the United States military should have left Afghanistan in the manner that they did. I thought the entire war was evil. I believe war is an evil. I believe there is always a better solution to killing people. The cost of innocent lives, not only on civilians, but on the veterans and soldiers, outweighs the negligible gain found in war.

The Background

On Thursday, 26 August 2021, a suicide bomber killed at least 13 American soldiers and over 60 Afghanis. People started blaming and defending the Biden Administration over what happened. I tried to take a more measured approach and listened to the speech President Biden gave to the American people.

Being a former pastor, the following line that President Biden said jumped out at me and made me pause:

"Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the Book of Isaiah. When the Lord says, 'Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?' The American military has been answering for a long time:  'Here I am. Send me.' Each one of these women and men of our armed roles are the heirs of that tradition and sacrifice, and of volunteering to go in a harms way to risk everything, not for glory, not for profit, but to defend what we love and the people we love."

President Biden quoted a very famous Scripture passage, describing the great call of the prophet Isaiah to give a special message to the people of Judah. I love this Scripture passage. It is one of my favorites. When I studied Hebrew, this is one that I would repeat over and over again. The majesty and splendor of this passage is awe-inspiring for me.

This is that passage of Scripture, taken from Isaiah, chapter 6 (Common English Bible):

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, the edges of his robe filling the temple. Winged creatures were stationed around him. Each had six wings: with two they veiled their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew about. They shouted to each other, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of heavenly forces!
All the earth is filled with God’s glory!”

The doorframe shook at the sound of their shouting, and the house was filled with smoke.

I said, “Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!”

Then one of the winged creatures flew to me, holding a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips. Your guilt has departed, and your sin is removed.”

Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, “Whom should I send, and who will go for us?”

I said, “I’m here; send me.”

God said, “Go and say to this people:

Listen intently, but don’t understand;
    look carefully, but don’t comprehend.
Make the minds of this people dull.
    Make their ears deaf and their eyes blind,
    so they can’t see with their eyes
    or hear with their ears,
    or understand with their minds,
    and turn, and be healed.”

I said, “How long, Lord?”

And God said, “Until cities lie ruined with no one living in them, until there are houses without people and the land is left devastated.” The Lord will send the people far away, and the land will be completely abandoned. Even if one-tenth remain there, they will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, which when it is cut down leaves a stump. Its stump is a holy seed.

My Reaction

I was disgusted by this misappropriation of Holy Scripture. Politicians tend to do this all the time, but I'll get to that a little bit later. It is not the first time, nor is it the last time, that a politician uses religion to influence his or her audience.

A bit of context for the scripture passage:

Uzziah was, for the most part, a righteous king, but near the end of his reign, he was struck with leprosy (or some other infectious skin ailment). The Bible remarks that this was due to the fact that Uzziah attempted to burn incense in the Temple, a task reserved only for priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 26:18). He never recovered from this disease and the year of his death was also the time that Isaiah received this great vision.

Isaiah sees this great image of God and these fiery winged creatures, called seraphim in Hebrew, were flying around, announcing the greatness of God, stating that the whole cosmos was filled with the glory of God. The Hebrew term for this glory implies something tangible and weighty that could be felt.

Isaiah, struck with terror and awe at this mighty vision feels unworthy to be in this presence. One of the seraphim symbolically cleanses Isaiah with one of the burning hot coals from the altar. I always tend to laugh at this part when this fiery creature said: "See, this has touch your lips." Duh. A burning hot coal touched Isaiah's lips. I think he might have noticed that.

And then God asks for a volunteer:

"Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" [I always got a kick that the Hebrew says "us" and not "me." This implies that God was speaking for all the heavenly beings, too. It does not imply (as many Christians might maintain) that God was speaking as a Trinity.]

Isaiah volunteers. "Here am I! Send me!"

THE END

Um.

Maybe not.

I have been to numerous youth events. Growing up in The Salvation Army, we had these youth weekend, called "Youth Councils." Invariably this scripture passage was used to inspire us to become ordained pastors/officers in The Salvation Army. Dozens of officers were waiting at the front of the stage where young people prayed and signed their life away, pledging to become officers in The Salvation Army. I did it one time, too. I remember crying as I prayed to God, wanting to dedicate my life in God's service. An officer was right at my side, getting my name, address, and phone number to contact me at a later date and make sure I was serious about becoming an officer.

Nobody kept on reading the Scripture passage.

Basically, God told Isaiah:  "Go and bring my message to the people . . . BUT, they will not listen to you. It will be futile. They will act like you're not even there.

Biden's Misappropriation of Scripture

So here we are. President Biden has the unenviable task of informing the American public that not only has the Taliban taken over Afghanistan after the United States' futile 20-year war, but another terrorist group, called ISIS-K, has killed innocent people along with American soldiers.

