From: "Chris Carr" <ccarr@amigo.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 01:57:12 -0600
Subject: Pledge of Allegiance?

Greetings all.

I've never used this list before, but given the "Light a Candle," "U.S. Pride Day," and "America: The Good Neighbor" emails these past few days I can't help but feel another voice should be heard.

To what, or to whom, do you pledge allegiance? In times such as these, this is one of the questions -- among so many -- we cannot avoid asking... and answering. It is easy to claim to follow Jesus as the Prince of Peace when we are not personally threatened by violence and war. It is more difficult when the experience of most of the rest of the world lands on our doorstep (and in our living rooms, via CNN).

U.S. Senator John McCain has been quoted as having said "God may grant them mercy. We will not." There is no excuse for disciples of Jesus Christ to stand behind inflammatory rhetoric of this sort. There is no excuse for United Methodists (despite our recent relaxation of the Discipline with regard to military service), who claim war to be incompatible with the example and teachings of Christ, to fall victim to our baser nature and rally behind calls for retaliation and/or punishment. I know the slippery slope of prooftexting Scripture, but we are all familiar with what Jesus had to say about how we should live with our enemies, as well as Paul's thoughts on the extraction of vengeance.

It is in times such as these that we are called to actually live in the light of God, shunning the dark abyss of hate and destruction.
It is in times such as these that we are called to be witnesses to the reality of the life and love of Christ, even as we earnestly desire an eye for an eye.
It is in times such as these that we are called to declare our allegiance to Christ above all others, even in the face of calls to patriotism and love of country.

In our UM Hymnal's "O Young and Fearless Prophet," #444, we hear these words in the third stanza:

O help us stand unswerving against war's bloody way,
where hate and lust and falsehood hold back Christ's holy sway;
forbid false love of country that blinds us to his call,
who lifts above the nations the unity of all.

The United States is a wondrous nation in many ways. To those who can't fathom how others could hate us so much I can only point to our national practice of hoarding wealth and resources at the expense of much of the rest of the world. We answer their pleas for help with lessons in free market economics and exhortations to a Protestant work ethic, then watch them die of starvation, AIDS, and at the business end of American-supplied weapons while we check the balance of our pension plan. Hate doesn't seem quite so far-fetched when we recognize that this is how many around the world experience "the good neighbor." How then do we, in light of this sobering reality, avoid false love of country? We look to the only truth we can rely on and we embrace it with all our might. True love of country is embodied in our refusal to acquiesce to the bloodlust of our peers. True love of country is "to stand with humble courage for truth with hearts uncowed." True love of country is to share, in word and deed, the gospel of peace in a world at war.

Some might claim this to be a naive notion and that I should "get real." To this I can only point out that our denial of Christ's call to peace, a peace that passeth all understanding, is yet another way by which we show the world our hypocrisy and let the world believe there is really no difference between its ways and the ways of God's reign among us. Others would invite me, as an American citizen, to "love it or leave it." I do love my country, which is why I can do no less than to call it to a higher purpose; an eternal, salvific end. Despite claims to the contrary, the United States of America is not God's chosen nation, or even a Christian nation -- though by the grace of God it is capable of Godly acts. Still others would decry my disrespect of our brothers and sisters who so nobly serve in the armed forces. I have nothing but respect for their commitment and willingness to give up their lives for what they believe in, as well as their willingness to sacrifice their own love of peace and hatred of violence in order to protect innocent citizens by killing other human beings. My prayer for them, and for all of us, is that we would not confuse the ability to die for something with the ability to kill for it. It is idolatry of self and a betrayal of our Lord and neighbor to claim God's right (and God's alone) to avenge and punish. Jesus died to protect us all. He refused to kill for anyone.

As we prepare our sermons for this Sunday, many of us are struggling with how to proclaim a message of peace and hope without sounding trite or out of touch. Rest assured that I will not say all that I have written above from the pulpit. This is no time to beat our congregations over the head with anything. We all, clergy and laity alike, need to work through our grief and anger and newfound insecurity. My hope for all of us, however, is that we will not be complicit with worldly calls for continued violence in the face of senseless hatred and murder. Now is the time to remind all Christians everywhere that we are aligned with the only true superpower -- and it is not the United States. There are times when the way of Christ and the policies of our nation run side by side, and there are other times when they sharply diverge. When two paths diverge in the wood, which do you take? To what, or whom, do you pledge your allegiance?

Know that my prayers for all of you, for citizens of the United States, and for citizens of the world are from the heart in this time of deep personal and communal tragedy.

Yours in Christ,
Chris Carr
Meeker UMC