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The Rev. Jay Schmidt, Retired, Nebraska Annual Conference,
The United Methodist Church
Turn on religious TV or radio and you hear praises of God equally mixed with praises for nation. Today we hear church goers exalt our president as being spiritual and speaking for God. People who recently voted for him claim to have done so because of moral values. Of course these "moral values" were never defined and only now seem to be in public debate. Over the internet I received what was reported to be a sermon from a San Antonio church which stated, "It's the soldier, not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press It's the soldier, not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech…" Meanwhile estimates of Iraqi civilian casualties range from 14, 00 to 100,000. We have a quarter of a million military personnel in 153 countries (2001 figures); Chalmers Johnson in "The Sorrows of the Empire" asserts that this constitutes an empire. Our military spending runs $400 billion per year (more than the military budgets of the next fourteen nations). This administration that is said to be moral and spiritual keeps cutting funds for people programs. Without question the military is our nation's number one priority. The number of people without health insurance streaks upward by the millions. In 2004 the recent tax cuts meant an average $91 to the bottom 20% of the population but $59,292 to the top 1%. Do we hear sermons of moral self-searching about our economic inequities? Do we question our militarism? Shouldn't Christians be asking questions about our national priorities, about our national stewardship of resources, about our compassion for the needy? We are so centered on a patriotic nationalistic brand of religion that we bring our national flag into the sanctuary, our central place of worship. Why? Do we believe that God loves all people equally or do we really believe that Americans are more loved? The flag and the cross are two very separate symbols signifying two different realities. Where is our ultimate loyalty? And we should note that it is not just fundamentalist churches that are taken up in this ultra nationalism but mainline church goers as well.
Today it doesn't seem fashionable to champion causes like a living wage, ending sweat shops, universal health care and adequate funding for education; in other words issues of justice; justice is a traditional Biblical value. Just what is happening with people in our churches? Where do we get this kind of religion that is so nationalistic, so militaristic but skimpy on compassion and economic justice? To gain some perspective on our nationalistic religion let's go back in history to the religion of ancient Israel.
The Moses event has a great appeal to us. Here is adventure, drama, and the freeing of a captive people who are our ancestors in the faith. The God of Moses set the Hebrew people free. First the God of Moses brings plagues on Egypt so the Pharaoh agrees to let the Hebrews go, only later to send his army after them. Through the power of God the Hebrews are delivered at the Red Sea by a miraculous parting of the waters. Then when they have safely passed through, God causes the waters to rush back and swamp Pharaoh's forces which are overtaking them; thus Pharaoh's army is destroyed. God is responsible for intervening and destroying the lives of the Egyptian soldiers! God guides and sustains the Hebrews through the wilderness. Then we picture Moses coming down from God on Mt. Sinai with the tablets of law to guide the people as they learn to live together in community. (Of course we usually skip over the vast majority of Levitical law and center on the "ten commandments.") In all these acts God is seen as caring for them, acting for them.
The land they are to enter and have as their own after the wilderness sojourn is already occupied. It is the land of the Canaanites. (Ex.13:11) So God gives this land to the Hebrews and presumably then God must take it from the Canaanites. God is clearly the God of the Hebrews! If this One is God of the Canaanites, something very strange is happening. God must not care much for them. Obviously this YHWH God is not a universal God of love and justice.
In this way things go on more or less smoothly for some time. In Joshua we read, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites…" (Josh. 3:10ff.) So it goes through the book of Joshua. In Numbers 21:34 we read concerning the King of Og, that YHWH has pronounced, "Do not be afraid of him; for I have given him into your hand…" YHWH is a mighty power for the Hebrews and is on their side in any and every conflict. YHWH determines the outcome of battles and even commands them to go into battle as in Num. 31:1: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Avenge the Israelites on the Midianites…." And of course there is the great hero story of David slaying the giant. These are popular Biblical stories and are easy reading if you identify with the side of the Hebrews! Thus the Hebrews are chosen and favored over all other peoples. They and we too easily overlook the Biblical message that they are chosen to be a light to the nations, chosen for mission rather than for privilege.
This is a pretty comfortable religion. There is a reassuring identity here - we are God's people and God is ours. We are special and good. Of course this does lead to the stereotype of the "perfectly good saints locked in battle with perfectly evil villains." (p. 142, Captain America Complex by Robert Jewett). This is the description of a tribal god where the priests are very closely connected to the leader or king who is understood to be a religious figure i.e. the elevated place of King David. We should note in the case of David he does listen to the judgments of the prophet Na
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