Immaculate Deception: Is AmeriKKKa a Christian Nation? God bless America. In God we trust. One nation under God. Freedom. Life. Peace. Happiness. Founding fathers. Nationalism. Equality. Slavery. Imperialism. War. Reservations. Poverty. Oppression. Globalization. Evil. What do all these words have in common? Somehow, they all relate to America. But how can two words that clearly are on two opposite sides of the spectrum be so closely related? How can slavery be mentioned in relation to “In God we trust,” or what does oppression have to do with the founding fathers? What is the common denominator? The answer is easy: America. I must admit that there is no place on earth I would rather live than this country. I?m not moving away or hiding in a cave because there are some things that I hate about this country, and I am definitely not going back to Africa.
However, there are some things about this country that aren?t right, righteous, moral, or ethical. How can we ask God to bless America and America not bless God or its people? We take our jobs overseas for lower wages only to increase our wealth and keep Americans jobless. How can we say “One nation under God” and allow slavery?
America was founded on freedom, yet the founding fathers were slave owners. How can we “trust in God” when we can?t even trust our politicians who are the ones telling us to trust in God? Why, when America tries to take over another country, is it considered “Operation Freedom,” but any negative thought towards America is considered evil? We?ve confused patriotism and nationalism with personal dogma.
America acts like the American people are God?s only children, and that God doesn?t love the rest of the world. We actually think that, just because the President talks about God, his actions are justifiable. Just because George W. (or anybody else, for that matter) tells us to have faith, does that make it all right to bomb other countries?
Didn?t America?s founding fathers use God to justify the imperialization of Native Americans? Indians were considered savages because of their culture and skin complexion, which was somehow interpreted that it was “manifest destiny” by God to conquer these savages.
Where are a majority of Native Americans now? For almost 300 years, the attitude of using God to justify immorality was portrayed again in America?s enslavement of blacks.
Similar to Native Americans, blacks were considered inferior for not having white or “Godly” characteristics. Consequently, it was thought that God must have wanted slavery, too. Where are blacks now? The answer: one in three black men are in the judicial system, and 24 percent of all blacks live in poverty. I guess this is what God wants. Europeans came to America for religious freedom and embraced the Christian principle of providing for the people.
Somehow, however, it?s been misinterpreted that this principle only applies to whites, males, or the wealthy. Thus, America will lie, kill, bomb, or do whatever else it takes to provide for only those certain people. What exactly is Christian, religious, or Godly about this country? If God is strictly an American God, what type of God would continually allow people to stay disenfranchised and oppressed?
What God did America?s slave owners believe in? Would God have life, liberty, and happiness knowing that other people around Him were incapable of possessing those same characteristics? If so, then we could say that God is selfish and greedy, but we know that God is love. Therefore, let?s stop saying “God bless America” and “One nation under God,” when we do and think the opposite of what God would do. America and God don?t belong in the same sentence. When will America bless God and care for its people? The only way poverty and happiness can be connected is when one is talking about America; it is the only common denominator between the two words. God has nothing to do with hypocrisy, AmeriKKKa does.
Shane Daniels is a senior majoring in Professional Studies with minors in Professional Education and History.