This is the second of a four-part series covering the sensitive topic of religion and the state in the US, including war, peace, patriotism, allegiance, and Jesus. I understand that many of you, my dear readers, will not agree with some, most, or even all of what you are going to read. I would love any feedback, positive or negative, questions, concerns, what-have-you. I would only say two things – one, please email me any critiques…I don’t want the “comment” section to turn into a debate. Second, I feel like it will be all-too-easy to give a shoot-from-the-hip gut reaction. I beg you, please think about and pray over what I have written. My intention is not to cause dissension or anger, but rather to provoke thought and stir the imagination…
Part 1 can be found here.
In the previous blog, I wanted to look at the way Jesus truly lived and the things he truly taught, and how that translates into how we should look at the “american dream” in the present day, and where our allegiance truly lies. I’d like to continue this train of thought, and try to understand certain things about Jesus and the kingdoms of the world…
Jesus was about people. People and relationships. People and relationships and love.
And I think Jesus would much rather his followers love and take care of the poor lonely immigrant-illegal or not-than make picket signs and support the politicians who want to put up a big fence…as if they are the neighbor’s unruly kids who keep coming into the backyard and trampling the gardenias. (see Matthew 25:34-40 and Hebrews 13:1-2, among many many others)
I think Jesus would much rather me, a Christian, live simply than extravagantly (or maybe even comfortably). For if not, then to quote Derek Webb, I “join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore,” and I’m “trading comfort for human life, and that’s not just murder it’s suicide.” Martin Luther King asked, “Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses in order to give luxuries to the classes?” And, in the words of Jesus, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mt. 19:21)
I think Jesus would much rather us Christians send care packages to Iraqi families than send bombs, and send our Christian young men and women armed with tools of building and uplifting rather than tools of violence and death. (see all Matthew 5, especially vv. 9, 39, 44 …also the sixth commandment)
Please consider…
- The first Department of Homeland Security consisted of tribes of Native Americans who were cheated, slaughtered, and disenfranchised by “Christian” Europeans who believed God wanted them to settle this so-called New World for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
- The backbone of the economy of the early “democratic republic” (where all were created equal right?) was a system of chattel slavery in which one race was subjugated, dehumanized, and forced to labor for their masters, many of whom claimed to be “Christian.”
- John Adams, a Founding Father and President, said in the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, “The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
- Look at the obscene number of times US military forces have been deployed : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_history_events
- And please, please know that this government is corrupt, vicious, and power-hungry, just like any other nation of the world : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm
And we want to celebrate the day this country declared its independence?
This is a nation of the world just like any other. The rich benefit and the poor suffer. The powerful seek to stay in power at the expense of anyone who gets in their way. The only god it knows is mammon, the only religion it knows is nationalism, and the only sacrifice it makes is of its young men and women on its endless battlefields to keep the war machine rolling.
Year after year we keep allowing our young men and women to fight this nation’s wars against this nation’s enemies, “yet loving our enemies and blessing those who persecute us is precisely what Kingdom-of-God citizens are called to do. It’s what it means to be Christian. By definition, therefore, you can no more have a Christian worldly government than you can have a Christian petunia or aardvark. A nation may have noble ideas and be committed to just principles, but it’s not for this reason Christian.” (Gregory Boyd, Myth of a Christian Nation)
Why should we pledge our allegiance to this world? The US is simply another country of the world, same as China, Russia, Iraq, Iran, North Korea …and the ancient Roman Empire.
…and for my fellow October-Racers : it is a kingdom of the world, just like Guatemala, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Ghana, Romania, Ukraine, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.
We’re all sick. We’re all broken. We’re all in need of a true King.
