An Independence Day Reflection

[The following essay was first posted on July 4, 2017]

Photo from Max Pixel

Today on our nation’s birthday, I will spend some time in gratitude for the wonderful country that is the United States. I will not, however, spend any time conflating God and country. The one is a natural human response that anyone might have for his or her homeland while the other is a dangerous move toward the idolatry of nationalism. That danger of conflating faith and patriotism came home to me last Sunday when we sang the soul-stirring "America the Beautiful" in church.

Brian McLaren had a brief discussion on his blog regarding the difference between nationalism and patriotism. He also shared some thoughts with Patheos publishers on the meaning of Christian identity as it related to patriotism in a YouTube video.

God and Country?

My own conflict came to light for me many years ago when I was a Baptist seminary student. I was in school in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge – a beautiful environment for learning. While in school, I was involved in youth ministry in a nice suburban church in Novato, California, which is further up U.S. Highway 101 in northern Marin County. 

One Sunday, right before the choral anthem, the pastor (a fine man who had given me some excellent guidance and advice) called for us all to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (it was on the Sunday that fell just before Independence Day). One of my best friends even went up to hold the U.S. flag. In all fairness, my friend was in the military reserves and several in the congregation were military as well. I am sure that they, like many other of my Baptist colleagues, saw no conflict. I, on the other hand, felt like I had been delivered an unexpected side-blow.

During that time of worship which I saw as a time for contemplation and the turning of one’s attention toward God, I was suddenly called upon to stand in allegiance to my country. Of course, I was proud of my country – and patriotic – but to me, in that setting, in that sacred space, the worship of God took precedence above all else. 

I had first begun to parse out the difference between love of God and love of country when I was a freshman in college. I learned in my Western Civilization class about how St. Augustine saw the necessity of reassuring the faithful that their faith need not be devastated by the fact that the Roman Empire was falling apart. He set it all out in his written work, The City of God. It occurred to me that just like those earlier times when Rome and the Church were seen as inseparable, we American Christians too often were conflating God and country. 

The way I framed it for myself then, trying to follow Augustine’s lead, was that if I did not fully separate my faith in God from my love of country, then my faith might not hold up if my country were to fail. More important, I might not properly distinguish the demands of faith vs. the demands of citizenship.

Taking it to the Classroom

It just so happened that in seminary that semester I was taking a field supervision class which met every week to examine issues we were experiencing in church ministry. I brought my dilemma to the group – of having faced the inner conflict of having to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the context of Christian worship. 

In the discussion that ensued, some were surprised that I would have such a conflict. One person said that he saw patriotism as a Christian duty. "What about Vacation Bible School?" someone else countered, "we always lead the children in the Pledge of Allegiance there, in church, while teaching kids the Bible." Another said that I was sounding more like a Jehovah’s Witness than a Baptist (Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in saluting the flag or pledging allegiance to the United States since their duty and allegiance should be to the Kingdom of God). 

Later in the week, one of my classmates stopped me to offer a word of encouragement and expressing admiration that I “put myself out there on the line” in the group discussion. I had not seen anything “heroic” in my questions, I was simply bringing forth my own honest discomfort and conflict that had occurred during a time of worship.

A Young Country and an Old Faith

Since those days, I have parted from my Southern Baptist heritage for many reasons. Nevertheless, it remains ironic to me that a group that has made the separation of church and state one of its hallmarks should have conflated God and Country so that the line between patriotism and faith is practically indistinguishable. Our great country is, after all, not even 250 years old while the Christian faith is over 2,000 years old. 

Though I have not been in a position of having to say the Pledge of Allegiance during worship in the intervening years, I still witness the unexamined conflation of God and country, as in the case I mentioned earlier with using "America the Beautiful" as a closing hymn in church. During that service last Sunday, I closed my hymnal and remained silent throughout the hymn. I listened, wondering if perhaps I could make that a prayer for country rather than an exaltation of nationalism in the context of worship. I decided, no, that would be a stretch.  It is a beautiful song that I prefer even over the National Anthem, but for me it does not belong in church.

Love for Country and Peace among Nations

(The following is from a previous Monday Music post on this blog)

The tune "Finlandia" was composed by Jean Sebelius and has been used for other hymns ("Be Still My Soul" is one example). "This Is My Song," by Lloyd Stone, was written when the poet was 22 years old. It was after WWI and the song is a beautiful example of having love for one's country while recognizing the need for peace among the nations. The song is performed here by Indigo Girls.

                    This is my song, O God of all the nations,
                    a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
                    this is my home, the country where my heart is;
                    here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
                    but other hearts in other lands are beating
                    with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

                    My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
                    and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
                    but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
                    and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
                    O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
                    a song of peace for their land and for mine.

