Comments and a link regarding the Sacralist judge in Mississippi...
The United States has long possessed what might be called a latent or passive Constantinianism. The Imperialistic Sacralism of the Elite was not always shared by the common people. After the tumult of the 1960's, an aggressive Sacralism has become the default setting for America's theologically conservative Christians. At present it is being propagated with great energy and I have found "Christians" grow hostile if it is even questioned. They are in a panic. Their American Israel (really a Babylon) is in peril.
I don't think they're going to take over, though they still wield tremendous power and as we saw under one of their own...George Bush, many terrible things can be accomplished.
Power corrupts, and a Sacralist vision leads to terrible abuses of power. The two combined can eventually lead to horrors like the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, or the Penal laws imposed on the Irish. I say this as one who is theologically hostile to Roman Catholicism. I don't wish to condone Irish Catholicism, but rather to condemn the English compelling the Irish to act "Christian" which for them meant Anglicanism and English cultural habits. One confusion is as bad as the other.
At present, the American Sacralists are restricted in their power, but today was a reminder of what kind of insanity Sacralism mixed with power can produce.
A judge in Mississippi, in the Sacralist Bible Belt actually sent a lawyer to jail for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I have no reason to believe the lawyer was a Christian. It would seem he merely intended to exercise his 1st Amendment rights of free speech.
But what about this judge? He sets aside the law of the land because he thinks people should be compelled to worship the holy flag of his holy nation and pledge allegiance to some nebulous 'god' it serves.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
We declare our allegiance to a piece of cloth?
And to the Republic for which is stands,
Okay, so the flag AND what it symbolizes. My allegiance is to Christ. I'll keep the laws of this land, respect its rulers...but pledge allegiance? What does that mean?
Is it...my country right or wrong, the oft-repeated mantra of the Vietnam era?
If so, as a Christian it would be sin for me to pledge allegiance to that.
I am reminded of the Roman era. The problem wasn't that the Christians worshipped Christ. The problem was they refused to also worship Caesar, the embodiment of Rome.
One nation under God
This was only added in the 1950's due to the anti-communist hysteria generated by McCarthy and others. The pledge itself dates from the late 1800's and if Christians bothered to look into its origins, I don't think they would be so zealous about it.
The United States is not a nation under God, nor is any other under the sun.
When Christians pledge this...they betray Christ's Kingdom. They have declared another kingdom to be holy, and sworn an oath to it. The First Commandment comes to mind. Ironic indeed, for these are the very people who want to post it on government buildings.
I will be the first to admit, I like almost all school children up until recent years recited this pledge every morning without giving it a second thought. The Jehovah's Witnesses rightly refuse to recite it. How sad that a cult sees an issue like this so clearly, while so many who ought to know better cannot.
Indivisible with liberty and justice for all
Well the indivisible part is a direct reference to the issues surrounding the 1861-65 Civil War. Whether the Founders envisioned 'the' United States or 'these' United States is of no consequence to me. Those who still focus on these points live in a romantic dream. The antebellum period is not going to return. The American Empire has long been the reality whether people acknowledge it or not.
I'm sorry but the reality is...the country generated by the 1776 Rebellion was in reality a failure. It never lived up to its ideals and with a generation with Manifest Destiny and a host of other ideas had become something quite different.
Liberty and justice?
High-minded to be sure, but there are many who find these last lines to be the most ironic. Certainly up until very recent times many whose skin is a darker shade than mine would question how much liberty and justice could be found in the United States. And perhaps considering the percentage of non-white people in prison, they might still question it. Even today, there are certain areas in which we have much less liberty than many other countries...and justice? To put it simply, if you have money you can get justice. Otherwise, good luck. In many cases 'justice' comes to those who have the most money whether we're speaking of the legislative or judicial processes.
In any event, I thoroughly object to the Pledge of Allegiance and urge all Christians to do so. I object to this heretic judge and not only does he need to be rebuked and corrected in the context of the church...he needs to be removed from the bench. He is a tyrant, one who has dismissed the law of the land, not for a higher cause, but for the sake of exercising his own power.
If I as a Christian were jailed by this judge for refusing his blasphemous oaths...it would indeed be a case of Christian persecution. He seeks to be a Charlemagne but is in reality a Nero.
If this was 1310, instead of 2010, this judge would have found his calling in the Holy Office of the Inquisition, for in every way he carries their torch.
Shame on him. I hope open-eyed Christians learn something from this little episode.