I am not an American. I live here in Texas, but am well and truly British, and as such have had the benefit and opportunity to view the world through a few different cultural windows.
America has a lot of good stuff going for it - the economy (believe it or not), pretty good family values, and Christian heritage and roots, but within the Texas Christianity there are some troubling additions. Last sunday was memorial day, and as I have often done before on patriotic holidays, I listened to a sermon which aligned Americas will and Gods will, which said America was fighting for our freedom in the same way Christ died for our freedom.
I don't think I agree. Coming from a nation with a history of invading other countries and being generally mean, I don't claim that Britain is any better, but I certainly dont claim that our armies, or the armies of any nation, fight for and/or represent Gods will.
I am growing more and more to think that blind patriotism has no place in the pulpit. I think we should be proud of our faith and religion, but we cannot align being christian with being American, just as we can't align being Arab with being muslim. We're all people, and as Christians are part of a movement which makes all nationality irrelevant - Christianity.
In his book irresistible revolution, Shane Claiborne says "A troubling sign I've seen is a red blue and white t-shirt that says 'jesUSAves', with emphasis on the USA". We cannot know for sure the motives of those in high government who send the troops out to fight, whether they are defending their homeland, or spreading their own agendas. We cannot know if the armies are protecting the interests of their nation, or trying to enforce their nations ideology on another country, and so is it right to hold the armed forces in the politically correct high regard which they hold in Texas? Im not sure.
I've heard people I respect out here talk about how important the right to bear arms is, incase the government needs to overthrown by an uprising from the people, and Ive heard so many times from different pulpits that Gods will and the decisions of the American government and invasions of the American armies are somehow intertwined. To me, an outsider, this approach sounds like America dictating to God, rather than following Him, and Americans keeping a small place in their heart where they pin the colors of the American flag just a little higher than their commitment to Christ.
