The Fourth of July. Today is the day when most Americans patriotically worship at the altar of democracy and freedom. When we reverentially sing "God bless America." When we solemnly recite that we are "one nation under God." When evangelical Christians renew their vow to "take America back for God," and rededicate their efforts to turn America back to its "Christian roots." The Fourth of July — a very august and hallowed day, to be sure!
 
Last year I wrote an article on this Web site which reviewed the book, The Myth of a Christian Nation by Pastor Gregory Boyd. This book has had a profound impact on the way I view the United States, and even on how I regard our national birthday. Before continuing with this article, I HIGHLY recommend that you read The Myth of a Christian Nation article first.
 
There is A LOT to say about this excellent, thought-provoking, life-changing book. In fact, there is so much to say that I've dedicated SEVEN articles on my Your Islamic Future Web site to covering many of the important themes in the book. And even then I can only quote a small part of the great material Pastor Boyd shares. I would strongly encourage you to read all seven articles, starting with The "Power Over" Kingdom, in addition to the above-mentioned article on this Web site.
 
Better yet, buy yourself a copy of The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest For Political Power Is Destroying the Church today, and read the whole book as soon as possible! It's THAT awesome! But for now, I'll just share a small extract from the book: OK — now that you've read all of The Myth of a Christian Nation background materials, let's continue on with today's Fourth of July reflections.
 
As was stated above, many American Christians believe that their country was founded as a Christian nation. This view is strongly promoted in the evangelical Christian history book, The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel. In this book, the authors proudly document the fact that a major source of inspiration for the eventual rebellion against English rule came from the pulpits of Colonial churches, with the pastors often using texts and imagery from the Old Testament. Just a few short extracts will have to suffice: That is an interesting statement: "resistance has begun with their religion." Yes, but WHICH religion? Which GOD? Definitely NOT the God of the New Testament!
 
Yeshua (Jesus) was unquestionably anti-violence, as I discuss in-depth in my article Yeshua and Violence. So were the early followers of Yeshua, as documented in the New Testament. So was the early Church for the first 300 years of its existence, until the time of Constantine (see my article The Militant Church). For the last 1,700 years, the militant church has corrupted itself with the power of the sword.
 
Yeshua, as well as the authors of the New Testament, NEVER taught believers to rebel against or oppose violently the malevolent Roman Empire, which was much more oppresive than the British Empire. Yeshua and His apostles NEVER instructed their followers to try to reform the Roman Empire into a democratic republic. And they NEVER exalted (or even mentioned) the concepts of democracy and political freedom — concepts which are worshiped in America as if they were Christian values!
 
The New Testament rarely concerns itself with human governments. It does tell us to pay our taxes (Matthew 22:15-22 and Romans 13:6-7). In the same chapter, the apostle Paul also writes: The "governing authorities" Paul was referring to was the evil Roman Empire, which wasn't even pretending to be Christian, and not the British Empire (which was pretending to be Christian). It was easy for American preachers to get their congregations stirred up by comparing British rule to the oppression of the Israelites under the Egyptian Pharaoh, but they must have swept under the carpet the verse just quoted: "whoever rebels against the [governing] authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
 
In the end, how can we reasonably expect the American nation — which was born in rebellion against the governing authority — to prosper, when God states that such rebellion brings judgment on those who rebel? And how is it that Christians can say, with even a shred of credibility, that God WANTED the American Christians to rebel, that God LED them to rebel, and that it was God's WILL for them to rebel VIOLENTLY, when such statements are exactly the opposite of what the New Testament teaches is God's will for Christians?
 
I think that the New Testament's teaching on violence could be summed up in one simple statement (my own, not a quote from the Bible): "It's better to be killed than to kill." Was God at all glorified or honored by a bunch of rebellious American "Christians" going around and killing British soldiers? Is it not rather a shame and a disgrace, and a perversion of the Way of Yeshua?
 
