I Hate to Say So, But . . .

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Musing on what constitutes political popularity makes me question the basic premise of democracy.  Question even more than I already do from knowing that demos +kratia, "the people rule" is a straight-on denial that God rules.  The latter is the totality of Jesus' teaching, "The Kingdom of God."

And when "the people rule," they clearly make their decisions and choices according to their human motives.  Human beings being what they are, we primarily "rule" by self-interest.  Ideally, American human beings are educated, both by secular schools and by their churches, to think beyond self-interest; to think of themselves as a corporate body, with mutual interests that they each have an individual responsibility to safeguard and promote.  Ideally, Americans are taught to make their local and national decisions according to the "common good."

My mother, not particularly a "thinker," considered such talk "kind of communistic."  Now that communism is pretty much a dead-letter, some people vehemently attack the ideal of a "common good" as "socialism." But it was the intent of the "founding fathers" that Americans and our government "promote the General Welfare" by common effort, putting aside some of our natural self-interest.  That is the essence of our centuries-old national motto, E Pluribus Unum.  I'm thankful that I was raised and educated in a time when unity and mutuality, both under fierce attack today from deeply evil politicians, were central to Americans' consciousness of being Americans...together.

(Lest someone object that "In God We Trust" was made America's official national motto in the 1950s...I know that.  I also know that the Democratic Congressman who wrote that legislation during the Cold War promoted it as showing America's undying opposition to "godless" communism.  That "official national motto" was intended as political self-congratulation: not really a statement of religious devotion.

Pretending America's "official national motto" shows America is a "Christian nation" is entirely political spin, since that was not its intent.  More to the spiritual point, boasting of one's godliness when one's operative reality is the opposite is simply hypocrisy.)

Thankfully, many Americans still have some of that "corporate" consciousness governing their self-interest.  Many are still aware that choices which strengthen and benefit the nation are the right choices for America.  Greater than that temporal national interest, some Christians still realize that their primary personal responsibility, and loyalty, is to always do right regards The Kingdom of God: which is itself the very definition of right-eousness.

It is hard to believe...and shows the great flaw of the human governing principle of demos kratia...that America's current president is a man whose own governing principle is naked self-interest.  "Naked," because he really doesn't try to hide it...only "spin" it.  He doesn't have to hide it, as long as his followers continue to believe his "spin."

Some of his followers are completely satisfied to accept his self-interest as the "higher purpose" by which they make their choices for America.  I don't know what to call their operative mindset except "dangerous lack of commonsense."  These are the irredeemably deluded, who perfectly fulfill the idolatrous requirement of "citizens" under the Nazis' Fuhrerprinzip: that the person, word, and will of the Leader (Fuhrer) are supreme.  That is obviously the current president's own belief, and his most devoted followers pride themselves on thinking exactly as he does.

His "Evangelical" base professes to follow him for a higher "Christian" purpose, seeing him as a "godly man," who wishes to serve God's purposes.  Obviously a great deal of self-delusion is also operative for those followers.  In the few years since he began to strut upon the scene, the current president's continual lies, arrogance, hatred, corruption, and immorality have still not shaken some "Evangelicals' " self-willed belief that he is yet a "godly man," pursuing God's (and not his own very sordid) purposes.

Since my own viewpoint on things is Christian, I particularly fault "Evangelicals" for their willful self-delusion.  Fault them most of all for ignoring the basic spiritual understanding that, since Jesus identified Himself as "The Truth" (John 14:6), following a liar is emphatically not following Jesus.

But perhaps the largest component of the current president's "base" are the folks at whom he directed his trademark slogan, "Make America Great Again."  The self-professed patriots: folks whose "higher purpose" is America, and who want America to be the greatest nation in the world.

By and large, those folks' patriotism is probably honest.  "Patriotism" is quite often just empty lip-service by politicians, or a marketing ploy of retailers, or a tool for social demagogues to short-circuit their victims' ability to think.  The current president and his slogan use it all of those ways.  But I believe that most ordinary fellow citizens...probably even many who are deceived to follow the current president...actually, in some sense, honestly love our country.  By the definition of "love," these are folks who want the best for America.

