So, a co
uple of weeks ago, I saw these bumper stickers on the back of a red mini-van. I would have peeled back the corner of the white one so it was more visible, but I thought people might not like me touching their car. Anyway, asyou can probably tell, it says, "I proudly pledge allegiance to one nation under God" However, while this person proudly pledges allegiance to a nation under God, but not necessarily God, apparently, Christ is The Answer. Something about this struck me as ironic.
uple of weeks ago, I saw these bumper stickers on the back of a red mini-van. I would have peeled back the corner of the white one so it was more visible, but I thought people might not like me touching their car. Anyway, asyou can probably tell, it says, "I proudly pledge allegiance to one nation under God" However, while this person proudly pledges allegiance to a nation under God, but not necessarily God, apparently, Christ is The Answer. Something about this struck me as ironic. - First of all, the allegiance to a nation is above Christ is the Answer. Apparently Christ is the Answer, but really, the allegiance is to a nation.
- Second, all of that "under God" stuff drives me absolutely bonkers. They act as if the pledge of allegiance was written by the founding fathers (many of whom weren't really Christians anyway) and they included under God in the beginning. Well, click the link at the end of this bullet point, and you'll find that it was written by a Baptist Minister, and it didn't originally include anything about "under God." It wasn't until 1954 that the words "under God" were added to the pledge. Anyway, I'm not a fan of the "our nation was founded on Christian principles so we ought to shove our concept of God in everyone's faces" rhetoric. Pledge of Allegiance History
- Finally, kind of going back to the first point, I wonder if this person really believes that Christ is the answer. One might ask, "What's the question?" How does Jesus's life and ministry answer the questions of our contemporary world and society? Do we really trust Christ to be the answer, or do we allow substitutes like politicians to be the answer? Do we substitute patriotism and "allegiance" to our nation for really seeking Christ as the answer? I don't know. I just think that we, as Christians, owe our utmost allegiance to God and participation in God's kingdom. I'm thankful that I live in a nation where I can feel free to post anything I want on my blog and not fear for my life, but in the end, it isn't America that will redeem me and make me into a new creation...scratch that...that will redeem creation and remake creation.
- Anyway, I just found the stickers to be ironic. Anybody have thoughts?
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2 comments:
Wow, church and state, now there's an issue. Wouldn't it be great if we really meant "one nation under God"--and therefore recognized that our ultimate allegiance really is to God, not to ourselves, not to our leaders, not to our political party, not to our country, but to a God who is just, merciful, and continually stands on the side of the poor? Wouldn't that remake the country?! I don't think we're getting rid of the under God clause anytime soon, nor are we getting rid of US flags in the sanctuary, nor public figures who talk about their faiths, nor bumper stickers that read "God bless the USA". But might we be able to help people see that God is active in the WORLD, not just the USA? That calling ourselves Christian calls us to action in the world on behalf of others? That Jesus' model for living is a very political one? That living in a country that values the separation of church and state (at least in theory) means we need to continually evaluate how we interact with one another in respectful ways while still holding true to our beliefs? Might it mean that those of us who hold these views need to speak up in the public arena rather than letting people who invoke the name of God for their own causes speak for all Christians?
Well said. The "God bless America" phenomenon boggles and frustrates me as well. Sadly many in our nation (and in my neighborhood) seem to believe that America is God's kingdom... or at least their Hummers do.
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