| Its time to take a stand  By Bob Barnes This summer our nation followed the saga of Roy Moore, the Alabama judge who refused to take down a display of the Ten Commandments. This was the latest skirmish in the war over the separation of church and state. Historically, United Methodists have been slow to ally themselves with those who would express their faith in the public square (e.g., school prayer or crches in the town square). We are sensitive to people of other beliefs and do not want to force our religion on anyone. An unfolding court case in Iowa, though, may force us to reframe how we view the larger church-state debate. In 1999, an Iowa district superintendent, the Rev. Jerrold Swinton, visited Shell Rock UMC, which was experiencing turmoil. Afterwards, he wrote a letter, which without mentioning names, warned that the spirit of Satan was at work within the congregation. For this he was sued by a couple who claimed the letter damaged their reputation. Setting aside the humor of alleged Christians claiming that their reputations have been hurt by a letter that warns of the spirit of Satan, we need to pay attention to the seriousness of this case. For starters, Swinton employed a reasonable expression to describe a spiritual reality in many congregations. Our conference is a theologically diverse body but most of us could use the phrase spirit of Satan and mean largely the same thing. As a conservative who believes that Satan is an actual created being, I would use the phrase to mean that he was exerting influence by inspiring people to behave in hateful and divisive ways. I would point out that the name Satan means accuser. I would also humbly acknowledge that I know what the spirit of Satan is like because sometimes it knocks at my door. Others who are more liberal might disbelieve in the actual existence of Satan and think me superstitious, but would use the same phrase metaphorically to mean the same thing. If there were a Satan and he did influence people, this is how they would act. The point is, Swinton was exercising his appropriate authority as a leader in the church by gently diagnosing the limits of Christian behavior using Biblical terms. (Paul and Jesus said things which were much more direct and harsh.) For the courts to even listen to a case against a district superintendent for merely doing his job is a sign that they no longer respect the rights of religious bodies to govern themselves within the framework of their principles. As United Methodists we are apt to view the Moral Majority as a group that wanted to force the Christian faith on everyone else. What we have missed is the fact that there are secular humanists who are endeavoring to do the same thing by attacking religion every chance they get. They have started with the Christians because we are the largest group. For 40 years we Christians have been moving to the back of the bus. Its time for us to take a stand across the nation, from Iowa to Alabama, and maybe in our own backyards. The Rev. Robert Barnes is pastor of Bedington UMC. | 
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