Christianity and Patriotism

He descends down the craggy mountain cliffs, trying his best to avoid falling off the narrow way up the mountain.  He has been at it for a few hours now, but the descent is almost over.  He trips slightly, but two strong arms catch him and the two tablets he was holding: it was Joshua.  A whoop of praise leaps from the Israelite campsite.

"There is the sound of war in the camp," Joshua remarks warily.

"It is not the sound of victory.  It is not the sound of defeat.  It is the sound of... singing that I hear!"  Moses would descend further and see that the Israelites have made a Golden Calf.  He slings the Ten Commandments to the ground, shattering them.  The people of God do not deserve the commandments of God if they seek to replace Him with their own version of God.

We must be wary of that the Israelites did not build an idol in the literal sense of the word.  They did not abandon God to worship Apis, Osiris, or some foreign god.  The beginning of Exodus 32 saw a people itching to move on.  Moses was simply taking too long!  What happened to him?  The mountaintop was shrouded, we've been here for so long, aren't we supposed to be somewhere... a land flowing with milk and honey?  What are we waiting for?  And so the Israelites went to Aaron.

Note their request: "Make us gods who will go before us".  They knew it was YHWH God who led them from Egypt in a pillar of cloud by day, and a vortex of fire by night. So they needed something like that God to lead them.  It's interesting they desired for Aaron to make "gods", and what came out was one Golden Calf.  Yet, they still seemed to be strangely confused, declaring that "these are your gods who brought you out of Israel."  When we stray from the one true God and replace Him with something of our own creation, you can be sure nothing is destined to make sense.  But how could the Israelites be so delirious?  How is it they're so confuddled?  Don't they know the God who led them?  How could God look, then, like the Golden Calf?

We shouldn't be super-harsh to the Israelites.  Remember - when you point your finger at others, a few point back to you.  Humanity was created, after all, to have a relationship with God.  When it feels that God has abandoned them, the Israelites needed some other deity to have a relationship with.  Every human on earth has a god to worship - and they might not even notice it.  The atheists might declare, "I have no god to worship," but what they worship is non-deism!  The fact you do not worship a god doesn't mean you're free of any worship.  We are created to be worshipping creatures.  But the Israelites' big mistake is to substitute something in place of the one true God - something of their own choosing; something very tangible, something made by their own hands.  In other words, they made God less than who He is.  God is God.  When we make Him less, when we make Him manageable, we have a false god, because it is not the true and omnipotent God of Israel.

We must realize that this idolatry, this creation of graven images, is an easy sin to fall into.  When we use God for worldly purposes, we have created individual Golden Calves.  There was a pope from the Renaissance who declared, "God has created the papacy - let us enjoy it!"  God was used to justify the debauchery and immorality plaguing the Vatican at the time.  These popes were guilty of idolatry, because God was debauched into a means to immorality.  It is, unfortunately, too easy to use God for human ends.  American politicians do it maddeningly frequently, regardless of political affiliation.  And so we become surprised when those who supposedly espouse Christian values are caught in moral scandals.

So what about patriotism?

We need to define our patriotism carefully.  In fact, it is such a loose term that could mean so many different things that I think we need to use other terms.  What, then, is a good American citizen?  Well, they follow the rule of law, to begin with.  The 26 year old who was arrested for terrorism has broken the law and will be punished accordingly.  He is not a good American citizen.  But, of course, good citizenry means more than that.  It means supporting and promoting the well-being of the nation, right?  A good American wants the best for America and plays his or her part in making America better.  If that is patriotism, then I would argue that Christians should be patriotic in making their country more just, more charitable, more gracious, etc.  Thus, the state-sponsored church under Nazi Germany, for not being proactive in speaking against the Holocaust, is really being very un-patriotic because they did not wish for the best for Germany.  They played a role in ensuring that the Holocaust would forever be a dark and ugly stain in Germany's history.  If patriotism is this quest to make the country a better one, then Christians should play a part in it, not because our citizenship demands it, but because our witness as Christians compels us to do so.

