The Idolatrous American Ideal February 13, 2006
Posted by Matt in Church & State.Tags: America, christian, idolatry, patriotism
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* originally posted 2/13/06
Is it ok to be both a patriotic American and a Christian?
This is a question that has been bothering me for quite sometime and I don’t have a good answer for it. We attended a very conservative SBC church for a little while not too long ago and the constant pro-America slogans spouted from the pulpit tended to really bother me. There was even a time when they had everyone stand and pledge allegiance to the flag during a worship service – of course this was also during the contentious 2004 presidential campaign and this brand of churches was doing everything within it’s power to separate the good, war-loving Christians from the evil peace and love hippie liberals.
Maybe I’m un-American or unpatriotic, but the whole idea of pledging my life to the ideal of “freedom” makes me a little uneasy. Is it possible that, in our “free” American society, we have turned liberty into another Baal? Have we just replaced the golden calf with the stars and stripes?
Perhaps we, as Christians, need to put aside the patriotic ferver that has gripped churches across our land and instead pledge our allegiance to God. Instead of defending our right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” maybe we should be defending truth and justice.
I am a vehement anti-Capitalist. All it has done for our society is make us more materialistic and money-hungry. We starve the poor so that we can store up for ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy… Do we, in our “Christian” nation really believe that we cannot serve both God and Mammon?
But what does an old Socialist like me know anyway…
