Nonconformist Chronicles: U. S. History

Whatever we could say about the abhorrent treatment of African-Americans in the history of this country would be an understatement. Words fail to describe the stripping away of dignity, the lynchings, and the apartheid that has taken place. The violence perpetrated against the black race naturally provoked violent responses against whites. It's as if a war was going on which James Cone, in his book Black Theology & Black Power predicted would lead to actual civil war unless things changed.

Cone noted the affinity of Jesus with the oppressed and marginalized. Jesus preached good news to the poor and the disenfranchised. He did not come merely to free souls, but also to free bodies. Kingdom work is equated to working toward a just society. As God was with Israel during the Exodus, he is with the African-Americans in their oppression.

Cone indicted both black and white churches for having failed to take up the mantle of black power. Both had neglected civil rights. The white churches were (and many still are) largely racist which is a flat denial of Christ. Many whites who spoke the rhetoric of civil rights were unwilling to put their heads on the block for their black brothers. Many black churches, in Cone's view, had compromised the fight for justice by caving in to white paternalism in hopes of preserving their institutionalized congregations.

Cone offers a fascinating historical survey of the black church before and after the Civil War. He confirms my long-held opinion that even this North and South struggle wasn't fought for the good of black people, but solely for the preservation of the Union which Lincoln all but said outright in his famous response to Horace Greeley.

Cone's book reinforces the fact that it has been a long road toward equality in this nation and after all these years there is still farther to go. My opinion is that a good aproach to healing among the races is to get to know one another. We should take deliberate steps in the promotion of racial and cultural diversity, not isolating ourselves from those who are different. Nothing breaks down stereotypes like relationships.

The United States is not, and was never intended to be, a “Christian” nation. In fact, our Founding Fathers went to great lengths to insure this would not happen. They had seen enough “state-run” denominations and the corruption that ensues when the church has too much power over the state and vice versa.

Wars had been fought over religion, dissenters had been persecuted, and some even burned at the stake. That isn't the kind of nation our forefathers envisioned. They endorsed religious freedom and even the freedom to not be religious.

Colonial America had continued the tradition of state run religion. Virginians were to belong to the Anglican Church. Two consecutive absences from worship could mean either a fining or a whipping. In a “Christian nation” whose version of “Christianity” shall be bound?

While the intent was to never have a Christian nation, nor did our forefathers intend a wholly secular nation. While they never intended for one religion to be nationally endorsed, they nevertheless intended that religion play a vital role in society. They expected religion to be the conscience of the nation.

In the book American Gospel, Jon Meacham finds middle ground between extremes. On the one hand are those who want an entirely secular America. They would love to see God taken off the money and out of the pledge. They would love it if the President would stop saying “God bless America.”

But this would also violate the intent of our Founding Fathers. They could distinguish between what Meacham calls “public religion” and “private religion.” America has, from the beginning, practiced a public religion. References in the Declaration of Independence to our Creator, Nature's God, and Divine Providence, clearly show that the intent was never to leave God entirely out of the picture.

But no specific God was named. It was intentional that God remain “generic” in the political sphere. In a free society, people are free to define God as they understand him.

Yet outside the founding documents, men like Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams wrote of their definite preference for the morality of the Christian religion. But that is where “private” religion comes in. One's private religion is what one chooses to practice. It's expected that one's private religion will influence one's public decisions, even if one holds public office. Voters decide if that person should be in office.

The United States is somewhat analogous to the Boy Scouts of America. The Boy Scouts is not a “Christian” organization, but a “religious” organization. The United States has not historically been a “Christian” nation, but a religious nation and a reverent nation. While the Founding Fathers did not envision one religion reigning supreme, nor could they have imagined the public irreverence and indecency that is prevalent in our society. As religious people, we should continue to be the conscience of our nation.