Under God - is a lie

Fear of the other - the ones not like us - rules the land of the free and the home of the brave. I think it is good to note that fear does not make one free and fear often turns the frightened into a mob ruled by fear - not bravery.  

In the 1950s, the prepositional phrase under God was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by a fear-filled people. It was as though a person or a people - if they mentioned the word God or declared that God was on their side - would then be safe from that which they feared. Those folk back then claimed ownership of God - as we still do. Well, I would prefer to say they created a god. Even today, those who claim to be close to God are really close only to the god they imagine will protect them against other gods - other powers - other demons. Demons become those who do not follow the god of our making.

To make the claim that we are under God is to say we are willing to be a part of the character of the God who shows no partiality and finds rest in God's ceaseless affirmation of all people. This would be a wonder-filled reality. Unfortunately,  I think it is not the reality visible among us. When we use the expression under God in the Pledge, I think we are simply lying. Though we are not lying if we mean: the god of our liking - the god who we can control - the god who acts the way we act - the god who draws lines in our favor - the god who we use as an excuse to do as we please - the god who is ruled by fear just as we are. But we should then write it as under god.

In some way, when I hear people talk about being God-fearing people - I now take them at their word. They are afraid of the God who welcomes all - abides with all - rescues all - loves all - sees to the well-being of all - graciously respects the diversity of thought and actions we each bring to the table within a peaceable Reign. God-fearing people only want their god to reign even if it is at the expense of other people. And yet, their god fears any attempt to display the character of the God who risks everything and anything for those too often labeled as other - outsider - a threat. At great expense, God unites and heals and is creatively shaping our character and therefore, we are always changing - even evolving (ahh). So, fear not.

I get a real kick out of seeing and hearing God-fearing people trying to protect God. In reality they are working like hell to protect their image of god. I used the word hell intentionally here. God-fearing people attempt to paint the world as going to hell whenever it is not going as they want it to go. So we have had to put up with God-fearing people who want to go back to a day when people of color and other faiths and other cultures were not among us - or at least could be contained to places away from us. That attempt to protect their image of their god creates a piece of hell on earth. It is manifest as the power of division - fear - hatred - and a dis-ease of the heart that turns compassion and hospitality from gifts we offer to others to gifts we withhold for a few.

I see God as the creative force that opens our heart and minds and lives so that we are able to experience the expansiveness of a love that lets no one go. But God-fearing folks want their god as they have created their god. As that is the case, we have to put up with fear-filled people who think they are being victimized when the world of their own making is not the world others want and seek. When folks who fear the God-of-all it is easy to play the card of a victim and demand religious freedom - but that is a lie also. They don't want religious freedom - they want their way of seeing the world to be held in greater regard than all others. They want us to dwell in their place under god - a place in which the God-of-all is dismissed because that God cannot be controlled by them. The hell that they fear is coming into the world - is the hell that is whipped up by their fears. There are too many lessons throughout history that have shown us again and again that when self-proclaimed God-fearing folk take hold of the steering wheel of the day, they are the masters of creating hell on earth for everyone.

So back to the Pledge of Allegiance for a moment. When God-fearing people fear the world around them they will never be able to offer shelter to the stranger - lift up the downtrodden - welcome the alien - abide with the left out - sacrifice life for the for those labeled unworthy. Unfortunately, if all we can do is claim to be God-fearing people we will never live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We will live only within a lie that attempts to fabricate a holy place and holy people that is nothing more than sheer blasphemy. So fear not - live by grace - live into the image of God - be ready to be surprised by a new life.
TRRR