Where those "patriot" followers of the current president are deceived, however, is first that America's "greatness" is a faulty "higher purpose."  It's certainly higher than any one person's self-glorification...the foolish mistake of his Fuhrerprinzip followers.  But the national self-interest of any earthly nation is, and always will be, infinitely inferior to the Kingdom of God.

The patriots also go astray in their concept of "greatness," and how it is attained.  Almost always, by "a great nation" they mean one which possesses dominant power, and the highest "standard of living," in the world.  Looked at rightly (that is, from the Kingdom-of-God view), that kind of greatness only comes by God's gift...never by man's political machinations.

The patriots' ultimate self-deception is in believing the current president is making America "great" in any sense, even in their own wrong understanding of what "greatness" is.  A nation has power among other nations only when they respect its word and trust its intentions.  Having great military power...even nuclear weapons...only makes a nation feared, as we've seen with North Korea.

Making his own reckless inconsistency, lies, and selfishness the face of America to the world, the current president has pretty completely destroyed all the credibility and respect all previous presidents worked to give America.  Our former friends despise America: treating friends as enemies has that result.  At the same time, our president fawns over nations who wish America harm: and who undoubtedly rejoice to see the harm he does to America's world-reputation and internal stability.

No patriot could believe the current president's actions "make America great again," except with ample doses of self-delusion.

All the current president's followers indulge in massive self-delusion.  And for many, their self-delusion has proved immune to correction by reality.  It is the terminal stage of self-delusion, when one's own imaginary world becomes one's only reality.

I hate to say so, but I'll be interested to see if all those self-deceptions will remain immune to reality in the near future.  The current president has put America in trade-wars with the other nations of this continent, with the European Union, and with China.  Despite his trademark lying foolishness that "...trade wars are good, and easy to win," there are bound to be repercussions from his actions, and it's doubtful those repercussions will be "good."  They may be very bad, in very many ways, for all of America's people.

If so, we will get a glimpse of some of his supporter's true "higher purpose."  Those who follow the current president contrary to commonsense, contrary to Christ's teachings, or contrary to patriotism, may face a crisis of their delusional faith when the all-knowing, all-wise, and omnicompetent being they've worshipped does something that harms their finances.

I hate to say so: it sounds cynical, but I think it's true of many human beings: that you only see what a person really believes when their money is threatened.  Under stress, many people quickly revert to basic self-interest and self-preservation: and for many people, financial danger is the ultimate stress.  The reaction of the current president's followers to financial danger will very clearly show where their faith, and their hope of salvation, is vested.


                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Patriotism, False Patriotism

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

On this Memorial Day, with its patriotic sentiments, every person in America has a choice of patriotisms.

By patriotic, I mean what "patriotism" really means: how we truly show "love of country," when "love" means intense desire for what is good for our country.

We all know that God promises that if His people called by His Name will humble themselves, pray, seek His Face, and turn from their evil ways, He will "heal their land" (II Chronicles 7:14).  That seems to me exactly what any true patriot would desire for his country.

We also have the politicians' contrary promise: that pride, greed, contempt for "losers," a belligerent attitude toward others, and lies upon lies will "make America great again."

Why do those called by Christ's Name believe the politicians instead of God ?  When God promises His wrath against unrighteousness, why do those who know the scriptures follow the liars and ungodly who say their ways will bring God's blessing on America ?

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Patriotic Thoughts

Nobody...with the exception of God Himself... could possibly be more contemptuous than I am of "patriotism." The "patriotism" so-called: we all know it when we see it, and we see it most of all on the 4th of July. That my country does no wrong: and if it does, I vehemently SUPPORT its wrong-doing. That each and every one of my country's military people are "heroes." That mine is the greatest nation on earth: indeed, the earth's greatest nation EVER.

It's all a "higher" form of self-righteousness, self-justification, self-congratulation: egoism enlarged to encompass MY nation, MY people, MY culture. So-called "patriotism" lets me follow on MY own way, disguised (and proud) in the selflessness of devotion to a "greater good."

