4th of July

I have a hard time with the Christian church around this time of year.  All the flag waving and talk of being a "Christian Nation" just gets under my skin.  While I am extremely glad that I was born an American and am able to receive all the benefits attached to that accident of birth, I do not believe that Americans were somehow singled out by God and that we are more blessed than other nations.


One blog post that I read recently pointed out there are two Sundays that Christians should not attend church:  the Sunday before Memorial Day and the Sunday before Independence Day.  The author then went on to point out how most Protestant churches have abandoned one holiday that they should be celebrating:  All Saints' Day.  Part of observing this Christian holiday is remembering the martyrs of the Church, those that gave their lives, and were often brutally tortured, for the furtherance of the Christian faith.  


The fact that we are now in three (or is it four) wars - wars against peoples who did nothing to our nation - should give us even less reason to celebrate this national holiday.  Our nation fought a war against our original homeland in order to be free from tyranny.  The current wars are neither wars to help free a nation, as the French did for us, or to prevent war on our land, for we are the aggressors in these wars.


Although I recognize and appreciate all that the founding patriots did to help establish our nation, I do not believe that the church is the appropriate setting.  William Sloane Coffin once wrote, "All preachers worth their salt need fearlessly to insist that 'God 'n' country is not one word."