The problem with patriotism in the United States is that it has been denuded of its force and meaning. The United States is "no. 1" is such a paradox, particularly if the USA is "one nation under God."  To be "under God" is to be subject to God's rule and precepts.  But does God described in John 3:16-17 not love the world that whoever (note: not just American) believes in him shall have eternal life?  Did God not come to save the world (note: not just America) through Jesus?   If we are true to the Scriptures, especially a literal reading of John 3:16-17, we must admit that we cannot say "USA is #1", for God so loved ALL the world.  Can you imagine a family where each member claims that they're #1 in the family?  How absurd!  And how dysfunctional!

But even more brazen about the idea that America is #1 is the fact that Christians are thinking it knowing that there are Christians in other countries!  One of the requirements of communion is that we eat and drink it while discerning the body of Christ!  By not doing so, we eat and drink judgment unto ourselves because we make a mockery of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  We are literally claiming that Jesus' teachings are nice theory but doesn't apply to us.  Furthermore, we assert that national identities are more important than our Christian identities.  If we have the spiritual cojónes, we would assert, "Jesus and His Kingdom is #1" with America, Switzerland, China, UK, whatever country, as an afterthought.  Exactly - the problem with Christianity in America is we can't see ourselves as Christian outside of being American simultaneously.  To be a good Christian is to be a good American.  And so, we refashion God into something He is not - an American.  We are, in short, building a Red-White-and-Blue Calf, and flaunting in the faces of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  How dare we!  Who do we think we are?

The equation of good Christianity with good Americanism is so befuddling given the string of injustices perpetrated by America.  A bastion of democracy?  What about the many Latin American countries that suffered from U.S. sponsored terrorism in their countries?  Families and whole villages were massacred by U.S. trained and CIA sponsored guerrillas.  I know some who claim that liberation theology is "not good", and indeed, I do not agree with many aspects of it.  But the contexts that gave rise to it began with America.  And what about torture in Guantánamo?  Maybe this is your idea of "good America", but is this good Christianity?  I repudiate such bastardization of Christianity.  It is not Christianity at all!

And what is America number 1 in anyways?  #1 in military technology?  Great - and it's all financed by China's buying of US debt in the first place.  We are definitely not #1 in wealth, particularly since we have such a huge debt problem.  Yeah we have the most number of billionaires... so what?  You're not one of them.  We are definitely not #1 in healthcare, safety (I feel much safer in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and even China compared to many parts of America... maybe except Green Bay, Wisconsin), and technological progress!  Come on!  Anyone who has been to Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. know that they've topped America on so many fronts.  What are we #1 in, exactly?  Christian faith?  Sorry - but there are more Christians in the Global South than there are in the West.  What, exactly, is America no. 1 about in the first place?  So ultimately, our Red-White-and-Blue Calf really is meaningless.  Indeed, any Golden Calf is.  It doesn't promise anything.  In fact, if God did not intervene, the Israelites may have left and gone wayward with a faux-God "leading" the way!  Any confusion of God and country leads to a confusion of worship.  The German church experienced this when their worship of German nationalism gave way to their support for Hitler, under which God was replaced by the Führer.  I have every confidence we will not see another Holocaust, especially on American soil, but the lessons of history cannot be forgotten - the church has trodden this path of confusing God and country before, and the results have never been pretty.  Those who are unwilling to remember their history are condemned to repeat it.

Now, it may sound like I'm being "anti-American", but I really am pro-American.  If I were anti-American, I would say that America is no. 1 because I don't want it to become better.  Why?  Because by saying that, I am assuming that we can't be better on anything!  And that is simply delusional and the pinnacle of hubris, which is marginally forgivable only if you've never traveled to other countries.  What we need in America is not more anti-Americans who keep chanting America #1.  We need more pro-Americans, we need more REAL patriots, who care about making America a better place.  We need pro-Americans who care about making sure that America is the place of the truly free (meaning: free to pursue what is right), the country where all who visit can taste justice, sample peace, and wish that they had it back in their home countries.  What we need in American Christianity is one in which our Christian faith speaks to our national ethos, not the other way around.  The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can get to destroying the Golden Calf in our churches, and the sooner we can get to making America a better, freer, and more just country for all.