God & Country

I wrote this in response to the conversation on Kelli's blog after this post.

As a part of the Vox de Populi e-mail conversation community, many of you have already read this- but..I though I would post it here as a chronicle for my personal records.

The blur between God & country started at an early age for me when I quit the boy scouts. I didn’t get that learning how to tie knots & start a campfire were somehow supposed to help me do my duty to God and my country. The conversation moved again in Middle School when there was national debate about some children in public school abstaining from the recitation of the pledge of allegiance. And finally, once again when I was a freshmen in college and the twin towers were attacked.

While fired up, and more so sad about September 11th- it was our response that made it hard for me to pledge allegiance (not to mention I was beginning my collegiate journey of questioning everything I had been taught) to a flag, country, or worse...policy. Through a lot of reading and conversation (with mostly right & few left wing roommates), I came to the conclusion that our national borders were artificial. Made by wars, annexation, the false hope of manifest destiny, and loads of oppression (small pox gifts to the indigenous, African slave trade, etc)...I could not worship both God & country.

It was here in my journey that the material became unimportant, and that actions (played as a result of values) were what counted. I knew Christians who displayed the cross reverently, but were assholes to homosexuals...Christ followers who would not let their Bible touch the ground, but believed that war was the only way to solve the Muslim problem...children of God who got dressed up in their Sunday’s finest weekly out of respect for God, but though that global warming was a farce.

This deeply reinforced my belief that the material (or reverence for the material) didn’t matter, but that our actions (as a result of our values) showed our true character/allegiance.

For me, the same can be said about my country. There are Americans who deeply believe that the flag should never touch the ground, yet slew racial slurs at our immigrant brothers and sisters from Mexico...Good citizens who loud and proud sing the national anthem at every sporting event, yet pass tax cuts for the wealthiest percentage of the so-called privileged...Patriots who pledge allegiance to the flag, but have zero problem with calling the killing of Iraqi citizens “collateral damage” when at war.

After September 11th, just about every country was ready to support America in its time of mourning. What an opportunity to really make some headway for democracy & freedom (our supposed American values) by feeding the hungry, redistributing wealth, and cooperatively dealing with global disease (all of which terrorism is intrinsically linked to)...instead, in the name of God & country we resorted to the myths of redemptive violence as a means to an end.

Now there is no end in sight, other countries once ready to lend a helping hand are no longer behind us, and global poverty & disease are at an all-time high.

I propose that the material values of the “flag” and “book” are in desperate need of redemption thru creative and imaginative action.

Action steeped in hope, not flag...real freedom, not country... Creativity, not violence in the name of God...and imagination, not artificial borders.

Peace be with us...