In keeping with the new idea of where the editors want to go with DTL, I decided to write a book review this time. Maybe I reference the book more than review it, maybe this is more of a cultural critique than a book review, but it is the current state of a part of “Christian culture” from my point of view. It doesn’t have anything to do with music, but it does have everything to do with Christianity, and the current state of affairs in the United States. The opinions expressed here are my own. Most people, myself included, are picky about what online sources we do or do not trust. We live in the era of “fake news”, a term that is now branded into our psyche by the current President in office. Most mainstream news sources are not fake, they are biased, and there is a vast difference. I have included a few links at the end to some articles that I referenced online while reading, maybe you want to check them out as well. I tried to only include what I consider to be pretty neutral news sources. Do your own research, do your own reading, and come to your own conclusions. I’m not stumping a party, a platform or a President. The Scripture quoted is from the New American Standard translation, but pick your own translation, there’s plenty of them out there.
While I usually enjoy interviewing musicians and reviewing albums, my time is spent reading quite a bit as well. The intersection of what Christ taught and current politics is always something on my radar and in my mind. I came across a book that I thought was really good, and it lay out in detail a historical look at imperialism through the lens of biblical history. It pits the realities of imperialism against the theology and teachings of Christ. The book is If Not Empire, What? A Survey of the Bible. According to their website, “It was written by John Stoner and Berry Friesen, both of whom live in communities strongly influenced by the Amish and Mennonites of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.” I tried to contact the authors to just ask a couple of basic questions, but the book was written in 2014 and the contact form comes back invalid. According to the website, one of the reasons for this book was, “Because the empire that runs the world now–we mean the wealthy global elite that impose their control through massive military, economic, technological, media and ideological power–is taking Earth and most of its inhabitants toward a homicidal and catastrophic future. The direction of life on Earth is being charted by “blind guides,” to use a biblical metaphor. We must act if want a better future, but before we can act, we must deal with our own blindness and find a common language. Biblical texts can help us with that.”
The book takes the reader on a historical journey through each book of the Bible, Old and New Testament, and contrasts empires against the teachings of God and Christ. This book came at a time where I was reading a great deal about the Israeli domination of the indigenous Pakistani people, and I was trying to understand why Christians seem so quick to defend Israel at all costs, regardless of what Christ taught, and many times in direct opposition to biblical teachings. This book was by no means an end all to my questions, but it is a great read and I think it breaks down the subject matter well.
I don’t know that most people think of the United States in terms of an “empire,” and I don’t believe that most people think the US as an imperialist country either, or at least not the people I have talked with. I believe that it is an empire, and imperialism is what builds empires. Just as imperialism builds empire, war is what facilitates imperialism. I also believe that the teachings of Christ are in direct opposition to empires, so the subject of how Christians can support a system in direct conflict with faith in Christ is of interest to me. How can Christians support preemptive wars of aggression? I’m not talking about self defense here either, I’m specifically referencing the current multiple wars in the middle east, but the US has around 800 military bases in 177 countries around the world.
This country has been around for 241 years; we have been at war for 224 of those years. The US loves war, the first war ever waged was against US citizens, by Washington and Hamilton (President and Treasury). War builds economies, war is business. The US has not gone a solid decade without being at war – think about that for a minute. It isn’t about homeland protection or about the War on Terrorism either. The United States spends more on defense than next 8 countries combined. That means while the US spends $611 billion on defense, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the UK, Japan and Germany spend $595 billion combined. That is what we call our military defense budget, only thing about that is that we aren’t defending anything.
We haven’t been attacked by another country since 9/11, and we never went after those involved. Why do we live in a country that spends $611 billion on defense, but we can’t have healthcare or feed the poor? Why does this country wage a 16 year war in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda, and at the same time arm ‘moderate rebels’, otherwise known as Al-Qaeda, in Syria? Why does the US cut the largest arms deal in history to Saudi Arabia, a country who has the worst human rights violations around the world? Saudi Arabia, ally to the West, a country that also lives under the boot of a religious law, where the patriarchy dominates, where they execute rape victims, a country that is a favorite of Trump and Obama equally. We live in the age of the United States of Imperialism. That is what the US does, and has always done. Invade another country, prop up a government, put in a central bank and military bases, and then we move on to the next country. Prove me wrong. Websters defines imperialism as “the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly : the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence.” That is the United States in a nutshell. It doesn’t matter who is running the country either, right or left, they are bombing, killing, looting and destroying countries and communities, stealing natural resources and waging a war of media and truth against their own citizens in an attempt to garner support for the next conquest. That is where religion comes in. God and country are a support system for war, and that makes me question both.
