“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”— Matthew 25: 41-46
WHEN CHRIST GATHERS THE NATIONS AT THE LAST JUDGMENT, I imagine that the first thing He will say to America is, “Did you betray Me with a kiss?”
Someone once asked Mohandas Gandhi what he thought of Western Civilization, and he replied that he thought it would be a good idea. I have a similar reaction when I hear someone on my television repeat the claim that the United States is a “Christian nation.”
America likes to think of itself as a nation uniquely destined by God Almighty to establish justice in the world. Ancient Rome, the Rome of the Caesars, thought of itself the same way, but the U.S. has, from a Christian perspective, done far worse: Rome merely claimed the Pantheon of Greek/Roman religion; the U.S. claims the God of the Judeo-Christian religions. It even claims a mandate from Christ Himself.
Taking God’s name in vain covers way more than just saying, “Christ, it’s hot.” Claiming divine sanction for evil is an infinitely more grievous example of a violation of that commandment.
The pursuit of naked power by the founders and developers of this nation is a betrayal of everything Christ stood for, and a rejection of the way of the cross he modeled for us. Indians, the settlers told themselves, were savages who had no souls, and were ruthlessly uprooted and exterminated so that white people could build their “superior” civilization. This subjugation and annihilation was replicated by the other nations of the West — in fact, all across the world — and none of this was necessary.
Human beings were dragged out of West African villages, put in chains and brought in ships to be sold on our shores as slaves with no more rights than cattle — and none of this was necessary.
A war was fought at the insistence of powerful people in the North who did not want competition from slave labor to deprive them of their wealth, and powerful southerners who wanted to keep the structures of privilege that put them atop the pecking order in the old South. Hundreds of thousands were killed, cities and towns burned and obliterated — and none of this was necessary.
Europe too, postured and connived and conquered and enslaved, until, the world conquered, they turned their greed and heartlessness toward each other, the guns of August blazed, and millions fell in trenches and mud in the Abomination of Desolation that was the First World War. The guns were silenced for a time before they blazed again, this time with such utter, hellish ferocity that 60 million were dead — and none of this was necessary.
Remember too that, when all these things were done, the perpetrators claimed divine blessing for their destruction; that it was God’s will that peoples should be exterminated and children burned and millions enslaved. It was all done in the name of God Almighty.
At the Final Judgment, I fear that you and I will hear about these events. Not because we personally, directly did these things ourselves, but because none of them was necessary — all were preventable but for the echoing, yawning, icy silence from us all in the face of these manifest evils.
Christ was and is being bombed and shelled; Christ was and is being beaten and tortured and enslaved; Christ was and is burned to death in his bed, in jungles, in the arms of His Mother; Christ was and is being scourged, nailed to His Cross and His possessions divided — and we stood and stand by through the ages up until right this very instant, and cower in the face of evil and tell ourselves lies to avoid facing the agony of Him Whom we watch being crucified.
To serve any power other than God was anathema to the early Christian martyrs. They went to their crosses, to the lions, to the gladiators, bursting with joy in their hearts — and praying, as their Master showed them, for their persecutors. For centuries they went joyfully to their deaths to set an example for us, their brothers and sisters in Christ, to show us how to be worthy successors; our silence and cowardice is a betrayal of their witness.
May the God Who consoled the martyrs break our hearts. May He turn us from the pursuit and protection of worldly power and help us to accept, with peace and joy, the martyrdom that comes to those who conform their lives and wills to His.
Matt Talbot is a writer and poet, as well as an old Benicia hand. He works for a tech start-up in San Francisco.
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Excellently stated, Matt!…I always enjoy your perspective…pb
A very good, and tough, message, Matt. I often wonder, if we are supposed to be a “christian nation, how “our” Dept of Defense flies in the face of Matthew 5:43,44, when Jesus told us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” How’s that working out so far?
Thanx for your words, Matt.
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From the piece: “The guns were silenced for a time before they blazed again, this time with such utter, hellish ferocity that 60 million were dead — and none of this was necessary.”
It is indeed unfortunate that there has risen, at various times in history, forces that are nothing less than pure evil. Your reference above to WWII was the result of one of those forces of evil.
What though is the greater sin, to stand idly by in the face of evil and do nothing, or to do all within our power to stop such forces?
One can argue that the rise of Hitler was unnecessary, but I do hope an argument is not being made that the stopping of him was not a necessity.
Add Stalin also
I presume Matt’s point was that those 60 million deaths – including thousands of civilians bombed in their own cities – were not necessary to stop Hitler.
Julia stated: 60 million deaths…were not necessary to stop Hitler.
Indeed that is a true statement. But to achieve that end, after negotiations failed to do so in 1938, it likely would have required an assassination, plans for which were devised at very high levels and were justified on Christian based principles.
It is interesting to note that the assassination plans were not supported by Churchill, for unknown reasons.
For more information on this you may want to read this piece published previously in the herald:
Faith and redemption in the Garden of Evil Part I
DDL. were they Christian based principles or the common good of man principles that are not bound by religion
RKJ,
Bonhoeffer found guidance in his daily readings of scripture that led him to the conclusion that a greater good would be served by his participation in the various plans.
Yes, Part 2 was published the following week. If you go to part one you will find a link to part 2 at the end of the piece.
DDL, did you publish a part 2 of Garden of Evil?
The word in the bible is a mighty sword and it can be used in many ways. In as much as you can use it espouse peace, there are also many references to our right and duty to protect ourselves and our families.
A great many people in this country are Christian In Name Only. They practice little of Christ teachings.
Also this Country was not founded as a Christian Nation, Religious leaders have repeated over and over decade after decade that we were. The Treaty with Tripoli (article 11) signed in 1797 by President John Adams states.
Article. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.
They came here for freedom of religion. The founders however were predominantly christians and active men in their churches. There is definitely an undercurrent of christianity in the beliefs and the principles set forth by our founders. All you have to do is look at a number of their quotes and you will see that picture quite clearly.
Many of the founders were Deist and not that active in their churches and thought much of the Bible was myth. This can be found in the Library of Congress and in letters written by the founders, Monticello has some from Jefferson.
Jefferson was called an Atheist by some due to his statements about the Bible and it’s myths, although he did sometimes attend church as he liked to hear the teachings of Jesus who he thought was a great man. Many have said Thomas Paine was an Atheist.
Franklin considered himself a Christian Deist.
I agree there are religious quotes but it is far from a clear picture.
RKJ, i agree with your train of thought on this post. Truth be told, the word “christian” does not appear in the Gospels, and it is not used until Act 11 when the disciples were called Christian. So with that being true, there is not definition of “christian” from Jesus, whose name christian (supposedly) comes from. But Jesus does tell us (Peter) in Matthew 28 that we are to make disciples of all nations. And since the definition of a disciple is a follower and learner, then i believe that is what we should be doing: Learning from, and following Jesus. And since His message to the world was love and forgiveness, i have a difficult time seeing how any war fits into way of living. Just saying.
Yes, following the moral teachings of Jesus is a great guide for people.
War is the animal beast stealing food from the next ant over, or the Allies chasing a sick Hitler back into his bunker to die with his chickie. All else is largely HORSESHIT to grab the gold or oil or sustain the acquisition of resources from the lesser beasts…If Christ ever returns he’s largely gonna be PO’d then depressed at the mess he finds like warring ants trying to devour themselves. Peter Bray, Benicia, CA
Yes and often the wealthy blow patriotic smoke up the average guy’s ass to get him to go fight. They keep their own young out of the fight.
The shear amount of evil that has been done in the name of god(s) over the centuries should alone be enough to drop all that nonsense. Be good for goodness sake.