To make it palatable, the President invoked the Scripture passage from Isaiah, saying by comparison that the military sacrificed their lives, being called by God for this higher purpose.

There is a term for this.

Bovine Scatology.

In theological terms, this is called eisegesis, reading into Scripture your own personal meaning to justify your views.

I find it ironic, then, that Biden unintentionally brought a greater truth to this tragedy:  the whole war in Afghanistan was futile and useless. Americans killed more civilians and soldiers (241,000) than were killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001, which prompted this war.

What is the result? Before the war, the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. After the war, the Taliban control Afghanistan.

Eisegesis by Other US Presidents

President Bill Clinton on 26 October 1994 gave a speech at the peace agreement between the Kingdom of Jordan and Israel.  He misquoted Jesus when he stated:  "Blessed are the peacemakers - for they shall inherit the Earth." Jesus actually didn't say this. This is from the great Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5. What Jesus actually is recorded saying was:  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9 NRSV). I don't know if Clinton did this intentionally or not, but the Christian view of being called a child of God is problematic for Muslims and Jews, who do not have a view of God being a parent.

President Abraham Lincoln once gave a speech before becoming president, when he was selected by the Republicans to become their nominee for Senator from Illinois. To stave off the possibility of people supporting Stephen Douglas, Lincoln famously quoted Jesus by saying:  "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Lincoln quoted Mark 3:24, but infamously this Scripture passage was dealing with religious leaders, accusing Jesus of performing miracles and casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub, a demon.

Where does that leave me politically?

Believe it or not, I didn't vote for Biden. That caused a lot of tension among my friends who are Democrats. I voted for Mark Charles, who best represented my own personal beliefs. I had several friends block me on social media because of that, which made me realize that extremism lies both among the political liberals, just as it does among the political conservatives. Room for differences does not exist and people tend to go to polar opposites.

I saw a meme, that adequately expresses my views of voting for Biden:

I am disappointed in the misuse of Scripture. I mourn that this war has been unnecessary. As Kohelet, the writer of Ecclesiastes, so eloquently states:  "But when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had worked so hard to achieve, I realized that it was pointless - a chasing after the wind. Nothing is to be gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:11 CEB). 

Not "Prayed Away"

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Movie Review?

The movie, "Pray Away," was just released on Netflix. It is a very accurate description of the ex-gay movement, its demise, and its unfortunate resurrection. I watched the movie and immediately thought I might do a review of it, but instead it released all sorts of emotions that I had pent up, dealing with what it meant to be a closeted bisexual man for so many years. I would encourage you to watch this documentary. You will understand perhaps just a fragment of what I was going through.

A lot of this subject I dealt with in a previous post, but perhaps let me try to explain just what I tried to do to no longer have attractions to people of my own gender.

College

I entered my Christian college, feeling that I would find ample support to rid myself of "homosexual desires." I first turned to the library, secretly perusing all the books I could find about the subject.

And I was dismayed. Frustrated. Infuriated. All the psychological books I could find on the subject stated over and over again that being "homosexual" was not a psychological disorder. What WAS a disorder was not accepting one's orientation. [Even that portion has fallen by the wayside.] What was going on here? Was I doomed to be what I was?

I went to prayer meetings. I refused to state out loud what I was going through. I wanted to see if anyone could determine what was bothering me. Being in a Christian college, I was exposed to many different avenues of belief and worship. None of them ever raised even the slightest inclination that I was dealing with feelings of being attracted to both genders.

I finally broke down my senior year and told one of my best friends what I was struggling with. It didn't help me out at all that I had a crush on him, but I knew he wasn't gay or bisexual or anything remotely close to that. He suggested I go to our campus counselors.

Counseling

I first did an intake interview. My interviewer asked if he could record our session before we proceeded. I agreed, but inwardly HATED that request. I didn't want it recorded. I didn't want anything at all recorded. That would be "evidence" of my failings as a Christian. At the same time, if I said "no," I thought it would look bad. So I agreed and my interviewer hit record.

I recall very little of that interview, just that I bawled by eyes out. After that torrent of emotion was unleashed, I scheduled another appointment with the head of the counseling department, who was also my class advisor. Despite being my class advisor, I didn't know him very well and did not have any classes with him.

His diagnosis? Possibly a mild form of sex addiction. OK. That was new to me. I had never had sex before. Except for a few furtive experimentations with a friend who denied everything the next day, I still considered myself a virgin. Still, I talked with him about the various things in my life I had been dealing with. I hadn't had many girlfriends. I did have one who broke my heart, who I had believed was perfect for me, but her path and mine were going different ways.

