Mac-Coleman

29 October 2014 –

What we are really thinking

When I was the US Air Force Attaché to China, my wife and I lived in downtown Beijing.  We entertained diplomats from around the world and worked extensively with them and our Chinese hosts on all sorts of diplomatic and military issues.  Because we had information the Chinese government wanted, our apartment was bugged with audio and video sensors, our car had a GPS tracker on it, and I was followed virtually everywhere I went in the country.  My wife and I got used to the environment and  never talked about anything of importance while in the apartment or car, or near any Chinese.  We were there to do our diplomatic job, and we accepted the dictatorial Chinese state as the arena in which we did battle.  

  

The Chinese government’s intrusion extended to all aspects of our lives, including church.  Ours was not one of the country’s officially recognized denominations.  We could not invite Chinese citizens to worship with us, give them pamphlets, or even answer their questions about our faith or Christianity in general.  On a weekly basis, our pastor clearly stated these rules over the pulpit.  We rendered unto Caesar what was Caesar’s.

All the members of our congregation knew our services were electronically monitored to ensure we complied with government rules.  After all, it was a Communist dictatorship with 500,000 people in its security services who did nothing but monitor all communications within its borders.  Only our silent prayers were not subject to government scrutiny. 

There is an old Chinese saying:  Zai lin, chuang hei.  The direct translation is “toward the neighbors, dark windows.”  To the Chinese, whose natural and human rights have been suppressed for millennia by warlords, emperors, and Communist autocrats, it provides sage advice:  “Don’t tell anybody what you’re really thinking.”   In a dictatorship, this often is the only way to survive. 

I rejoice daily that our Constitution protects us from such government intrusion when we worship, speak privately or in the press, when we assemble, or petition the government for redress of wrongs.  The expression of our thoughts is constrained only by our ability to express them, not by the government.  Not by the federal government.  Not by the state government.  Not by the city government.  No government official can use legal mechanisms such as subpoenas to intimidate American religious congregations to quit calling a sin a sin, to quit public or private efforts to redress government wrongs, or to insist we pray only silently and away from others.  That is unconstitutional, and it is wrong. 

Five pastors’ names appeared in the City of Houston’s recent subpoena to turn over sermons which were thought to contain statements about the sins of our city leaders as well as information on how these religious leaders are trying to petition to redress the wrongs of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO).  Pastors Steve Wriggle, Herman Castano, Khan Huynh, David Welch, and Ms. Magda Hermida spoke out boldly and refused to back down.  They are heroes in my book. 

In a press conference on Tuesday, 28 October, these pastors, including Reverend Bill Owens and others from the Coalition of African American Pastors, declared that this issue is as much about civil rights as were the marches and demonstrations some of them participated in more than four decades ago.  These brave Americans forced a suppressive, local government to honor the Constitution and to respect First Amendment protections for all Americans. 

On Wednesday, 29 October, because of the efforts of the “Houston Five” and others, Mayor Parker’s office withdrew the subpoena. 

These pastors’ moral courage inspires me as much as has any physical courage I saw in my three decades of military service.  May God bless these pastors, their congregations, and all who are willing risk everything to protect Americans’ rights and freedoms.  I echo the “amens” we spoke so freely during the press conference.  We can do that in this country.  We can do that in Texas.  We can do that in Houston. 

After all, we Americans can tell people what we are really thinking.