There's no better example than the Omaha pro-war rally N.P.R. covered in 2003, when invading Iraq was in the offing. The fans had gathered in a large outdoor sports-stadium to hear "patriotic" speakers urge war on Iraq...where the President and his Secretary of State told us Saddam Hussein was building "weapons of mass destruction" to unleash on good people (that is, ourselves)...just as he had the 9/11 hijackers. (And lest we forget, both those justifications for going to war proved to be lies.)

As the reporter described the rally with its thousands of waving flags, and spoke with participants, the crowd could be heard continually in the background roaring its "patriotic" sports-cheer: "WE'RE NUMBER ONE !!", "WE'RE NUMBER ONE !!", "WE'RE NUMBER ONE !!", "WE'RE NUMBER ONE !!".

"Patriotism," so-called. We all know it when we see it...and most times, we join in. We join in more vehemently if we harbor any suspicion it's all hollowness and deceit: such thoughts are not "patriotic." Our mouths are quite practiced at shouting down the unacceptable thoughts of our heart.

My problem with joining in is knowing what patriotism means. That's no real glory to me: just what happens with the reflective tendency God has given me to search out and ponder definitions, before pontificating (like this) about a subject. LOL.

"Patriotism" is not a hard definition: it is "love of country" (or more properly, love of one's "father-land".) Nobody can have any problem with that meaning, or fail to understand it. Our problem comes in what we (or more often, professional manipulators) make "love of country" in practice.

Rallying for war, in which the wealth and lives of one's country's people are destroyed, isn't what I call "love." Real people should at least have the wisdom of the fictional Vulcans, and wish that our friends "live long and prosper." Indeed, the nationalistic pride that masquerades as "patriotism" is usually a curse on a nation, destroying rather than blessing. Everyone's seen the pictures of Berlin in April 1945.

Jeanette Rankin had unique standing to speak to the question. Her wisdom was that "You don't win a war any more than you win an earthquake." What kind of unnatural malefactor, then, wishes an earthquake kill his neighbors and friends, and destroy their property ? Who but a psycho murders his own family and sets fire to destroy his home...and says he acted from "love" !?! But the "patriotism" of nationalistic pride asks us to accept that reasoning for war: and we do.

If those outward consequences of such "patriotism" aren't convincing enough, there are spiritual ones. We serve a God who hates pride above all else. He hates its self-congratulation and its self-worship, He hates its disdain of Himself, He hates its rebelliousness, He hates its lies, its hypocrisy, its deceit. God hates pride for opposing and denying all that He IS...and for arrogating His righteous sovereignty to itself.

Pride is the quintessential character of satan: the quintessential "enemy," in Jesus' characterization. How much more hateful to God that Man...His creature, most beloved by Him, and most dependent on Him...vaunts his feeble, dependent self in pride against the King of Glory !!

God hates man's pride with consuming hatred. We know "God opposes the proud" (James 4:6): but "oppose" doesn't begin to convey the force of the Greek antitassetai. "God sets Himself in battle array to besiege to destruction the proud" might come closer. He hates it even more (if that is possible) for vaunting itself on a superiority (personal, racial, familial, national, doesn't matter) that is arrogant vain emptiness. Walking in pride...in opposition to His great command in Micah 6:8...pits us against The One Who governs all: and ensures His implacable judgement against us. What Nazi Germany suffered at the hands of human enemies was child's-play by comparison.

I feel the "thrill of pride" everyone references when they hear the national anthem, the same as anyone else. That's O.K.: it's a natural reaction of my natural man. But it will NOT (by God's mercy) enter into my spirit and heart to poison God's life in me.

The real "love of country" is (in another well-known definition) "wishing and doing the best for" one's country. And the best for my country, or anyone else's country, is easily discerned: God's blessing...which is to say, His Presence. But He will NOT dwell with those proud in their own strength and own way. He will not bless liars, men of violence, deceivers, the unrighteous and unholy. Such are "patriots," so-called.

If we truly mean anything when we mouth the slogan "God Bless America," we must mean God humble America: God make America honest to Him: God teach America to hear Him, and (most of all) obey Him. Since none of those are encompassed in our glib "patriotism"...the greatest patriotism is to entreat God that He give America a heart of deep repentance.

Amen !