America’s origin is partially rooted in a desire of the settlers to break away from religious oppression meted out by the Church of England. The new Colonists founded their society upon a platform of religious freedom, which became part of the fabric of the new society. Today, most Americans are proud to tout our religious freedoms, which is why it is so ironic that contemporary Americans are behaving so badly in this regard.
According to pundits, presidential hopeful Donald Trump is supported by a large bloc of right wing Christians. These same Christians stand behind a man who has said that he would ban Muslims from the United States. This is very paradoxical considering the freedom of religion underpinning American society.
Actually, there really is no real separation of church and state in America. Our holidays alone belie this fact: we celebrate Easter Sunday, and the entire Christmas season. These are clearly religious, specifically Christian periods with holiday activities that permeate the entire society, and where there is actually a marriage between religion and capitalism.
Now, since it is plausible to say that there is a Christian foundation to the United States, it calls us to examine whether or not we are really living by Christian principles. The main tenet of Christianity is Love: Love thy neighbor; do unto others as they would do unto you, etc. But if we look at what we have done since our nation’s inception, it becomes clear that we have NEVER really lived up to the Christian principles that the Trumpster camp is so proud to espouse. The founders came to this country, conquered the indigenous people through guile; enslaved Blacks and others, and proceeded to build a nation established on the principles of white supremacy. The atrocities that marked the history of America would cause the devil, himself, to blush.
The religious right that is so vocal in wanting to make America great again, is actually founded upon ideas that are actually antithetical to those principles taught by Christ. In this regard, they are against the ideas of Christ: they are ANTI-CHRIST. They celebrate hate, not love, bigotry not inclusion, and think that it is alright to go into foreign countries and take their resources by force. The current situation in America that provides the fodder for the presidential campaign has its foundations in this unchristian behavior; while Trump criticizes Hillary Clinton because of her husband’s indiscretions, he openly stated that we should have just gone into the middle east and taken the oil and left. How, in good conscience, can a so-called Christian take this stance? We must remember, however, that there is a precedent; the Bush administrations, both of them, did just this. In fact, the United States and her Christian allies have gone around the world, raping and pillaging, under the shadow of the American flag. And everywhere non-Christian behavior was the hallmark of activity. The truth of the matter is that it is quite possible that the world would not be in the situation it finds itself in today if America, supposedly the leader of the free world, had behaved differently; had behaved with integrity in line with Christian principles. But the fact of the matter is that it didn’t happen.
So we have a message to the current crop of presidential candidates, ALL OF THEM: we will not now or ever gain greatness if we continue to pursue Anti-Christic behavior on the planet. It just won’t happen. And the most pathetic thing about the current situation is that there are so many Americans blinded by bigotry that they are willing to throw their support behind an obvious Anti-Christic individual who has openly said that his supporters would back him even if he shot someone in Times Square. The people, though, can make a difference. As this campaign season comes to a close, those who want to hire a president who at least has some modicum of decency, though not perfect, had better eschew Donald Trump and his right ring “Christian” running mate, Pence. The World’s FATE depends upon making the right choice. A luta continua.
