/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

<God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her. Through the night with the light from above

You cannot understand the burger mentality until you understand American Civic/Civil religion, a form of religious nationalism that is parallel to Christianity and operates as a (ironically, arguably idolatrous) form of pseudo-religion or pseudo-Christianity. Rural burgers believe in American civil religion to their CORE, not the educated urbanites I mean the “real” america, the anglo rural "christian" boomers of the 90% of burgerland that isn’t major metropolitan areas, the so called “hinterland”.

>assumes the existence of a vague, generic “God” and a belief that the United States has a special god-appointed role to play by saving the world by spreading “liberty” and american style “democracy” and capitalism around the world.
>has its own values, beliefs, rituals, and holidays parallel to christian holidays
>puritans who fled from europe for religious “liberty” are like the hebrews who fled from Egypt
>America is the “new promised land”. God had lead them across the ocean and given them the land of the natives, just as God led the Hebrews through the desert and given them the land of the Canaanites.
>Manifest destiny – this is their fate that is willed by god and MANIFEST(clear and obvious)
>Puritans believed God had put them there to be a shining city on a hill, a new Jerusalem, bringing their European way of life and protestant beliefs to the native pagans.
>American revolution produced a founder, a Moses-like figure in George Washington
>Prophets – men like Thomas Jefferson and Tom Paine
>Apostles – John Adams, Ben Franklin
>Martyrs – Victims of the Boston Massacre, Nathan Hale
>A “Judas” like traitor – Benedict Arnold, who defected to the British.
>Sacred places like Valley Forge
>Sacred rituals like raising the liberty “tree” (pole)
>Sacred symbols like the Liberty Bell, and the ‘Stars and Stripes’
>Sacred times, holidays like fourth of July.
>Divinely inspired holy scripture, the declaration of independence and the constitution
>National Shrines like the national archive building in Washington which preserves and displays the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the bill of rights.
>George Washington urged the Constitution be “sacredly maintained”.
>James Madison wanted citizens to “venerate” the constitution.

Abraham Lincoln was like a prophet, speaking the truth to the people in a time of crisis, calling on the nation to repent of their sins. In this case secession and slavery, and to live up to “authentic” american ideals.

Reagan was more the high priest, singing the praises of the nation and reminding everyone of the nation’s God-given mission to be a shining city on a hill for all the world to see and imitate.

As a Baptist, Bill Clinton invoked the name of God more than any of them, and like most presidents he used the language a pastor might use when preaching to his congregation. Barrack Obama did the same, invoking the name of God in every speech, consistently portraying the American nation as a people unified by a shared belief in the “American Creed” aka classical liberal ideology. Social contract, assenting to the American creed is like entering into a “covenant”.

America is God’s chosen people, at one point it was Israel and now it’s America’s responsibility to be a light to the nations. In this sense it makes perfect sense why Israel and burgerstan have such an affinity because they have extremely similar settler colonial religious mythologies.

America is an exceptional nation, America has been anointed by God to promote and protect freedom (read: Capitalism and bourgeois democracy) around the globe. This is why terrorism against America must be punished, the reason the united states not only should, but has a responsibility to be the “worlds policeman”. “Isolationism” is a sinful heresy. The president’s authority is from God. Civil authorities including the presidents rule in God’s name, and their decisions and actions should reflect that fact – they must be ‘Godly’ people. And the governed must take the god given authority of presidents seriously and owe them our loyalty and obedience. Justice cannot only be based on laws, it must also come from religion. There is a significant and close link made between America, justice, and the coming kingdom of God – perhaps America is the kingdom of God. God can be known through the experiences of the American people, just as God was once revealed and known through the history of the people of Israel, today God is being known and revealed through the history of the United States, because God’s hand is guiding the nations course, and it’s fate. Holidays like the fourth of July are religious as well as patriotic. Veterans day, thanksgiving, etc. “God bless America” - God blesses America, not England, France, Egypt, etc. because America has been singled out for special blessing. America is God’s chosen people.

Civic religion has Saints like Betsy Ross and Davey Crockett, to General Douglass MacArthur, and even Steve Jobs. The greatest saints of all are the martyrs, those who died defending/promoting “the faith” aka civic religion. From east to west the country is filled with shrines, parks, and statues of soldiers.

Civic religion has its heretics as well. Beginning with Benedict Arnold, and including all those who refuse to conform or participate, whether they be Communists, or pacifists like Dorothy Day.

Research shows college graduates and political/religious liberals tend to be less civil religious. Religions that were created in the United States like Mormons and Pentecostals, are the most civil religious. Jews, Unitarians, and agnostics/atheists are the least. But overall the vast majority of Americans of any background are “civil religious”.

Idolatry

So-called “Christian” nationalism isn’t really even christian, its just a roided out, souped up version of American civic religion with a pseudo-christian veneer. Idolatry isn’t just worshipping a Golden cow, its not about beliefs its about behavior, directing energy and loyalty away from God to a non God secular person or thing.

In the first book of Samuel, the Israelites demand Samuel choose and appoint a king for them. They want a king like all the other nations. In response, God equates their request for a king with serving other gods, because by demanding a human king the Israelites have rejected God from being king over them. Jesus preached the coming of the kingdom of God, exactly what the Israelites in Samuel’s day rejected.

Isaiah accused the Israelites of putting their faith in horses and chariots, in military might instead of God. Faith in military might, material goods, etc. is misplaced energy, loyalty, and trust, which is a form of idolatry. When any non god thing takes the place of God, that is idolatry, which is exactly what the legions of evangelical-schizos are doing when they are raising their hands in a worshipful way the same as they do in church, but at a Trump rally. They are making one guy, their king, and putting him in front of God, an idol. If they had half a brain to even understand their religion they would realize that Christian nationalism isn’t christian and in some sense ironically is actually anti christian.

This isn't surprising to anyone who knows the history of evangelical Protestantism which was largely founded/popularized by lay preachers, sometimes who would roll around on the ground "holy rollers" and speak in tongues, traveling religious revivalists, and in some cases literal illiterates, all of whom would invent their own homebrew version of christianity that would run roughshod over any kind of scholarship on the bible in favor of "doing their own research" and adopting extremely literal interpretations as a result. It's basically the Rastafarianism of 19th century white Americans, combining normal christianity with their own made up bullshit and vulgar uninformed readings because they didn't trust the "educated" theologians.