Sacred Patriotism
Arthur Miller recently said, “The religious overlay of patriotism is in fashion,” and I believe this to be absolutely true.
The evidence is clear going back to at least 1988 when George (H.W.) Bush stated that he didn’t believe atheists should be considered as patriots or as citizens. This seems to be the vocal beginnings of what I call ’sacred patriotism.’ It certainly seems as though the politico-religious fervent of America claim a sole right to patriotism. It may not be blatant or in your face all the time, but it exists.
“In the U.S., no public figure and certainly no one who wishes to enjoy popularity as a politician could risk it being said that he was a disbeliever. This would very nearly be political suicide.” – Johnathan Miller
Never has the sense of sacred patriotism been more present than in the current presidential race of 2008 where Huckabee and Obama have emerged as the front-runners for their respective parties. As David Domke and Kevin Coe explain, The God Strategy works. (If you want to find out more, they recently published a book on the subject.)
I’d like to remind people that our country was founded by people who were escaping domination from what was basically a governmental religion. They came here to breathe the free air and not have to obey a church. George Washington was a very unenthusiastic churchgoer. The presidents who followed him were considerably less than devout.
You can see their desire for separation …
“God is an essence that we know nothing of. Until this awful blasphemy is got rid of, there never will be any liberal science in the world.”
– John Adams (quoted from Ira D Cardiff’s What Great Men Think of Religion. According to Cardiff, “this awful blasphemy” that Adams refers to is the myth of the Incarnation of Christ.)
The clergy [...] believe that any portion of power confided to me [as President] will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough, too, in their opinion.”
- Thomas Jefferson (Letter to Benjamin Rush, 1800)
I have seldom met an intelligent person whose views were not narrowed and distorted by religion.”
- James Buchanan
Source:from Rufus K. Noyes, Views of Religion
“My earlier views at the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them” – Abraham Lincoln
Given the beginnings of our nation, it’s surprising that we have made such a departure from those ideals about the separation of religion from politics. With the standard set by George Bush Sr., and his belief that religion is a prerequisite for patriotism, it would be very doubtful if any of these great presidents I quoted above would have been considered for the presidency, much less voted into office today. None of those great presidents would have been given a voice at all to speak.
With this trend of sacred patriotism, I should feel uncomfortable here as an Atheist, but I don’t. Fortunately, the majority of Christians in this country aren’t radically fundamental. That doesn’t mean we can rest. We need to disconnect politics from the grasp of organized religion and move towards progress.
Another reason we can’t rest? H. res. 888 is up for a vote soon. It further blurs the line between religion and politics. read here for more. If this gets voted in, we’re one step closer to a Theocracy.
The Evasion-English Dictionary
One Response to “Sacred Patriotism”
By dystopian on Jan 5, 2008 | Reply
Personally, I see what you’re referring to as “sacred patriotism” as budding nationalism. While we’re in a *social* climate of quasi-tolerance of the Jews and the Muslims (”if we *have* to”), and “those fruity Eastern religions” the *political* climate only tolerates Christianity. It *barely* allows for Catholics.
I think it’s fair to point out that a person doesn’t have to look even a century into the past to see what a country gone mad with nationalistic ideals looks like. I’m not saying Bush is Hitler – far from it.
On one hand Hitler was the mouthpiece of the Nazi regime and, despite anyone’s personal feelings regarding the man, was an excellent orator as evidenced by his ability to rally a nation into a genocidal fervor. Bush’s lack of eloquence limits his ability to deliver a heartfelt call to arms against all the non-WASP inhabitants of the US. Unfortunately he has been able to hire staff to test the waters / sway public opinion (at a slower rate) with their own commentary .
That said, I definitely see us being on the the precipice of a new witch-hunt, and I don’t think Muslims are the only ones who ought to be afraid.