THE GOD OF ALL-INCLUSION

My wife and I just completed watching the long-awaited coronation of Charles III.  We watched every second of the televised coverage by the BBC.  When we were through we made sure that we also watched the Royal Concert along with the Royal Family and Kermit the Frog.  As a person professionally trained in Medieval History, I loved seeing the ancient and medieval traditions involved in the ceremony and was quick to provide my wife Janene translations of all of the Latin hymns whether she wanted them or not.  Frankly the pageantry was glorious, and costumes and dress were amazing.  I must say, we loved every minute of it. The music is wonderful.  At least the King and I can agree upon that. In addition, even the pablum dished out by those behind the event and the commentators was delicious.  Every spoonful of this new age porridge tasted great.

 

The Coronation provided an unveiling of the new world religion of All-Inclusion.  It was a delicious cookie on the outside with a toxic but great tasting filling on the inside.  It was a concoction designed to leave you hungering for even more.  Within the context of ancient Christian traditions, it showcased the new All-Inclusive Christ.  All are welcome in this new religion regardless of background or belief.  The Chief Rabbi sits down at the long table of welcomeness along with Sikhs and Muslim Imams.  I am sure there are even places at the table for Buddhists and Wiccans as well.  After all, Jesus loves all people and all are welcome under the new enlarged tent of acceptance.

 

As people of all faiths mingle together in the spirit of gemṻtlichkeit, all people sit down together.  Female priests give prayers and people of all genders (Like Heinz, there are at least 47 varieties) play starring roles in this brave new religious world.  The often repeated “mantra” for this new religion is “diversity.”  You will hear this word repeated over and over.  Another word that is bandied about is the word “environmental” and “service.”  These words are used as talismans and you may employ the words without the fear of running into contradictions.  For instance, the King and his entourage can proclaim their love for the environment while creating unimaginable pollution on the Coronation Day.  They can laud service and proclaim the image of Christ washing the feet of the disciples while they are riding in a beautiful golden carriage without perceiving any consciousness of the contradiction and the irony between their pronouncements and their actions. 

 

And then there is the dress of the participants.  The prelates are dressed beautifully in gold and white, the guards are resplendent with their armor, plumes and medals and the guests are dressed beautifully shaming even the peacocks in their glory.  Even Katy Perry appeared to honor the king in a gold tin foil dress baring her soul.  At the same time, the Archbishop and others can speak and honor the simplicity of Christ, who I suspect was never dressed as beautifully as the lowest prelate attending the service.      Forgive the rant.  But shouldn’t someone who believes in Christ say something about the contradictions.  The problem is that those engaged in the coronation apparently do not even see that there are any contradictions at all.

 

The ancient structures of the coronation traditions had to be adjusted to fit the new religion much as a pair of pants has to be adjusted when you gain weight.  Charles could no longer be The Defender of THE FAITH.    Unfortunately, that term referred to the Christian Religion, which is much too excluding for our all-inclusive world.  The God of All-Inclusion demands that all be included under the tent.  Therefore, Charles had to morph the ancient title from “Defender of the Faith” to a more generic term of “Defender of Faith.”  He defends the generic concept that all have the right to believe whatever they want to believe.  By the way, the title “Defender of the Faith” ironically was a title awarded to Henry VIII by Pope Leo X.  (Henry VIII did not live up to the title and due to his need for another wife, split the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church).

 

In short, the modern demands for all-inclusiveness and diversity resulted in a train wreck between the greatly respected ancient traditions of Christianity and Kingdom with the demands of the new moral and religious environment.  To put it bluntly, those who came up with all of those great traditions ostensibly honored at the Coronation would be horrified at what they saw at Westminster Abbey.  The beauty of a Catholic bishop being included in the ceremony or an Islam cleric would have been, shall we say, “anathema” at coronations in the past especially to a denomination (Anglican) which grew out of the Reformation.   The inclusion of all clerics of all sexes and no sexes at all are now welcomed with open arms.  Libertines, celibates and every other sexual choice in between are also welcome under the new rainbow covered umbrella of love.    Almost everybody is welcome.

 

There is one group, however, who is not welcome.  The new moral lepers are those who commit the unpardonable sin of rejecting the new doctrines of all-inclusiveness and diversity.  These individuals are not called “heretics.” Instead they are called “bigots” because they have not seen the new way of inclusion and they do not walk in it.

 

The New World Religion has had to make a few adjustments to ancient Christian theology and to the Scriptures but otherwise is more than happy to be a “bedfellow “ with the Ancient Faith and Traditions.  New age theologians have not had much difficulty making necessary adjustments to accommodate what used to be considered “sin” and even transforming them into “virtues.”  With mental acuity they have found Scriptures to justify their new inclusive views and where they have no Scriptures, they simply cast doubts about the correctness of ancient Scriptures and their reliability.  In other words, Scripture is either twisted to make their point, and if it does not twist, then its veracity can be questioned or cast aside.  If the Old Testament and Paul do not accept the morality of homosexuality and instead consider it sin, then these parts of Scripture need further explanation or clarification or exclusion.

 

Most  Scripture is welcome in the New World Religion with some exceptions:

 

·        Any Scripture which implies that there is such a thing as sin.  There is no sin in the brave New World  except the sin of bigotry.

·        There is no judgment. God does not judge.  He/She/It only loves.  There is no sin (other than bigotry) and therefore no judgment is needed.  If there were “sin” then God would forgive it. God loves all without change. 

·        There is no need for repentance.  After all, there is nothing to repent from anyway.  Ancient doctrines of repentance are no longer needed.  This may come as some relief to the King and Queen as especially as it relates to the now forgotten Princess Diana.

·        There is no holiness.  Holiness would indicate an arbitrary standard and the all-inclusive God has no standards (other than punishment for bigotry or perhaps the original sin of being born a white, male Colonist).  Unfortunately, many of us who fall into this class of “undesirables” could only wish that we had a special “Trust” like King Charles which could redeem us from our shortcomings and act as a modern day Papal Indulgence.  But enough of my Medieval Humor.

 

In fact, certain statements by Jesus are “uncomfortable” in this new Enlightened World and are studiously avoided.   Some examples might be:

 

·        “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. –John 14:6

·        “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”—Matthew 16:24

·         “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”-Matthew 7:13-14

This new religion is inclusive.  Its way is broad.  All, regardless of belief, are invited to travel on this new religious super highway.  The advantages are that it is inclusive, wide and easy to walk on.  You will meet no pesky evangelicals or bigots on it.  You can walk without paying any tolls.  Negatives like the cross or repentance are not necessary.  The only problem is that this new super highway leads neither to God nor to heaven.  The kingdoms of this world offered to Christ at the Temptation still belong to the King of this World. 

 

The words of Psalms 2:3-4 remain true:  “The kings of the earth rise up and band together against the Lord and his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”  However David proclaims later in that Psalm…”the Lord scoffs at them.”

 

The Coronation of the King provided a wonderful platform for the unveiling of this New World Religion  starring the God of All-Inclusion and the All-Accepting Christ. This New World Religion with its All-Inclusive God will soon be coming to a location near you if it has not already.  But take heart, Christ will return and in the future “every knee shall bow” before him.  That is part of our hope and our inheritance.

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