I do think that America was destined to become an independent nation, but it did NOT have to happen through violence. If the American pastors of the day had applied themselves to preaching the New Testament values of patience, perseverance, longsuffering, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, loving your enemies, and other such virtues, rather than preaching the anti-Yeshua values of rebellion, rights, political freedom and violence, a totally different — and much better — path to independence would have been found.
 
Great nations like Canada, Australia and New Zealand each won their independence from Britain without resorting to rebellion and violence. India's struggle for independence, which was marked by non-violent resistance, not only brought freedom from British rule, but also brought worldwide fame to Mahatma Gandhi and his peaceful approach, which still inspires people today. The United States could have set the Christian example, and travelled down that high road too; unfortunately, Americans chose the quicker, pagan, low road which repudiated the nation's supposed Christian foundations.
 
There's no denying that it's wonderful, on a human level, to live in a democracy. There are good things about America and life in this country. But in the big, eternal picture, is that what life is all about? Vibrant Christianity thrived under Roman imperial oppression, just as it does today under Chinese Communist oppression. While in the "free", "democratic" West, Christianity is practically comatose! From the spiritual point of view, isn't it clear which circumstances are conducive to a living faith?
 
As previously mentioned, Americans, and even Christian Americans, have elevated the concepts of "freedom" and "democracy" to such a height that they have become the national religion. In the name of these "gods", the U.S. government has interfered with the internal affairs of many countries around the world, even resorting to military violence in order to impose this religion on these other peoples.
 

It may come as a shock to many American Christians who think democracy is the highest form of divine government, but when Yeshua comes back, there's NOT going to be an election to see if He will be president! No, the Bible already states — God the Father has already decreed — that Yeshua will be the King of the whole world, with His throne set in Jerusalem. Yeshua will be the world dictator — but a benevolent dictator of love, to be sure! "A sharp sword comes out of Yeshua's mouth so He can subdue the nations, then rule them with a rod of iron.... On His robe and thigh is written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Revelation 19:15a,16)   "Yeshua the Messiah, who is ... the ruler of the kings of the earth." (Revelation 1:5)   "Yeshua is seated far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the age to come. God the Father placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything...." (Ephesians 1:21-22)   "The Messiah was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed." (Daniel 7:14)   "The law will go out from Zion, the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.... The glory that once was will be again. Jerusalem will be the kingdom center." (Micah 4:2b,3,8b)

 
So much for democracy in the eternal scheme of things! From what I can see in the Bible, democracy is not even on God's agenda. But the Bible does say that He is very concerned about righteousness, holiness, justice, love, self-sacrifice, and many other virtues. And speaking of dearly-held American values that are not Biblical values, there is this most sacred text, which is so revered by Americans that it seems they feel it must have come straight from the throne of God: Let's pause for a minute and consider these words. Are "life," "liberty," and "the pursuit of happiness" REALLY rights that come from GOD and which cannot be taken away? Are these three "rights" the highest values the Bible teaches? Are these the ultimate goals in life that every American has a divine right to, that every American should cling to, come hell or high water? Let's take a look at each one of the "rights" one by one.

Life:

Eternal life is the free gift of God through His Son Yeshua (Romans 6:23). In the same way, physical life is not a right to be demanded, but a gift from God to be received. And definitely NOT something to be held on to at all costs, as a divine right. In fact, the Bible teaches just the opposite. Consider these verses:

"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13)
 
"Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it." (Luke 9:24)

In the end, life is not a divine right, and not something that we possess. Our life belongs to God, and He requires that we give it up for His sake and for the sake of others. Strike one!

