|
restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
|
Time for a New American Revolution?
For some time now I have sensed that many people claiming a Christian commitment are careening down an unmarked road. They believe the road is going somewhere, but they’re not sure where that destination is or how they will be certain when they’ve reached it. Occasionally we hear of fellow travelers who have crashed, and we wonder why they were not smart enough to keep in the lane. But the majority keeps pressing on ahead, unable to turn back but unsure of what’s ahead.
In my forthcoming book Why I Stopped Listening to Rush I seek to show how modern-day Christians can tie themselves too closely to the establishment by embracing doctrinaire political conservatism and the evils of a culture religion. The manner in which the New Right captured Christianity is a topic too vast to be explored here, but it is aptly illustrated by the capitulation of Christian America to the driving force of nationalism that is evident everywhere this Memorial Day. As Martin Niemoller, the courageous German pastor who endured eight years of imprisonment for opposing Hitler, confessed after his release: “We, that is the Church, have failed, for we knew the wrong and the right path, but we did not warn the people and allowed them to rush forward to their doom.” So it is today. As the forces of evil spread across the country, the children of God do nothing to resist this development. Perhaps one day they, too, will discover that they have fallen victim to the mounting terror and oppression until finally no one remains to speak up.
For a country that is 7 trillion dollars in debt, the United States should be Utopia. Everything should be perfect. Instead, we have the worst of both worlds—we are deeply in debt without anything to show for it except, as Mark Dankof notes:
…a $550 billion dollar Federal budget deficit; a $600 billion dollar manufacturing trade deficit; the achievement of the dubious high bar figure of $7 trillion dollars in national debt; the outsourcing of another 2.7 million jobs abroad since his inauguration in January of 2001; the carte-blanche acceptance of another 12 million illegal aliens within our boundaries; the ongoing legitimization of New World Order trade agreements like NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and PMFN for Communist China that preempt American law and sovereignty; a USA Patriot Act that destroys 4th Amendment guarantees against unlawful search and seizure by empowering Federal intelligence agencies to break into any home or business in this country without a warrant or even a consultation with a Federal judge; the continued tax subsidization of stem-cell research and Planned Parenthood abortuaries nationwide; spending increases for un-Constitutional and counterproductive Federal departments like the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts; a closer alliance with the Log Cabin Gay Republican caucus; and a preemptive military strike against a foreign nation on faulty intelligence, false pretense, and without a formal Congressional declaration of war.
Fortunately, there are signs that Christian young people are turning against the complacency that now grips and paralyzes a large segment of our society. Others may sing about an alabaster city, undimmed by human tears, but they know better. They have stopped telling themselves that everything is alright and that all the fundamentals are sound. They realize that people with a drinking problem must admit they are alcoholics before they can be cured.
The question facing the good citizens of the American Republic this day is, “Who will reject the values of materialism and the lifestyle that emphasizes power and pleasure?” Of all people, Christian young people should recognize and act on these facts and thereby help their elders to come to grips with the sin of nationalism. As I see it, the task before the Christian movement is (a) to free itself from apathy and indifference, (b) to refuse to be a part of the status quo any longer, and (c) to commit itself unreservedly to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Far too much of Christianity has become culture-bound and tied to materialism and nationalism. It is clear that our leaders, like those in Nazi Germany, are only too happy to “use” religion as a part of their national programs to whip up and maintain a high level of support for their war efforts. It is a fearful and shameful fact that Christianity was a crucial impetus in creating and sustaining the imperialism we see at work in the Middle East. If it did nothing else, the current occupation of Iraq pointed up the problem of Christian support of the status quo—in this case a degrading imposition of American style “democracy” on a nation that was never a threat to the United States.
I would like to see some altar calls in our churches for men and women who would publicly declare their commitment to a higher loyalty than the state, namely, Jesus Christ. We have tried the gimmicks, the programs, the promises of a thousand and one gurus of the faith. Why not go back to the tried and the true?
If the American people don’t stand together, putting the people in Washington back in the role of servants, then the system won’t ever be fixed. Let’s stop blaming our elected officials for failing to address these problems. They are simply reflecting our priorities as reflected in endless but accurate polls. Let’s face it: We, not our elected officials, are the real wimps.
Now is the time to stand, the time to speak! Now is the time for a new American revolution!
May 31, 2004
David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book, Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon, will be released in June.