God Bless America (needs work)

[tyrannosaurus vex]

(for Operation Spinback)

Every year during the Holiday Season there are, everywhere you look, people arguing about what Christmas really means; about where to draw the line between recognizing religious culture and enforcing it; and about what it means for traditional Americans and their beliefs to be under attack from the forces of soulless modernism. Increasingly the months from October through December are becoming a battleground with people on all sides claiming a right to something that, if you think about it, really defies ownership.

But every year, without so much as a nod to each other's right to exist, the battle rages on among the various parties with an interest in "winning" the fight. And it inevitably becomes a question of patriotism. Just what is America, anyway? Is America an oasis of fundamentalist Christianity trying to blossom in a world of cold-hearted post-modern atheism? Or is America a shining light of reason, broadcasting a message of tolerance and acceptance like a lighthouse to a world sinking ever faster in religious war and spiritual genocide? And just what did the Founders have to say about this argument?

The concept of Church versus State lies at the root of almost every argument at the forefront of American politics today. It seems that everything from abortion to public prayer to how to care for the poor hinges on a question of the States power to rule the Church or the Church's power to rule the State. And to many, it seems that the old way of answering these questions — by observing the democratic process established by our Constitution — is now failing. It is not failing because there are no answers, it is failing because those answers are wrong.

As America weathered the storms of the 20th Century, a good portion of Americans lost their faith in God. The old standby slogans that were once considered inherently American are now under attack, as more and more people wrestle with their personal definitions of right and wrong. Rather than turning immediately to the Church for their answers, and those answers being reflected in law, people are finding other sources of morality, and the Christian character of our nation has been tarnished.

While America enjoyed a century and a half of outright Christian rule, America prospered. Now beginning the 21st Century, Americans are asking a lot of questions about our spiritual direction. Still, the vast majority of Americans are strong Christians; more of us believe in Christ than in Darwin; and even if legally we are restricted from enforcing our religion on others, we have not yet lost the fact that in polite company, it is better to behave like a Christian even if you're not a believer. But who knows when that will change?

The headline of the article says "God Bless America," and once that phrase was used all the time, as a statement of fact. Today, it is said almost as a plea — God, bless America! But as we say it, are we considering just what we are asking for? Are we asking God to give America what is best for America? Or are we, selfishly, demanding that God "return" America to the Christians, as if America is something that must be owned by someone?

Christians, beware. When we begin asking for the erasure of any separation between Church and State — even if that is what we believe the Founders wanted for America — we are asking for more than recognition and equality. We are asking for more than our rights. We are demanding that we become a privileged class, owed everything by, owing nothing to the nonbelievers. Beyond that, we are losing sight of the fact that Christ Himself stated plainly that His kingdom is not of this world. We are attempting to build the Kingdom of Heaven on the backs of sinful men — and for no reason other than that we feel cheated by the turn of history away from forcing the masses to bow before a God they might not otherwise choose for themselves.

If God were to really bless America, do you think He would come down in a chariot of fire to impose morality on the heathen masses? Is that what the Declaration of Independence asks for? Or do you think that God would bind the hands of the religious opportunists and profiteers, and return America to the rule of the American People — without the interference of dogma, for better or for worse?

Requiring belief from unbelievers just to be allowed to function in society has always been the quickest way for Christians to corrupt themselves. Did Christ reform the Roman Empire? When Christians finally turned the government to Christianity, nothing changed except who was eaten by lions. Remember the fall of Rome and ask yourself if the slogan had been GOD BLESS ROME, where would the Catholic Church be today?