It is interesting to observe that conservative Christians, who almost gleefully proclaim and catalog the sinful nature of human beings on an individual level, simultaneously insist on an uncritical celebration of the perfection and glory of the USA, its founders and its history.
The Judeo-Christian world focuses heavily on sin. Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden and the rest of us have enthusiastically continued the trend. Christian theology interprets Jesus as our savior from sin, sacrificing himself on the cross so that all of us are redeemed. If we accept Jesus as our savior then it seems that our sin is forgiven.
In Christian churches we talk a lot about sin and confess our sins routinely. We strive to overcome our sinful natures, but we acknowledge that this is not possible and therefore seek the forgiveness of God and the redemption that comes from Jesus’s sacrifice.
With all this sin afoot, it seems miraculous that our nation, composed throughout its history entirely of sinful creatures, should be so perfect and noble in every way! Our founders crafted a perfect constitution and set of laws that need absolutely no modifications or adaptations.
Every one of our conflicts and wars was a noble and selfless cause that furthered God’s plan for the world. Our conquest and development of the land was a God-inspired expression of the manifest destiny of Christian liberty, innovation and commerce! No other nation in the history of the world has been so successful at overcoming greed, vanity, arrogance, avarice, envy and hunger for power as the USA!
Something doesn’t add up here. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t endlessly bemoan the sinful nature of humankind and then pretend that somehow the USA has been more or less flawless in its rise as an empire and world power.
I understand that the pendulum of critical and revisionist history can swing too far in its perception of historical wrongs. I understand that it is nice to have historical figures that one looks up to and a certain level of pride in a nation’s accomplishments.
But our national egotism has become an obsession and it deserves to be taken down a notch or two. Human history has its glorious moments, but it is on average a slow, tortuous climb toward the sun with many a misstep. We must learn from history to avoid repeating the horrors of the past. And we do ourselves no favors by idealizing either our forefathers or their actions. They were no worse than us, but also no better.
The USA is merely another powerful empire in the long history of this world. It is driven primarily by self-interest, as all nations have been and still are today. It is certainly no more ‘evil’ or imperialistic than any other empire or nation. But it is also no paragon of virtue.
It is human nature to want to feel special. Since our country’s founding many of us have succumbed to the temptation of believing that we are God’s chosen land and people, with all the moral superiority and special purpose that implies. We do have a special purpose, but as world citizens not just as Americans. All of us share this special purpose – to build a better world.
No comments:
Post a Comment