Our politics and our religions have been blurred for a long time. I would say at this point in history it is safe to say that Christians believe Christianity is the state religion of the west. Just look at the current President in office, how many times have you heard “Trump’s not a man of God, but he’s God’s man for this time.” Really? What a garbage argument that is? If that isn’t ridiculous enough, I have also heard, “Well, King David was guilty of murder and God still called him a man after His own heart.” Am I the only one that sees a huge problem with that argument? Is that what scripture has become? The supposedly infallible word of God has become the measuring stick and justification for overlooking a multitude of egregious, immoral, and reprehensible acts? We swear by politicians who awkwardly try to repeat Bible versus in an attempt to convince the electorate. They quote scripture for every law they pass or bill they write as if scripture is some end all winner that dictates the whims of madmen. They keep the right fighting the left over abortion and gay rights primarily, but they leave plenty of arguments for war, welfare cuts, entitlement cuts and military defense to keep the waters muddy. Our politicians and pastors use scripture to defend the systematic white supremacy that permeates every law and statute in this country, and then the blame the race issue on a ‘spiritual’ vacuum in whatever non-white community they are referencing at the time.
Modern day Christianity in the West is a ruse, an arm of political conquest. The marriage of politics and Christianity is actually against everything that the person of Christ spoke about. The rule of Christ, and the rule of men, are in conflict with each other. They are antithetical to each other. They do not peacefully coexist in any realm.
The politics of the West have been co-opting and defining Christianity for decades now, and at this stage of the game I do not think that the two are distinguishable from each other. We have Billy Graham to thank for this really, and even though he apologized for his role in the Nixon campaign, he opened up a door that has never been closed. What Graham did forever altered the way that Christianity and politics interacted, and Christians idolize this guy. (and worth a mention, he got caught at the same time ranting about the “Jewish controlled media”
What have any of these presidents done for you? What have they done to make the world a better place? Democrat or Republican, nothing but a bunch of morally bankrupt criminals that equate dropping bombs and murdering civilians as spreading peace and liberty. Presidents sell war. Trump is selling you United States imperialism, just as Obama did, and just as every president in the past has done. What have the religious leaders done for you? What have they done to make the world a better place? The Pope is a political figure, he talks of building bridges and ending poverty and war while holding a solid gold cross, sitting on a throne behind the four giant walls of his Vatican City, while pedophilia still runs rampant and unchecked. The Joel Osteen’s and TD Jake’s of the world line their pockets as they navigate the tightrope act between pastor and TV celebrity. The John Hagee, Falwell and Pat Robertson’s of the world sell us tickets to the latest war on brown people, LGBTQ people, and woman rights activists. The Franklin Grahams of the world are a disgusting display of nationalism and hate, promoting policy and capitalism at all costs.
I think most Christians can agree on the basic notion that what Christ did was to come and show people a different way, a better way, a way out of the systems of this world. He preached – and demonstrated – reliance upon another Kingdom, a Kingdom that He said we could have here on earth. That is basic, simple… where along the way did Christians decide to appeal to the very system that Christ was against? We petition politicians, we beg for laws, we literally beg for the system to protect us, protect our rights, protect our borders, we consent with our votes, we pledge allegiance to a flag thereby swearing in support everything done under the colors of a cloth… the same system we petition is the one that Christ lived against. How do laws of men bring about the plans of a God? Laws do not grant freedoms, rights are not given they are inherent, laws do not change the morals or the hearts of people, and in the Kingdom Christ spoke of, the Constitution isn’t worth the hemp that it was written on. What does God think of kings and rulers?
1 Samuel 8 7-18
The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
Warning concerning a King
So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a good time to me. Our politicians and our leaders got us to this place. They have us believing one side of the political aisle is moral, and the other side is reprehensible. You can choose your side, it doesn’t matter. They have us believing “party over anything” is what matters; and they have us supporting – even begging for – laws and mandates that are destroying people. We inscribe Bible verses on the barrels of weapons of war that our military uses, as the statists and nationalists whip us into a frenzied war of religions. Christianity, the religion of love, engraved down the barrels of guns.
