America is not so much a country as it is a promise left unfulfilled, a Terra incognito of unrealized potential. A promise that not only transcends the prospect of a totalitarian conceptualization, but the very idea of a government compromised by corporate interests. Fortunately, we don’t have to look far to find the bedrock of western civilization. It lies right beneath our feet in the indigenous history of this great land. Extending from east to west, from the Arctic to Terra de Fuego, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, throughout their ancient and convoluted histories, have continued in their acknowledgment of Creator, which is itself the cornerstone of Western civilization.
While Indigenous peoples are commonly classified as a minority throughout their geographical distribution, their communal orientation and religious rationale outweighs contemporary perspectives of socialization. And for that reason they continue to pose a potential threat to repressive regimes, as they fall outside schemas of control. Parallels can then be drawn between their ongoing resistance to colonial and that of first century Christians in their response to the Roman state. The point being, that the promise of Christmas and a risen supernatural savior resonates more with the oppressed than it does with the privileged. And seen from that perspective, the true story of Christmas is one of misunderstanding, denial, abandonment, condemnation, and inevitable crucifixion of the son of God. As a noteworthy casualty of the conspiratorial alliance between the Jewish religious elite, the Roman state, and a compliant populace, the story of Christ becomes not only the story of Indigenous America, but the story of America itself, whose political and religious critics and revolutionaries have often found themselves at odds with the status quo, either at the point of a gun, or on the end of a rope.
Even as “the Romans killed Jesus for being an insurrectionist, revolutionary leader, and political threat to the state, they feared the radicalism of the message he preached even more. And they were right to fear it.” (Mr. Fish / Truthdig) While the Christian gospel may stand alone as the preeminent manifesto of resistance to anything contrary to the will of God, the corpus of its radicalism would be denied, distorted, and muted by religious institutions throughout history. And it was those same institutions who utilized biblical authority to promote their own agendas, which included genocide as a legitimate tool for colonial expansion. But to put these failings in their proper perspective, noted theologian Paul Tillich reminds us that “all institutions, including the church, are inherently demonic.” That being the case, what does it say for the followers of Christ, who are called to not only resist evil, but to destroy the works of the devil. And in view of the fact that we haven’t, how then can we argue with Mr. Fish’s criticism, which I paraphrase: “America is in terminal decline; its mortal delusion festooned by moral decadence. Enveloped by evil, while bowing the knee to Baal, the monstrosity of its mendacity and greed have few equals. Severed from its humanity, it demands sacrifices, even as it parades around a plastic Jesus to remind us all of the centrality of Christmas. Yet faith demands that we smash the idols of consumptive religiosity. Nothing is easy about dying to ourselves and to the world; it requires self-sacrifice and a revolutionary spirit to see ourselves through the eyes of the other. Faith demands that we become as the salt of the earth, because if we don’t we will become like the wretched of the earth, truly acquainted with the suffering of others. And, at that point we will be left with no other choice but to act on behalf of others, as they have now become ourselves.”
While Tillich may have been right in his negative appraisal of human institutions, it goes without saying that governance, as a component of human social organization, is a necessary evil. And, therein lies the problem, as it is the individual within any social organization that will ultimately determine the course of its action. And, as our political failings are only symptomatic of a deeper societal dissonance, it remains “we the people” that are ultimately responsible for either rectifying the situation or remaining complicit in perpetuating collective misery at the expense of constructive change.
CoupStick Chaplain 