(final thoughts) On America
In what seems like a previous life, I was a red blooded patriot, after September 11th I wanted to join the military (I was, of course, too young, and am thankful that I didn’t). I lauded at a friend that said he would never join the military, I told him I thought he was a coward, I cringed when I heard that someone actually voted against the war in Afghanistan. I would have voted for GW Bush again and again and again. I fully supported the War in Iraq and joined in the calling of those who didn’t cowards and terrible Americans.
A lot has changed.
This is the third post I have put on this topic, and it will be the last (for a while). I got into a brief twitter discussion with a friend this morning/afternoon and I wanted to address the issue one final time for clarity.
The first question he asked was what my definition of allegiance was. A good question, so let me clarify: Allegiance, from the Apple Dictionary: (as a loyal mac user, the Apple Dictionary is my first choice in dictionaries)
loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause
One could look at this rather innocuously and see that in theory it may not be a terrible thing, but to extrapolate this out the system becomes untenable in relation to Christianity, perhaps even in relation to America itself.
If we are to believe that we should swear fealty to America because of a passage such as Romans 13 (which commands us to obey the law, but does not say anything about swearing oaths or pledging allegiance to the empire) then this must be expanded to every Christian everywhere. That would include Christians living in countries like North Korea, China, and Iran. Please, if you’re going to use Romans 13 to tell me that I should be ok with swearing allegiance to my native country, then by all means express that same sentiment to Christians in those countries. (Apologies here to those that are not fans of Kant, and don’t appreciate my using his argument)
Another point made by my friend was that we swear allegiance to our husbands/wives. At first blush I would say that two equate allegiance to a system w/ allegiance to a person would be an unwise comparison, but that comparison is one we’re essentially making anyways in stating that God is a person/being, and not a system. Of course I would equate God as larger than simply being defined as a person or even a system, I would really equate God as being larger than a definition. Since that is not conducive to the argument at hand, we’ll work from the matrix of God as person.
Thus the question is can one swear allegiance to both a god and a human? An interesting question because, at times, I’m likely to say that I would cast aside a god for my wife, and of course at other times I would say I’m willing to cast aside a god for many things. The first question to mind is, do we really swear allegiance (According to the above definition) to another human? I certainly hope that my wife doesn’t swear allegiance to me, nor do I swear allegiance to her. I don’t view myself as superior nor do I view her as such, instead we’re to be equal, not with one lording the other. To bring a true Christian ethic to all relationships they would need to be viewed this way, as neither superior to the other.
With God, however, I will acknowledge a superior/subordinate relationship, and thus allegiance, but perhaps we need better terminology for our interpersonal relationships than to simply say allegiance.
One final note on this particular aspect: If we do indeed compare our allegiance on an interpersonal level with our allegiance to the US (or any nation), the question must be raised as to what happens when the other party becomes abusive or unfaithful? If we swear our allegiance to the US and it betrays our love by murdering in our name, what then? If it hurts us by propagating a path that is going to mean consequences for our children, what then? If the object of our allegiance acts violently towards others, what then? To quote Hauerwas
And when they do that, you exactly betray – at least, as Christians – what we should have learned through the Cross: that the attempt to make life meaningful, even life that has died, through further violence, is absolutely futile.
So, even if it’s ok to swear allegiance to a country and God, I could never, on Christian standing, swear allegiance to this country. It’s bloodstained and dirty, it’s consumeristic, it’s oppressive to the “least of these”. When you can get arrested for taking care of the “least of these” then you’re not in a country worthy of allegiance.
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As I was typing out this blog post, I received a comment on my previous post that warrants a response. I’m not going to quote the comment in full here, but please do take the time to read it (that entire commenting thread is rather interesting, if you have a few minutes to spare I’d recommend reading through all of it). Chad Holtz also addresses the comment, here, but there are two points I’d like to take a moment to respond to, if only in passing. Both come from the last paragraph, quoted here:
In regard to your first point, I tend to agree. I also think its a little awkward for churches to hold Independence Day services. However, I think you’re throwing out the kitty with litter box when you vow not to say the pledge at all. Just behave appropriately in the circumstances God placed you. You may think the pledge is silly (as I do), but you’re behaving like a whiny middle school girl if you refuse to say it in all circumstances.
First off, I highly doubt Paul would go around stating “Just sing the anthem of the Empire if you’re at a gladiatorial bout. Everyone else is doing it, so it’s OK”. I’m quite sure Christians were killed for their resistance to doing such things.
My second objection has nothing to do with the substance of your argument, instead it’s with the statement “whiny middle school girl”. I could care less about the ad personam, but I must protest at your usage of the word “girl”. You betray a rather patriarchal outlook, and a lack of political correctness that is unfortunately prevalent in evangelical circles. While I acknowledge that, in blogging, I open my domain up to such attitudes, I will call them out when I see them, hopefully to the benefit of all parties involved.
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