Easter Resurrection

This country was founded on Christian-Judeo principles. A lot of people would like to ignore or even deny this fact. Progressives and liberals have been working for decades to eradicate any hint of religion from the daily life of Americans and to a great extent they have been successful. But there is hope…

It is amazing how much has changed in the past fifty years. I suppose to some, 50 years is a long time, but when you’re 52 those years go by quickly. I recall as a young child my mother taking me to see a live nativity scene – in front of city hall. In school we would sing Christmas carols before we were let go for the Christmas break. Christmas decorations, including religious scenes, adorned every store and people easily wished each other Merry Christmas. During Passover there were Jewish symbols out and yes in school we sang Dreidle Dreidle Dreidle right after an older student would tell us the meaning of Passover.

In American history we learned that religion was a major reason why the Pilgrims came to America, a fact that is rarely taught today. We would have Good Friday off and get an Easter break. After school it was just assumed that you went to Sunday School or Hebrew School. No stigma attached, it just is what you did although the non-Jewish kids were rather impressed that the Jewish kids were learning a language written backwards. The Jewish kids also got to have a great party with lots of gifts and money when they turned 13 whereas after my confirmation all I got was my own bible with my name engraved in gold on it. And yet, even though I don’t go to church much anymore, that same bible is still kept in my nightstand all these years later.

So where are we today? Just about all talk of religion has been eliminated from school and city hall. As to how children are being raised today, I really couldn’t say as I have no contact with kids. I can only look within my own family to see how they are raising their children. My oldest sister raised her two boys in the church. They may have gone kicking and screaming at times but it must have stuck. The oldest doesn’t go to the church his parents and grandmother attend. No, he found his own more contemporary church where he now goes with his wife and children. Religion always was important to my sister’s youngest son who is now married and in the navy and I have no doubt that he will also raise his children in the church.

On the other hand, as much as I love my middle sister and her husband, we all know not to discuss religion with them. Actually I still recall the heated discussions about religion they would have with my mother when they were teenagers and had decided they were atheists. And yet, having grown up in a church I think they missed the closeness of the congregation so they found a compromise in the Unitarian Church. As much as I understand it, Unitarians celebrate everything and believe in nothing. But this gives them some place to be Sunday mornings and provides the socializing they missed and contact with others who feel as they do. From what I can tell, both of their adult children are not religious either but might occasionally attending a Unitarian “church”.

Then there is my brother who probably disliked Sunday School more than any of us. My mother finally gave up trying to drag an angry resentful teenage son to a place he had no interest in going. Religion is still not important to him. Our mother would occasionally take his daughters to Sunday School but after she moved to live near my oldest sister I doubt if my brother or his family have stepped foot into a church since then. So there you have it, three children and three different paths when it comes to religion. And what about me, you ask? I am one of those Christians who truly do believe and religioun is important to me and yet I rarely attend church. But that’s a long story for another day.

A hundred years ago, my sisters, brother and I would most likely all be Christians who attended church regularly. Instead, due to exposure in school and college some of my siblings began to question the concept of God and Jesus and ended up walking away from both. So the liberals and progressives have made progress and are slowly moving our country away from our Christian-Judaism faith. But they are about to meet a very large bump in the road.

Everyone agrees that after universal health care the next big issue that President Obama is going to tackle is illegal immigration. The fear is that he will somehow allow for them to quickly become citizens. Yet the liberals and progressives are ignoring one small detail. Most of these Mexicans and Cubans and other Hispanics clamoring to be in our country are Christians. I have a feeling that their faith is strong and enduring and these Catholics will want to continue to worship God once here in the United States. Then there are the Asians who are here legally. The man who owns the nail place I go to has a card on his work area, similar to a baseball card, but instead it has a picture of Mary with information about her. And each of the other Asian workers have either a card or rosary beads or a cross at their work station. Nor are they shy about talking about God and their religion, proselytizing as they do your nails.

Finally there is the story of young man, mid twenties, single and apparently looking for something. He was a good friend of my nephews and became a fixture at my sister’s house when they were in high school. A few months ago my family were all at a wedding and ran into my nepthew's old friend. After talking for a while, he asked my sister about her religion and basically asked if he could go to church with them. And so each Sunday he began to go to church and sat with my sister, her husband and my mother. A few months go by and one Sunday he tells them that he is taking classes to become a member of their church. Last month he officially joined the church and yet he still had never been baptized. And so today, Easter Sunday, this young man who found what he was looking for in God and Christianity, will be baptized.

The moral of this long Easter Sunday sermon is that, no matter what the progressives may try to do, religion and God are not going away. In fact, thanks to the immigrants, legal and illegal, Christianity is once again important to a growing segment in this country. More exciting is the fact that the story of my nephew's friend is not an isolated story. I’ve read that there has been a small swell of interest by men and women in their mid twenties who are interested in learning about Christianity and who end up joining churches.

If you think about it, it is pretty silly for progressives to believe that they can eradicate a religion which has been persecuted for over 2000 years and yet is still here. Not to sound too blasphemous but those who thought that religion was dead and buried will find that just like Jesus, religion can never be totally buried and will always rise up again, stronger and more vibrant than ever. Hallelujia. Have a blessed Easter and Amen.