I invite you to read all the posts of the series and thereby see the context of my outrage and arguments, before you become too terribly upset with me.
Patriotism: Before the Altar of Caesar
- "The Glories of War"
- "World War One: Religious Support"
- "World War One: 'I Am Not a Christian'"
- "Porter Memorial and the Powers That Be: United States Military Sponsors Porter Memorial Baptist Church Event"
- "'The Church of Jesus Christ Does Not Have the Luxury of Patriotism'"
- "Every Knee Shall Bow: Anschließ den Reichskirchen"
- "Closure"
Technorati Tags: patriotism, nationalism, World War Two, baptists, nazis, Bonhoeffer
Comments
4 comments:
Kyle,
I think that I disagree with you about the extent to which patriotism is okay or not. I wrote a post that would be a bit much to put here, but I would appreciate your thoughts about it to refine our thinking.
http://wharrison.blogspot.com/2005/11/patriotism.html
I just found it, thanks.
Kyle,
This is cross-posted at both sites.
My argument does not proceed from the basis that we need an easier analogy to citizenship. It proceeds from the basis that loyalty to Christ is primary, not exclusive.
I used marriage to demonstrate this in a similar way to how I understand citizenship.
We each have multiple levels of loyalty or commitment in our lives. Christ asks us to follow him and his direction first. We are then given responsibilities that come under, and are subservient to that primary loyalty. That loyalty may be to the poor, to a spouse, and then to the poor. It could be to a particular denomination, such as the Anglican Church, beyond national borders (i.e. Catholic priests). It could also be to a nation.
Every one of those entities has, sometime in history, gone very much against the will of God. Loyalty does not, nor should it, follow blindly. Here I agree with you.
To live and move, as you say, within a political body is inevitable, you will always be in some place. Our being must only be in Christ, that is where our identity lies. To place our identity in anything else, whether national identity, political ideology, personal relationships, or anything else besides Christ is inappropriate.
To serve anyone or anything, implies loyalty-seeking the best over our personal preferences. Christ calls us to do this to a variety of entities as an outworking of our service to him.
I am in agreement with you, my friend and would-be presbyter.
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