{"id":1636,"date":"2013-01-08T20:52:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T20:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/the-nationalistic-corruption-of-worship-in-america.html"},"modified":"2013-01-08T20:52:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-08T20:52:00","slug":"the-nationalistic-corruption-of-worship-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/the-nationalistic-corruption-of-worship-in-america.html","title":{"rendered":"The Nationalistic Corruption of Worship in America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I recall years ago on a Sunday when I was on vacation doing what I normally would do at such times: I went to visit another church in the community. This particular church was one of the ten largest in the country. The sprawling campus was perfectly landscaped and the huge building was impressive. My family and I were running late. We rushed from the parking lot, through the doors to their \u201cworship center.\u201d But what I saw stopped me in my tracks. A color guard in full military uniform was about to walk down the main aisle with an American flag hoisted high. It was only then that I remembered it was the Sunday before Independence Day. I took my children by their hands, turned and walked away to find another place to worship.<\/span><\/div>\n
Our world is filled with institutions that would like to gain our affection and attachment.\u00a0 These use images, music and slogans in order to impact us.\u00a0 The institutions range from the universities, to the movie theaters, to restaurants, to Federal Express and Delta Airlines.\u00a0 These variously provide us with services, entertainment, education and more.\u00a0 From us they expect remuneration, payment for whatever it is they have provided to us.\u00a0 These institutions attempt to win our loyalty.\u00a0 But the word \u201cloyalty\u201d here is narrowly defined.\u00a0 At best it involves only a small sliver of our lives.<\/span><\/div>\n
The nation-state is different.\u00a0 It is an institution that calls for comprehensive allegiance of a sort that supersedes every other loyalty.\u00a0 The nation-state is, to use the words of the first of the Ten Commandments, a \u201cjealous God\u201d who has little patience for competitors.\u00a0 This institution demands body and soul.\u00a0 Loyalty to it is a matter of life and death.\u00a0 In other words, it is\u00a0religious<\/i>\u00a0devotion that is expected of citizens.\u00a0 The rituals and practices of the nation-state aim to form, define and deepen our loyalty and in so doing shape our identity so that who we are above all \u2013 at least for those in the United States \u2013 is American.\u00a0 Of course Christianity is welcome, even applauded in many quarters.\u00a0 But being Christian is assumed to be a subcategory of being American so that those in the church in the United States are\u00a0American\u00a0<\/i>Christians, not merely Christians in America.<\/span><\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recall years ago on a Sunday when I was on vacation doing what I normally would do at such times: I went to visit another church in the community. This particular church was one of the ten largest in the country. The sprawling campus was perfectly landscaped and the huge building was impressive. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Nationalistic Corruption of Worship in America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recall years ago on a Sunday when I was on vacation doing what I normally would do at such times: I went to visit another church in the community. 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