The problem is multi faceted, but the answer seems easier. Either you believe in the kingdom of Christ and what he taught, or you serve your master ‘God and country’. In my estimation, you can’t serve both. Both require your consent, both require that you pledge/swear allegiance to them, and the two are incompatible with each other. If you believe the Bible to be true, how can you swear allegiance to anything but Christ? Our morals have become wrapped up in a system that is impervious to morality. We are using our religion to justify crimes against humanity, but in reality, hasn’t it always been this way as well?
The idea of the United States being an imperialist country is not a stretch. I think it’s obvious in this day and age. We’ve been at war so long that it has become a normal part of life in the US: we don’t question dropping bombs anymore. Under Bush the anti-war movement was huge, under Obama it disappeared, and Obama advanced Bush’s criminal policies. The left and the right wing in this country are both war mongers, supported by the military industrial complex – all are guilty of war crimes and murder.
There is no defense for that. There is no justification for “collateral damage,” and Obama’s drone wars have murdered innocent people continuously for years on end. That hasn’t stopped under Trump either, it’s only getting worse.
The right and left in this country have a lot to say about abortion, but both parties are actively engaging in murdering innocent children, women and men in other countries without regard and with no justification. Ever wonder where terrorists come from? I’m pretty sure killing innocent people in record numbers in other countries has something to do with it. Our politics and religions make too many excuses for things that are highly disturbing, and things that we all know are wrong.
Our politics are destroying our fellow woman and men. The United States has become an imperialist power that has one goal: to maintain its supremacy across the globe. There are no honorable intentions in our conquest of the globe, there is no such thing as fighting “them” over there so we don’t have to fight “them” here. Our military is not about protection, it is about conquest, and you have more chance of being killed by lightning or winning the lottery than you do of being killed by a terrorist. The War against Terrorism is actually a war against civilians, with the end goal being the acquisition of natural resources from other countries. The War on Terror makes about as much sense as the failed War on Drugs.
My conclusion to the whole thing is that we have been played. We have been lied to by our political and religious leaders. We are complicit in destruction when we endorse a system that subjugates, enslaves and decimates countries and people around the world. We are being lied to, we are busy fighting each other over the left or the right, Republicans or Democrats, Libertarians or Green Party candidates, meanwhile both sides are playing the war game, both sides are propped up by corporate cash and Wall Street. There is justification in self defense, but that is not the business the US is in. War does not bring freedom, war brings death and destruction to people, people just like you and I who are living in the communities and the countries where we were born. Stop screaming about aborted babies when you support murdering children in other countries. Abortions have been decreasing for a long time, but murdering humans in other countries is still on the rise… rapidly.
We can keep arguing about left and right in this country, it’s a great distraction from the reality we are wrapped up in. The Obama administration dropped over 26,000 bombs in 2016 alone, yet I still see Obama peace sign bumper stickers on cars all over town. Obama was a Nobel peace prize winner, who has the dubious distinction of bombing another Nobel peace prize winner, a Doctors Without Borders hospital. Obama deported more immigrants than any president in history, Trump will outdo Obama for sure, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that liberals are any more compassionate than conservatives, they aren’t.
Both progressive and conservative politicians answer to the same boss. Money calls the shots and writes the laws. While we shop, ring up debt, vote and spend our days at work, in other countries daily life consists of when will the next US bomb fall from the sky?
Laws don’t grant freedom, rights cannot be given to you they are inherent, politicians please the corporations, flags divide, borders subjugate, war creates terrorism, mutual aid is beneficial, capitalism hangs a dollar sign on everything, voting in a new despot changes nothing, direct action gets the goods… Jesus spoke of freedom, modern Christianity gives you religion, countries promote nationalism, kingdom includes all.
- U.S. Military Personnel Deployments by Country
- U.S. Department of Defense
- U.S. Defense Spending Compared to Other Countries
- Q & A: Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals
- Billy Graham Apologizes to Jews For His Remarks on Nixon Tapes
- U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret ‘Jesus’ Bible Codes
- CDCs Abortion Surveillance System FAQs
If you want to get the book, you can get the PDF for free.
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