When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
"A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled,
because they are no more."
If you have never had the opportunity to watch Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth the depiction of the scene where the soldiers of King Herod the Great slaughtering the Holy Innocents is truly a frightening sight. It is absolute terror beyond imagination. Grown warriors riding in to town to stab to death every male child in Bethlehem up to two years old. The terrifying screams of mothers running from the soldiers trying to save themselves and their children from the swords of Herod's tyrants sends a horrifying chill up my spin.
These little innocent children killed by Herod due to his fear of loosing his kingly throne to the newborn King in Bethlehem named Jesus, are regarded as the first to loose their lives on behalf of the Name of the Son of God. Saint Quodvultdeus wrote:
"Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you did not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.We would like to think that today in the 21st Century that people are no longer willing to go to the point of utter destruction over the desire for power and control, however, the reality is humanity has not learned very much. How many of us have maneuvered our way around someone else in order to get our way? Okay, maybe we do not go to the length of ordering someone killed, but our own desire to be on top at the expense of someone else can still be an issue that can cause us to be lethal to another person's rightful place.
You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the death of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish you desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself.
Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace--so small, yet so great--who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out his own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God's adopted children.
The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the savior already working salvation."
(Roman Liturgy of the Hours, Advent and Christmas Season, Volume I, Page 1274).
As a gay man who has fallen in love with a wonderful man, one of the reasons we avoid the bars and certain social clubs is because all too many times in the past, I have dealt with one too many men who are so miserable with their lives, that they are not happy unless they are interrupting a happy couple with their inappropriate flirting, demeaning jokes or disturbing advice about the guy we are living with. Most of the time, they have no accurate information about my partner or myself, but their number one interest appears to be to disturb something beautiful to be sure that someone else is as miserable as they are. Yet people like these are the types that avoid going to churches, because they do not like being told what to do with their lives.
Over the past five months we have seen health insurance companies, Republican and Democratic leaders use the power behind billion dollar profits and lobby machines manipulate our national legislative process at the expense of the poor and sick who need health care reform. Health insurance CEO's profits are much more important to protect rather than be sure the sick get the medical care they need without worrying about loosing their homes or their futures. Is this not an example of power and control manipulating the system? Is this also not an illustration of destroying innocent lives so that the rich and wealthy can advance with the sick and unemployed left to pay everything for those who have more than enough?
In order to get what they want, we have seen Roman Catholic Bishops acting as a political action committee to get the Stupak Amendment into the House Health Care Bill and another similar one into the Senate Bill. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is willing to hold all the sick and unemployed hostage to loosing their health care unless the anti-abortion language of their choice is included in Health Care Reform. Is this another example of arrogance, power and control being used to manipulate the system, with the innocent, sick and suffering to pay the price?
Over the past two months, I have been writing about the anti-homosexuality bill being considered in Uganda. If this bill gets passed lesbian and gay people risk being arrested and put in prison for life and very possibly executed. Counselors, Priests and parents would have 24 hours to report someone who they know is LGBT or they too would risk being put in prison. Similar bills have been considered in Rwanda. Organizations like Exodus International and even Focus on the Family with their anti-gay spiritual violence have sent the people with the information to help create this legislation. As of yesterday Focus on the Family has condemned the "Kill the Gays" Bill in Uganda. However, they and other anti-gay Christian voices are not taking responsibility for having exported the anti-LGBT attitude that they promote here in the U.S. to other countries.
In past weeks we have seen the election of an innocent and hard working Canon Priest become Suffragan Bishop-Elect of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles: Mary Glasspool. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams who has only stated in a newspaper interview that “the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it can be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades”. Yet in less than twelve hours after the election of Mary Glasspool responded with:
"The election of Mary Glasspool by the Diocese of Los Angeles as suffragan bishop elect raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole. The process of selection however is only part complete. The election has to be confirmed, or could be rejected, by diocesan bishops and diocesan standing committees.
That decision will have very important implications. The bishops of the Communion have collectively acknowledged that a period of gracious restraint in respect of actions which are contrary to the mind of the Communion is necessary if our bonds of mutual affection are to hold."In other words the election of an openly Lesbian Bishop is a reason to publicly scold the Episcopal Church for threatening the unity of the Anglican Communion, but a "kill the gays" bill in Uganda is worth a "private meeting" because to state anything public would be "counterproductive." The Episcopal Church is an autonomous body that does not answer to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Could the Archbishop of Canterbury be wanting control and be willing to maneuver over gay and lesbian rights to gain power where he does not have it at the moment?
The slaughter of the Holy Innocents is not just about the murder of children, it is about the willingness to stoop to levels so low to gain what is not rightfully our own. Calling on legislators and religious leaders to end oppression of LGBT people is not political maneuvering. Manipulating and controlling the system through for example the smearing of Kevin Jennings is. Working to promote Marriage Equality is not political maneuvering. Posting "Let the People Vote on Marriage" on the sides of City buses in Washington DC and calling it "freedom of expression" is political maneuvering for the sake of power and control. In the end they have nothing to really do with the issue of homosexuality or same-sex marriage. These and other manipulative acts are being done because of an established power structure named heterosexism that is being threatened and those LGBT and allied individuals who are willing to stand up and call it out by name that are being persecuted.
As with any group of people who are looked upon as second class citizens, just because we risk our reputations and possibly our lives, does not mean we should not continue our work of justice and equality. When civil and religious oppression is tolerated by a society that claims to be "free" toward any group of people, that society needs to be spoken to and acted upon. Being true to the Name and Person of Jesus Christ who was God made human, means respecting all human beings with the dignity and integrity that God has given all. As LGBT citizens, we have every business speaking up for our equal rights and calling for freedom from religious and civil oppression and familial homophobia. We also need to call out both local, State, National and Religious leaders who look upon our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression as if we are not people who deserve our rights granted and protected.
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Collect for The Holy Innocents, Book of Common Prayer, Page 238).
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