Liberty:

This is another one of those "rights" that sound so Biblical. In fact, the New Testament DOES talk a fair amount about liberty — but what KIND of liberty or freedom is it referring to? Definitely NOT political freedom. Not even — gasp! — freedom from slavery. There are WORSE things than political oppression or slavery! The Bible says:

"Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God." (Romans 6:16-22a)

The freedom and liberty that the Bible talks about is freedom from SIN, so we can be God's "slaves of love" by obeying HIM instead of sin. You can do that whether you live in a democracy or dictatorship, whether you are a physical slave or free person. The outward circumstances don't matter, it's the INNER state of freedom from sin that counts. Regarding physical slavery, the Apostle Paul writes:

"Are you a slave? Don't let that worry you — but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ. God paid a high price for you, so don't be enslaved by the world. (1 Corinthians 7:21-23)

Human slavery IS evil, but it's NOT the ultimate issue, because slavery to sin is infinitely more evil. And so is abusing freedom, as Paul warns:

"You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." (Galatians 5:13)

But we have done the opposite here in America. We HAVE used our freedom to satisfy our sinful nature, and instead of using our freedom to serve others in love, more often than not we end up serving ourselves at the expense of others. This is NOT true liberty, but slavery to sin. Strike two!

The Pursuit of Happiness:

There are numerous things the Bible tells us to pursue or seek, but unfortunately for the mistaken Founding Fathers, happiness is NOT one of them!

"Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness." (1 Timothy 6:11b)
 
"Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace." (2 Timothy 2:22a)
 
"Seek peace and pursue it." (1 Peter 3:11b)
 
"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." (Matthew 6:33)
 
"No one should seek their own good, but the good of others." (1 Corinthians 10:24)
 
"Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts" (1 Corinthians 14:1a)
 
"Seek Yahweh while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." (Isaiah 55:6)

There are many good and noble things God wants us to seek and pursue, but our happiness is NOT one of them. Once again, the Bible teaches just the opposite: We should seek the good of others and not our own good, and if we try to hold on to our life we will lose it. Pursuing our own happiness is a selfish, ungodly way of living that ends up causing most of the problems in society. It is NOT a divine right! Strike three, you're out!

As we can see, even though our Founding Fathers may have been good Christians (which itself is debatable), they were definitely NOT good theologians, because these "rights", which they attributed to God, are not Biblical values at all, but rather humanistic values, which, when exalted as high as they have been in American culture, end up being worshiped in the place of God. We need to be set free from this deception which the Founding Fathers cast over our culture when they penned these words. True followers of Yeshua should turn from this idolatry, and cleanse their hearts and minds from these false beliefs. As the Apostle Paul wrote: From the time of the founding of our nation until now, if you take a look at America's history of practically continuous military violence and bloodshed, you will see that almost NONE of these conflicts were defensive in nature. As I wrote in a previous article: Up to this very day, the United States is still trying to bomb foreign countries into adopting our American religion of democracy and freedom! And a large number of American Christians actually SUPPORT this diabolical agenda! When will we finally wake up, open our eyes, and see this deception for what it really is?!
 
In light of these sober and tragic realities, on this Fourth of July I find no reason to rejoice. If we want to be true followers of Yeshua, can we, with a clear conscience, really celebrate the birthday of a nation that was born in rebellion and violence, and continues even now to inflict more violence upon others for the sake of our "glorious American values"? Isn't it rather a day to mourn, and repent for the perversion of Christianity we have spread around the world in the name of our twin gods, democracy and freedom?
 
America is NOT a Christian nation. It never WAS a Christian nation. An interesting and timely article to this effect was published on the CNN Web site today: Why U.S. is not a Christian nation — be sure to check it out and consider carefully the information presented.
 
The sooner we reject the erroneous idea of American being a Christian nation, the sooner we can start to undo the tremendous damage this falsehood has produced (see The Myth of a Christian Nation book for more details). We can start today by NOT celebrating American exceptionalism, nor the other prevalent American values which are opposite of what the New Testament teaches. We can start today by abandoning our misguided attempts to view American history through rose-colored evangelical lenses.
 
We can start today by following the example of the Mennonites that were referred to in this recent article on CNN: Why I don't sing the 'Star Spangled Banner'. Pastor Mark Schloneger writes: Be sure to read the entire article. How we desperately, DESPERATELY need more American Christians like this — followers of Yeshua who will loudly and clearly proclaim these values by what they say AND by how they live!
 
Unhappy Fourth of July to you too! This article is 13th a series of articles on this Web site related to Modern Christianity and the Church which also includes (scroll to see the entire list):  

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