My counselor wanted me to join a group of other men dealing with issues with sex. I went to one session and recoiled at it immediately. There was nothing wrong with the men, but they were dealing with issues that I had never dealt with. I politely declined participating in that group further.

The Test

And then, something unexpected happened. The one friend of mine I had experimented with while in high school decided to visit my college to see about transferring there. Since I knew him, I was made his host for that weekend. I felt uncomfortable around him. I think he might have felt the same way. He kept on bragging about a girl he was dating and I just listened to him. During the night, we both went to bed, neither of us attempting anything with each other at all.

Success? Did I just experience success?

I went to talk to my counselor. He thought it was a good sign. Was I healed? Was I going to just be straight from then on? Maybe . . . , but not really.

However, now that I look back on the whole situation, I realize that my counselor was trying to walk a thin line. At one point, he was trying to help me be comfortable with who I was. He never told me being bisexual was bad, but he never told me there was nothing wrong with it either.

Ordination

And so it went for me. I tried to date women, but that was next to impossible. Since I was going to become a Salvation Army officer (pastor), I was only allowed to marry another officer. Looking back on this, I realize just how manipulative and controlling that was. It was all placed on the guise of a divine calling from God, but to actually restrict who you were allowed to marry was just plain ludicrous.

After getting my master's degree, I finally attended The Salvation Army's seminary. Even though I had a high degree, I still had to basically repeat most of my undergraduate studies and was required to conform to the weight guidelines they set out for me.

Since I was single, most of the married women seminary students (who are called cadets) immediately tried to match me up with someone else. Yeah, that didn't work out too well. They all quickly paired off and I was left by myself.

An interesting thing about The Salvation Army's College for Officer Training in Chicago:  It is located at 700 W Brompton Avenue, not too far from Wrigley Field. It is located on a city block, bordering Halsted on its west side. For those of you who know Chicago at all, this is in the middle of Boys' Town, an LGBTQ friendly neighborhood. Rainbows everywhere. Pride parades normally go down Halsted during the summer. I'm certain it was to the amusement of many of the community there that one of the dorm residences for The Salvation Army's seminary along Halsted was called "Cox." Granted, it was named after a powerful Salvation Army family, but the irony was lost on no one.

While I attended there, the hate that the LGBTQ community had toward us was palpable. Me being a closeted bisexual man just made matters worse.

Why didn't I tell anyone?

That's a good question. Here is a simple answer:  It was not safe for me to do so. Who would I tell? If I told anyone at my seminary, I would have been kicked out. Even if I were to say, "I struggle with feelings of attraction for both men and women," they would have removed me. I could tell no one in confidence. Confidentiality is not something that is maintained at The Salvation Army's seminary. Even when we went through psychological testings, we had to allow the psychologists and therapists to share that information with the seminary.

I would lose everything. And in the end, I did.

There was and still remains NO SAFE SPACE within my former denomination to question your faith or to talk about your orientation. The Salvation Army is and remains firmly in the anti-LGBTQ camp. 

I look at bewilderment sometimes at my more progressive friends who are still in The Salvation Army, especially those in the LGBTQ community. I often compare it to the relationship one has as a battered spouse. They don't leave the relationship because they don't know anything different or else they are afraid (rightfully so) that they would lose everything.

Perhaps my situation convinced them to stay silent. I don't know.

The Salvation Army talks a big talk about not discriminating against the LGBTQ community, but that is a lie. They regularly do. They will help someone out practically without discrimination, but you cannot be a member unless you are heterosexual or a confessed celibate.

The Struggle Continues . . .

Exodus, International, at one time the largest ex-gay ministry in the world, closed its doors for good, stating that they helped no one and that nearly no one changed their orientation to straight. I rejoiced at that. Finally, some progress happened.

Then I watched "Pray Away." I sobered up quickly. The struggle still continues. People believe that God can change their orientation, despite all research and evidence to the contrary. People forget that so many leaders from these ex-gay ministries are now in loving LGBTQ relationships. The harm done by those ministries continues to this day in the current reincarnations that pop up everywhere. Even now, in my former denomination, there is a group dedicated to eradicating the LGBTQ community from The Salvation Army. They show absolutely no love for them, just pure hate.

And I struggle with moving on. I am so happy to have found a church that welcomes me with open arms. I love them to death and finally for the first time in my life, I can be exactly who I am and I don't have to defend myself.

At the same time, I mourn what could have been. The Salvation Army used to be at the forefront of social justice. Instead they have become a Sentry, posted at the non-existent gates of Heaven, trying to be the gatekeepers of who belongs and who does not. They have forgotten the whosoever and instead become a club of exclusiveness.

I have no answers. I sit. I mourn. I realize that nothing has been prayed away. God accepted me for who I am and my former colleagues despise me because of it. It comes across as pity. It is nothing less than hate, though.