Pride of the USA

Disclaimer: I am NOT a political scientist, sociologist, or economist, so I really don’t know what I’m talking about. I am a dabbler. And I’m a children’s Bible teacher… without technology. Anyone who knows anything about the above mentioned fields should proceed with huge amounts of grace. And please do tell me where I’m off base. Seriously.

The collective voice of the United States of America’s elite might be more like God’s than that of any powerful nation since Israel’s united kingdom under the great king David. Especially the democrats. Especially the ones on the coasts. Our founding fathers did a brilliant job of balancing power in the government and creating a constitution that provided its citizens the freedom of movement and creativity, thus promoting growth and maturity. Therefore, humanity in the United States is becoming more like the most perfect being we can imagine, which is God. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, Pagans, Agnostics, and Atheists alike, are developing toward this ideal. Here’s how I see it…

A trillion years ago, God creates humankind to be a reflection of Him (oh, and I’m not a scientist, either). He created us in His image, and breathed His life into us, as stewards of His good world. We, however, didn’t want to be stewards. We wanted to be owners. We got it into our heads that we were capable of ruling ourselves. So we separated ourselves from the Creator-steward relationship we’d had with God. We’ve tried independence, and we’ve done a really sucky job. Sure, there have been bright lights of human goodness every now and again, but as a whole, we’ve bombed. I can think of very, very, very few exceptions to the rule that I learned in my political science classes: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Powerful groups of people exploit weaker groups to their own advantage. Almost always. Still, though, there’s something deep inside of us that knows this can’t be right. Like seedlings growing toward the sun, we reach toward goodness, selflessness, and love, despite our natural tendency to be selfish and tyrannical. We all desperately want to be good. And in the US, I think this acknowledgement of the evil of selfish power, and the desire to be good, to be the kinds of people that we somehow know we were meant to be, has somehow been able to grow.

Dressing down, producing good art, and theorizing about human goodness are all luxuries of the privileged. Dr. Richard Allen Farmer is the best dressed man I’ve ever known. He is also black. I remember him telling us that a white man is automatically taken seriously. But a black man always has to begin relationships by proving his legitimacy. I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon in Paraguay. Women tend to be very conscious of their appearance. They show their social standing through their make-up and dress. I, however, have nothing to prove. I’m a North American. I’m rich. Everyone knows it. So I can dress however I like while maintaining my respectability (I think… maybe not! J ). I think I might have been in a world history class when I learned that the level of cultural advancement can be measured by a people’s art. When they get beyond having to spend all of their energy on the necessities of life, time is freed up for creative pursuits. I wonder if a similar statement could be made about human goodness. When you know you don’t have to beat your neighbor to the store to get the last loaf of bread, you are a little more free to consider sharing as a means to making the world a better place. Typically, it’s not the poor peasants who have created the philosophical theories that have shaped political process. It’s been university students that have called for change. University students are among the privileged.

The balance of power, constitutional freedom, and material wealth have allowed citizens of the United States of America the luxury of thinking about, and growing toward their ideal. And I think they’re really close to achieving it. The universities in the US are calling for social change. They’re basically full of political lefties who think that we should use our power to help the less fortunate. They are championing the poor. I think this sentiment is from God. They reject power that exploits the masses for the benefit of a few, including them. They call for freedom. That’s from God, too. Jesus said that He came to provide freedom for the captives and good news for the oppressed. We want to care for the poor. So does God. We want to care for the environment. So does God. We want peace in the Middle East. So does God. We want freedom. And we realize that it’s not happening. We are trying to make it happen. We instinctively know that it should. We’re trying so hard. And we’re disillusioned because we see how messed up we still are. We oscellate between hope and despair. We all echo the cry of Ray Lamontagne, “How come? How come I can’t tell the free world from a living hell? How come?” We know that our freedom shouldn’t cause suffering on the other side of the world. “How come all I see is a child of God in misery? How come?” We know it shouldn’t be this way. And we’re committed to change. But how? Nothing is working. “It’s just man killing man killing man killing man killing man killing man. I don’t understand! How come?”

Sometimes we like to turn up Josh Ritter because there’s something in his anger that soothes our own. We join him in his accusations, “If God’s up there he’s in a cold dark room. The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons. He bent down and made the world in seven days. And since then He’s been walking away… if what’s loosed on earth will be loosed up on high, it’s a hell of a heaven we must go to when we die… ” We know something is wrong. Most of the suffering also know that something is wrong, but they’re not in the position to question it or consider affecting change. We, however, in the United States, know that something is wrong, and we feel responsibility to grow toward that light of our ideal, that all might live fulfilled and free. In this desire, we are a lot like God, minus the ability to bring it about, of course.

Our big Achiles’ heel, though, besides the roots that stubbornly dig down to secure our own comfort, pleasure, and position, is that age-old issue of independence. We were not created to be owners. We are not smart enough. We were created to be intelligent, but accountable stewards. None of us knows everything. Even the most intelligent of scientists study to discover that which they do not know. Through the middle ages, church leaders abused their power to manipulate and silence the masses. They intentionally kept them in ignorance. In response, we rose and claimed the right to direct our own destinies, rejecting submission to our human lords of knowledge. Like our commitment to securing a better future for collective humanity, this was like God. But we took it farther, submitting to no power, neither human nor divine, setting ourselves up as little individual gods of our own universe. And this has put us at odds with God, the Ideal with whom we have so much else in common. We have become like Him, because we were created to be like Him. But our insistence that we stand on equal footing will be our destruction. Throughout history, He has been faithful to His word, opposing the proud and giving grace to the humble. Let us take heed and submit ourselves to the benevolent but absolute authority of our God, the Creator and Owner of the heavens and the earth. If we refuse to acknowledge Him, we will bring our own destruction, no matter how godly we may become.