THE AMERICAN RELIGION (Cont'd)

In the last blog, I wrote on this topic at length,
drawing on works cited, by Will Herberg and
Harold Bloom. Herberg called our national
religion "the American way of life," and Bloom
referred to it as "the American religion." Both
show conclusively, I think, that our national religion
is not Christianity. As Harold Bloom put it: "The
American christian is more American than
christian."

We now live in a country where the president and
vice-president have the power to grab any
American citizen off the street, without a
warrant, and send him to a secret prison where
he can be tortured and held indefinitely, without
hearing any charges filed against him, without
ever appearing before a judge or being able to
get help or notify his family where he is. This
isn't a Christian country! A Christian country
couldn't even conceive of such a thing happening.

The American religion, says Bloom, intertwines
national symbols (the flag, the Founding Fathers,
symbolic prayers and slogans, the fight to keep
God in the Pledge) with Christian beliefs and
symbols. None of the national symbols really
have anything to do with Christianity, do they?
And, by the way, why do many churches display
our flag by the altar, beside the Cross? Is the
flag sacred? Is the nation? How? And why?
And what, exactly, does "under God" mean in
our pledge of allegiance? Does it mean God
rules? Does "under law" mean under God's law?

Well, these are just some of questions raised by
these two important writers. I hope they raise
your own questions and thoughts along these
lines. Let me know what you think.