Since 2001 Memorial Day has become a more poignant event for
many people in the United States and there's a great emphasis on actually
'keeping' the day as opposed to merely having a cookout or just enjoying an extra
day off. Since September 11, there has been a renaissance in the realms of
patriotism and reverence for the military. And no doubt this in part is
something of a reaction to the shadow that hung over the US military in the
wake of Vietnam.
The Gulf War of 1991 was something of a triumph for the US
military and its propaganda machine and yet the wars of the 1990s, imperialism
in the guise of humanitarianism, often failed to inspire.
All that changed in 2001.
If you live in small town America, Memorial Day is a time of
parades and visits to the cemetery. If you're like my wife, you have family in
almost every cemetery in a ten mile radius. For some members of her family, the
day is a big deal, a time of keeping traditions. Visiting cemeteries,
remembering family, keeping the stories and history alive for your children is
not a bad thing and yet for many Memorial Day is specifically about the
military and the commemoration of the people and their deeds. The footprint and
impact of the military and its culture is felt strongly in rural America and
its presence seems to be growing. As more and more of the rural poor 'sign-up',
largely due to a lack of economic opportunities, small town America is
becoming more invested in the military apparatus and subject to its publicity
and spin.
Having immersed myself in US history and being a Christian I
cannot help but have a different response to all of this. Most of US history is
little more than packaged lies and this is never more true than when it comes
to the issue of war and the memorialisation of fallen soldiers.
This Memorial Day I don't want to remember US soldiers. They
did not die for my freedom. Most countries of the world have civic freedom and
certainly freedom of religion and few have had to kill as many as the United
States in order to attain that status, some not at all. America's wars are of
its choosing and its own making. World War II is the only conflict that can
challenge this statement and hence it is the moral and (for some) existential
crisis in the realm of ethics and questions of war and peace.
World War II was indeed terrible and many people (not so much
in the United States) were faced with impossible, unfathomable choices and
ethical tangles which defy principle. Yet, as usual World War II is also
enshrouded and swathed with lies and misinformation. Nowhere is this more true
than in the United States and its frankly absurd narratives about the causes,
course and conclusion of the war. Even a cursory examination exposes the
American storyline for what it is... propaganda.
The US didn't need to wage war for 'our freedom', let alone
our religious freedom in any war since its inception. And as I've often argued
even the American Revolution cannot be justified in terms of the Scripture. In
terms of Christian ethics, the Revolution/Rebellion has no moral standing and
was an exercise in sin. But America has long been on the imperial path,
marching to conquer, force its way in, steal and punish all who resist.
Washington DC is an imperial city and was conceived as such. The United States
was the initiation of a new world order, even an Enlightenment empire and it
has fulfilled that role.
Millions have died and that is no exaggeration.
When one considers the conquest of North America, the
fallacious thievery that was the Mexican-American War and the near extinction
of the native peoples, the death toll is fairly impressive. I'm not even
speaking of the natives that died secondarily as a result of disease. I'm
speaking of those deliberately killed through direct warfare and the
implementation of policies that would lead to their deaths.
Then when we consider Latin America, the death toll swells.
The US has at one time or another invaded most of the countries of Central
America, many Caribbean islands and has wreaked havoc in South America through
proxy war and client dictatorships. Hundreds of thousands have died, families
have been destroyed and lands have been forever poisoned.
What shall we say of US activities in Africa, Cold War and Post-Cold
War Europe? And then there's the Middle East. It's hard to even take in.
And then finally we turn to Asia where literally millions
have died and continue to suffer as a result of US wars, machinations and
fomented strife.
Most US soldiers died for nothing more than to enrich the
masters of their own society. Many were themselves turned into something less
than human in order to fulfill the desires of powerful men sitting in offices
in places like the Pentagon, Manhattan and the White House.
Many US soldiers died as invaders, murderers, thieves and
criminals.
They are to be pitied, not celebrated.
This Memorial Day let us take up dust and ashes for the
millions who have died at the hand of the US Empire, certainly one of the most murderous
imperial machines to ever inhabit the globe.
There have been worse and there certainly have been worse to
live under. Some are America's closest allies.
There's no doubt that America could be worse but in no way
does that justify America's crimes or lessen them.
Like the Christian citizens of Rome or the Jewish exiles in
Babylon, our lives are pretty good. We face opposition but that's just the
world. We're always going to expect that and if we're faithful, we're promised
the gift of suffering. It takes spiritual wisdom and God's grace to understand
this.
We're not persecuted at present and yet we have to wrestle
with living in a society based on theft and exploitation. The cheap goods we
buy come with a human cost and so if we're going to be faithful and truly do
all to the glory of God then we are forced to re-think the lives we live and
how we should think about money, goods, property and the values of our society.
The soldiers died not for freedom or for some kind of values.
They died in order to maintain and expand the power of the ruling class and the
Establishment agenda. They killed and died for empire.
They are not to be celebrated, at least not by Christians.
Let us take up dust and ashes for the apostate Church that
has called evil good and good evil, that celebrates deeds of murder and the
reign of death, the Church that supports the empire, the very power that
crushes their brethren in many other lands, enslaves them and poisons them.
Let us lament the fact that the Church puts up the banners of
Babylon in its meetings and praises the deeds of those who kill in its name.
Let us lament the fact that the Church dares... dares to sing hymns to the
glories of its empire and has the audacity to claim (like the Babel builders of
old) that all they do is done in God's name and with His blessing. They are
little more than hymns to Mars and Jupiter.
Let us lament the celebration of bloodlust and covetousness,
an economic and social system that demands and rewards avarice and the crushing
of one's neighbour, the system which generates an ethic antithetical to
Biblical Christianity and sears the conscience of its adherents.
The Sunday before Memorial Day is a day to stay home. There
are very few congregations that won't be engaged in idolatry this Sunday. If you're part of one that is free from this
evil, then count yourself blessed.
For the American Church this Sunday is for the most part
accursed, Ichabod.
Christo-Americanism is the sin of Jeroboam, it is the
establishment of a rival altar, liturgy and oracle that seeks to supplant the
true altar. It is all the more dangerous because it purports to represent the
true worship and oracular voice of God.
Memorial Day worship is High Place worship, it is to be
avoided and condemned as idolatry and a sign of apostasy.
While the culture's decline is to be lamented, the greatest
sorrow and frontline in our Adversary's war against us is within the Church itself.