What Great Nation?

Yesterday I observed a debate on Facebook concerning the restriction of homosexuals’ rights in civil law. Would it surprise you to know that one participant in the debate introduced biblical teaching as a defense of these restrictions? And in emphasizing the importance of teaching our children right from wrong, this particular Christian compared practicing homosexuals to murderers? It didn’t surprise me, but it disgusted me and made me really sad. 

Several people responded, rightly, that biblical teachings shouldn't dictate civil law. I couldn’t resist including my two cents: that I want to teach my son that it’s “right” that each of us should get to live out the full nature of our God-created humanity, and that it's "wrong" to think that loving someone of the same sex is any kind of crime. I would add that the most important law Jesus taught us is to LOVE. What’s loving about excluding people and forcing them into the shadows?

And then I turn to today's reading from Deuteronomy, in which Moses reminds his followers to adhere to their laws, regardless of the changes they're about to encounter as they enter a new land. He says that by observing these laws faithfully, they will show the world their intelligence, wisdom, and connection with God. What great nation, he says, has statutes and decrees that are as just?  Moses knew that God expected them to remain faithful to the commandments set down before them. Just because their world is changing doesn't mean their laws should.

Hmm ... can I reconcile these two ideas?

The latter portion of the passage tells me I can. Moses continues:

However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.

He reminds the Israelites that their own experiences inform and augment his teachings. We can’t read scripture in isolation. What have we seen, heard, and felt that helps us to understand the full meaning of God’s word? What have we gone through that might bring us closer to what God intends for us?

The Israelites were enslaved; their rights were completely restricted by nature of their birth. Surely the atrocities they experienced would inform their sense of right and wrong. Later, in the New Testament, we observe Pharisees living by the letter of God’s law; Jesus calls them hypocrites as he tries to help his followers understand the spirit of the law. He was troubled by the way that human beings perverted God’s word to fit their own notions of right and wrong. Both, it seems to me, were encouraging people to think critically about the laws that were handed down to them.

As a Christian, I feel the same responsibility to think critically about our nation's laws as well the dictates of my faith. As an American Catholic, I'd like to be able to say: What great nation has laws that are as just as ours?