The Christian Obama Nation

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Friend Quaker Dave writes, “We have become what it is we claim to fear.”

Rather:  We have always been and still are what we claim we hate.

And that is a people that continue to justify the torture and murder of other human beings in the name of— whatever.

If America really is a “Christian Nation” as the traditional conservative voice of religion keeps insisting, then why can’t it recognize that the United States has not— does not— uphold even the basic traditions of the truth of Jesus Christ, their founding father?  Nor does it practice his values, still so simply stated that even simpletons should be able to grok it:  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  And, “Love your enemies.”

Do Christians pretend that “Who Would Jesus Waterboard?” is just a snarky bumpersticker? or do they recognize it is the total moral indictment of our nation’s claimed Judeo-Christian heritage. It goes to the very heart of the issue—  of God’s children, which are “okay” to torture and kill?  And which are not?

The same sense of moral and spiritual outrage that comes from seeing any human beings— our brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters— murdered in war through evil means— any means— will always beg the questions:  Why do you murder them?  What part of “Love your enemies” do you not understand?

Right now, we’re still violating the most fundamental Christian principles of our “Christian” Nation by warring with two— two— two countries at once, in an especially fervent, if not protracted effort to bring the enlightenment of democracy and freedom to our dangerous neighbors, the Iraqis and Afghanis, while a number of other armed and dangerous nations are waiting in the wings and deserving of our attention.

So, how do the Christians pray?  “Lord, help us kill only those of your children that we deem necessary for our nation’s security.”?  Or perhaps, “Almighty God, help us love our enemies;  until we decide to make war on them.” Seriously??  When will Christians take their own religion seriously?  If Jesus was, in fact, as Christians say they believe, the Son of God— when will they live up to his teachings?  Another two thousand years??

In case you haven’t noticed, our nation is itself, “war-torn.”  We are reaping what we have sown— the reward for ignoring our hypocrisy in supporting eight years of Bush The War President in the pursuit of “national vengeance” and security.  In a nation that has always prided itself on living to a higher standard of national principle— superior moral and ethically sound spiritual values— our hypocrisy has begun to reek of hollow self-righteousness, as the other nations of the world watch us torture and murder our way into the twenty-first century in the name of “protecting the nation.”

We elected another Christian president, Barack Obama, as the best man to clean up after the excesses of the Bush-Cheney Cowboy Christian Diplomacy— “kill’em all and let God sort’em out,” i.e., winning through retaliatory murder, torture, death, and destruction of whomever until we achieve “victory.” This “victory” is of a nebulous form, heretofore completely mythological, but now it is centered around our retraction from The War Against Error,  with absolutely no guarantee Baghdad will see a single moment of peace past the day we leave. Still, we expect Obama to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home, but we also expect him to provide a way forward that eschews torture and murder.  Whether the values that motivate his policies are secular values, or Christian values makes very little difference;  what matters is that we live up to them in tangible, demonstrable ways for our people, and the people of the world to see.

We say our highest values are in accordance with what our Creator holds in highest value:  truth;  beauty;  and goodness.  These values continue to reverberate throughout our culture, and our collective humanity, constantly growing through comprehension of the Creator’s (best) way of doing things. We elected Barack Obama with the hope that not only could he perform the necessary presidential janitorial tasks, but also in the hope he could lead us with the best moral principles— whether informed by his personal religious faith or the highest notions of moral humanity— to guide us in taking those steps which bring about the changes— the many vital changes— that leads to a nation of peace and goodwill towards all mankind.  If that’s what you call an Obama Christian Nation, then let it be.

Murder and war differ in their status before the mores,
murder having been outlawed since the early days of society,
while war has never yet been outlawed by mankind as a whole.

—The Urantia Book