                                                                       ~ Lloyd Stone



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Some Thoughts on Independence Day

Photo from Max Pixel

Today on our nation’s birthday, I will spend some time in gratitude for the wonderful country that is the United States. I will not, however, spend any time conflating God and country. The one is a natural human response that anyone might have for his or her homeland while the other is a dangerous move toward the idolatry of nationalism. That danger of conflating faith and patriotism came home to me last Sunday when we sang the soul-stirring "America the Beautiful" in church.

Brian McLaren has a brief discussion this week on his blog regarding the difference between nationalism and patriotism. Also this week, Johnathan Aigner, on his church music blog, Ponder Anew, illustrates some of the danger in linking love of country with worship of God.

God and Country?

My own conflict came to light for me many years ago when I was a Baptist seminary student. I was in school in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge – a beautiful environment for learning. While in school, I was involved in youth ministry in a nice suburban church in Novato, California, which is further up U.S. Highway 101 in northern Marin County. 

One Sunday, right before the choral anthem, the pastor (a fine man who had given me some excellent guidance and advice) called for us all to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (it was on the Sunday that fell just before Independence Day). One of my best friends even went up to hold the U.S. flag. In all fairness, my friend was in the military reserves and several in the congregation were military as well. I am sure that they, like many other of my Baptist colleagues, saw no conflict. I, on the other hand, felt like I had been delivered an unexpected side-blow.

During that time of worship which I saw as a time for contemplation and the turning of one’s attention toward God, I was suddenly called upon to stand in allegiance to my country. Of course, I was proud of my country – and patriotic – but to me, in that setting, in that sacred space, the worship of God took precedence over all else. 

I had first begun to parse out the difference between love of God and love of country when I was a freshman in college. I learned in my Western Civilization class about how St. Augustine saw the necessity of reassuring the faithful that their faith need not be devastated by the fact that the Roman Empire was falling apart. He set it all out in his written work, The City of God. It occurred to me that just like those earlier times when Rome and the Church were seen as inseparable, we American Christians too often were conflating God and country. 

The way I framed it for myself then, trying to follow Augustine’s lead, was that if I did not fully separate my faith in God from my love of country, then my faith might not hold up if my country were to fail. More important, I might not properly distinguish the demands of faith vs. the demands of citizenship.

Taking it to the Classroom

It just so happened that in seminary that semester I was taking a field supervision class which met every week to examine issues we were experiencing in church ministry. I brought my dilemma to the group – of having faced the inner conflict of having to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the context of Christian worship. 

In the discussion that ensued, some were surprised that I would have such a conflict. One person said that he saw patriotism as a Christian duty. "What about Vacation Bible School?" someone else countered, "we always lead the children in the Pledge of Allegiance there, in church, while teaching kids the Bible." Another said that I was sounding more like a Jehovah’s Witness than a Baptist (Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in saluting the flag or pledging allegiance to the United States since their duty and allegiance should be to the Kingdom of God). 

Later in the week, one of my classmates stopped me to offer a word of encouragement and expressing admiration that I “put myself out there on the line” in the group discussion. I had not seen anything “heroic” in my questions, I was simply bringing forth my own honest discomfort and conflict that had occurred during a time of worship.

A Young Country and an Old Faith

Since those days, I have parted from my Southern Baptist heritage for many reasons. Nevertheless, it remains ironic to me that a group that has made the separation of church and state one of its hallmarks should have conflated God and Country so that the line between patriotism and faith is practically indistinguishable. Our great country is, after all, not even 250 years old while the Christian faith is over 2,000 years old. 

Though I have not been in a position of having to say the Pledge of Allegiance during worship in the intervening years, I still witness the unexamined conflation of God and country, as in the case I mentioned earlier with using "America the Beautiful" as a closing hymn in church. During that service last Sunday, I closed my hymnal and remained silent throughout the hymn. I listened, wondering if perhaps I could make that a prayer for country rather than an exaltation of nationalism in the context of worship. I decided, no, that would be a stretch.  It is a beautiful song that I prefer even over the National Anthem, but for me it does not belong in church.

Love for Country and Peace among Nations

(The following is from a Monday Music post on this blog last year)

The tune "Finlandia" was composed by Jean Sebelius and has been used for other hymns ("Be Still My Soul" is one example). "This Is My Song," by Lloyd Stone, was written when the poet was 22 years old. It was after WWI and the song is a beautiful example of having love for one's country while recognizing the need for peace among the nations. The song is performed here by Indigo Girls.

                    This is my song, O God of all the nations,
                    a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
                    this is my home, the country where my heart is;
                    here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
                    but other hearts in other lands are beating
                    with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

                    My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
                    and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
                    but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
                    and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
                    O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
                    a song of peace for their land and for mine.

                                                                       ~ Lloyd Stone



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Democracy is Coming to the USA

For the Fourth of July holiday, I'm sharing words from Parker Palmer. He posted the Leonard Cohen video along with these words on his Facebook page:

As we celebrate the 4th of July, let's reflect on the fact that democracy is always a work in progress. A true celebration means recommitting ourselves to the work that needs doing if we want democracy to survive and thrive.

