Conflicted Patriotism
Due to my liberal political leanings, most people assume I’m not a very patriotic person. And, truth be told, I’m probably not. While I do tear up every time I hear Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud to be an American”, I seem to lack the traditional sense of patriotism. Sure, I’m thankful to live in a nation where I can freely worship. I’m thankful for all the leaders and soldiers who have protected that freedom. I pray for our troops all over the world who are faithfully serving our nation. And, at least I’m not Canadian! But, I’m generally not a “God Bless the U.S.A.” kind of guy. I’m more of a “God bless everyone” kind of guy.
This morning is the Sunday before Veteran’s Day. I currently serve in a very patriotic church. This morning, as I walked into the sanctuary, I viewed two enormous US flags draping the front…on each side of the cross. To be honest, I got a little sick to my stomach. It could have been the large amount of cookie dough I consumed late last night. But, when the flags are bigger than the cross, I think that ill feeling has to do with my question of “what are we worshipping?”
I know what’s going to take place during part of our worship…we’ll hear the national anthem…we’ll be invited to say the pledge of allegiance (which I won’t…because I don’t believe in pledging allegiance to any thing but God)…we’ll invite our veteran’s to stand for a moment of recognition (which I’ll participate in to thank them for their self-less service to our nation)…we’ll get that warm & fuzzy feeling and maybe even tear up because we live in God’s new chosen nation (I mean, that’s pretty much what the Christian right believes)…a Christian nation (well, depends on how you define Christian nation- if a nation with the world’s largest military and military budget equals a Christian nation then I think we have it covered).
And I’ll leave this place wondering who or what was glorified this morning. Are we here to worship God or our nation? Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.