Here's some great music to start the celebration—Leonard Cohen's classic "Democracy", with its ironic but hopeful refrain, "Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

I think America's Founders would have loved that line. It's in the same spirit as the opening words of the Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..."

The Founders got us off to a very imperfect start when they excluded everyone but white, male, landed gentry from "We the People." But they had the genius to create a form of government that gives us chance after chance to perfect ourselves by righting our wrongs.

Today, a "more perfect Union" includes embracing diversity; removing barriers to voting; making sure that the 16 million American kids who live in poverty have enough to eat; reducing the income gap and the power of big money to dominate our politics; etc. Yes, those are big jobs, but that's what it means to keep democracy coming to the U.S.A.

So on this 4th of July, let's talk with each other about doing whatever we can to fulfill the hopes in this song:

Sail on, sail on
Oh mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
past the Reefs of Greed
through the Squalls of Hate.
Sail on, sail on

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.!

P.S. "There are three kinds of patriots, two bad, one good. The bad ones are the uncritical lovers and the loveless critics. Good patriots carry on a lover's quarrel with their country..." —WIlliam Sloane Coffin, Jr.

Celebrating Independence Day

I spent the Fourth of July with my wife and a friend at the annual barbeque held by Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Homewood. They have been hosting a barbeque on Independence Day for over 60 years, and it is a BIG DEAL in town. They have tons of pork, ribs, chicken, beans and cole slaw, homemade cakes and pies, games for the kids, and a HUGH yard sale.  The streets are lined with cars as people make their way to the event.

While enjoying some excellent barbecue chicken and looking about at all the celebration, I couldn’t help thinking about how in the not-too-distant past Catholics had to take special strides to prove that they were loyal, decent, patriotic Americans (some of the popes in the past who talked about the dangers of democracy probably didn’t help matters). There was still some residual of that question in our nation’s psyche when John F. Kennedy ran for President and had to reassure voters that he would always put the country’s interest ahead of any perceived direction from the pope.

Perhaps this long-running Fourth of July celebration at Our Lady of Sorrows Church has its roots in that effort for American Catholics to prove their patriotism. Today there is no question, even here in the Baptist-dominated South.  Americans of many faiths and creeds joined in the food, fun, and celebration in Homewood that day. We have made great progress in recognizing the dignity and worth so many who have come to this country to find a better life.

I will know that we have truly arrived when I see a Fourth of July celebration at an Islamic Center.  I doubt that there will be any barbeque pork, but we could still have some beef ribs and chicken. I would even enjoy some falafel and taboule in celebration of our national holiday.



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Three Voices You Need to Hear

It can be frustrating living with a progressive mindset in a state where Republicans and Tea Party activists seem to hold sway. It is even more frustrating when I realize that most of the Republicans in my state are former “Dixiecrat” sympathizers. I’d much rather be contending with the old genuine-article Republicans like we saw in Gerald Ford, Everett Dirkson, Howard Baker, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and, yes even Richard Nixon.

When I see so many of my hard-working peers consistently voting against their own self interest because all they want is “no taxes and less government,” and when I hear of the Tea Party movement in Oklahoma wanting to form their own militia to “protect them from the government,” my frustration level increases. Yet as frustrating as it can get, I can say that it is not dark yet. When I see one of those bumper stickers that proclaims “Another bright blue dot in a really red state” I know there is hope.

There are other reasons for me to be assured that it is not dark yet. This week I read three voices of hope that I want to share with you – two from right here in Alabama. The first is Philip Watts, whose letter to the editor in The Birmingham News appeared Tuesday. My state legislatue recently rejected a proposal that would remove state sales tax from groceries. Alabama’s tax structure places an inordinate burden on the poor and the working poor. Mr. Watts’ letter states very effectively how faith should be at work in the market place, and how a state full of church goers can’t seem to hear the words of Jesus. (To see Mr. Watts’ letter, click on the link, then scroll down to the second letter.)

The second voice is that of public school teacher, Lynne Wilbanks. Ms. Wilbanks’ editorial, “Why I Don’t Hate My Government,” appeared in the Sunday edition of The Birmingham News. She enumerates all the benefits she receives by paying taxes. These benefits include food safety, water and air quality, air travel safety, and a social safety net. Click here to read her article. It is a wonderful, sane voice.

Jim Burklo, in his blog, Musings, made an entry last week, “The Blessings of Taxes.” He, much like Ms. Wilbanks, celebrates his privilege as an American citizen to pay taxes and to receive such benefits in return. Take a quick visit to his blog and read his entry. When will more people understand that we have a great gift in our democracy, even when our particular candidate is not elected? When will we realize that it is patriotic to support our country by paying taxes? Admittedly, there must always be give and take and debate, but when will we recognize that to have a country that works, we must all work together?



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