In 2008, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly released a survey on how Americans view their country’s relationship to God: “Sixty-one percent agree that America is a nation specially blessed by God,” it revealed, “and 59 percent believe the United States should be a model Christian nation to the world.”
These are the kind of results that inspire many Americans—and make others shudder with fear.
Ever since Europeans came to America, the idea of the United States as a land of special blessings has animated America’s soul. John Winthrop, the Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, famously drew upon the Bible to describe the early New England settlers: “We shall be as a City upon a hill, the eyes of all people upon us.”
Subsequent generations have voiced similar themes to propel America’s narrative: their country was thought to have a “manifest destiny;” to represent “an empire of liberty;” to offer the “last best hope on earth;” and above all, to embody “American exceptionalism.”
All this talk of America’s unique stature, however—especially when combined with a supposed mandate from Heaven–has unnerved critics, both Christian and secular. They have a point.
Biblically speaking, all human beings are blessed by God by virtue of the fact they are created in his image, and fundamentally equal. Even when the Lord honored the children of Israel as his chosen people, it was done to fulfill his divine plan for everyone, and in the context of his boundless love for a unified human race. Further, nothing is more alien to the Old and New Testaments than to sacralize the unholy, or divinize material things. To regard secular America as some kind of Messiah nation, or geo-political golden calf, is sheer idolatry.
The secular critique is just as pointed. In an article for Foreign Policy magazine, Harvard University’s Stephen Walt assails “the myth of American exeptionalism,” pointing out that America’s sins at home and abroad undercut this “self-congratulatory portrait” of a country superior to others and consistently beneficial. Excessive nationalism, he argues, can lead to hubris, and hubris to something dangerous and destructive. “Americans,” he writes, “are blind to their weak spots, and in ways that have real-world consequences.”
This critique has validity, but suffers from selective indignation, and ignores moderating factors. While American Christians have never been shy about assuming God’s blessings, they have invariably seen them as conditional and under God’s judgment. In the very speech in which he spoke about the “City upon a hill,” Winthrop qualified it by cautioning that “if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”
Furthermore, as historian Donald Scott notes:
In the decades following Winthrop’s speech most New England divines preached less about New England’s divine mission, than issue deep laments—Jeremiads, subsequent historians have called them—about how far New Englanders had fallen from fulfilling the requirements of their Covenant with God and how all the woes and turmoil that had befallen them—Prince Phillip’s war, the loss of New England’s charter, the witchcraft phenomenon, droughts and dreadful winters, etc—were the signs and result of God’s wrath over their failings.
America’s sense of mission was never higher than during World War II, but it was at that moment when Venerable Fulton Sheen warned his fellow countrymen not to allow the justice of their cause to minimize their personal sins:
Our greatness is conditioned upon our earnestness in examining our own faults and remedying them. America will be reborn when it stops its roaring self-righteousness, and begins to examine its conscience, not its newspaper editorials: begins to judge itself not by the degeneracy of warring dictators, but by what we ought to be in the eyes of God. . . . Let us give up Stephen Decatur’s ‘my country right or wrong,’ and substitute for it the promise that the world will never be wrecked by faults of ours.
More recently, Richard Land, the well-known Evangelical leader, expressed his deep appreciation for America’s blessings, but stressed that “those blessings invoke a reciprocal obligation and responsibility,” and cautioned fellow Christians: “We cannot assume ‘God is on our side.’ We are not God’s gift to the world. America does not have a special claim on God.”
If excessive self-flattery is embedded in America’s tradition, so too is self-reflection and self-criticism. One cannot walk into an American bookstore without finding a plethora of books, from every different angle, decrying some national problem or crisis, and advocating changes for the better.
Walt’s Foreign Policy article is flawed because it ignores this corrective aspect of American history, just as it downplays American generosity: whenever a catastrophe strikes the world—an earthquake, tsunami, famine, epidemic, or emerging genocide—America is the first to be called upon. And for good reason: despite its errors, and need for self-examination and penance, America is, at its best, a giving and caring nation.
Curiously, though Walt’s article castigates America for its transgressions, it is silent about its most serious one: the ongoing slaughter of the unborn. Is that a part of an “American exceptionalism” that critics are now ready to accept?
Pro-life Christians never will, and it is abortion, more than anything else, that has shaken their faith in America as “one nation under God.”
As they ponder that question, and vacillate between idealism and despair over the United States, they can reflect on a message sent to them at the end of the Second World War. At that time, the world was still in a state of disorientation, having witnessed the deaths of tens of millions of people, hoping to recover some sense of its humanity. Because of their leading role in the world—first in winning the war, then in rebuilding the peace—Americans were highly regarded, and Pope Pius XII sent them a letter, expressing his admiration and expectations: “The American people,” he began, “have a genius for splendid and unselfish action, and into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of afflicted humanity.”
Ronald Reagan liked quoting that line, and Walt criticizes Reagan (and by implication, Pius XII) for suggesting “the United States has a divinely ordained mission to lead the rest of the world.” But neither the well-intentioned Reagan nor the disapproving Professor Walt mentioned the title of Pius’s letter—“Wisdom—not Weapons of War,” nor did either quote the rest of Pius XII’s message, which reveals it was a call for selfless Christian witness and universal love:
May the noble flame of brotherly love be kindled in your hearts. Let it not die quenched by an unworthy, timid caution in the face of the needs of your brethren, let it be not overcome by the dust and dirt of the whirlwind of anti-Christian or non-Christian spirit. Keep alive this flame, increase it, carry it wherever there be a groan of suffering, a lament of misery, a cry of pain, and nourish it evermore with the heat of a love drawn from the Heart of the Redeemer
Armed with the arms of spirit and heart, the merciful weapons of peace: wisdom, justice and charity, we must stand united against the wanton weapons of war: tyranny, hatred and greed. Then the griefs of the world’s bereaved . . . will be sealed with the tranquility and the glory of God’s peace.
This is the kind of America we should strive to build: an America that walks humbly with the Lord, in charity and prayer, seeking truth, and hoping to live honorably enough to receive his immeasurable blessings.
William Doino Jr. is a contributor to Inside the Vatican magazine, among many other publications, and writes often about religion, history and politics. He contributed an extensive bibliography of works on Pius XII to The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII. His previous “On the Square” articles can be found here.
RESOURCES
“Survey: Most Americans Believe God Uniquely Blessed U.S.,” The Christian Post, October 23, 2008.
“The Myth of American Exceptionalism,” by Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy, November, 2011.
John Winthrop (1588-1649) on the “City Upon a Hill,” Bartleby.com.
“The Religious Origins of Manifest Destiny,” by Donald M. Scott, National Humanities Center.
A Declaration of Dependence by Fulton J. Sheen (Bruce Publishing Company, 1941).
“A God-Blessed America: Obligations and Responsibilities,” by Richard Land, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, July 2, 2010.
“We Will be a City Upon a Hill,” Ronald Reagan, Speech of January 25, 1974, to the First Annual Conservative Political Action Conference.
“A Post-Christian America,” by Father C. John McCloskey III, The Catholic Thing, August 19, 2012.
“Reflections on the Institute on Religion and Democracy,” (speech on Christianity in America) by Father Richard John Neuhaus, October 2005.
“Wisdom—Not Weapons of War,” Message of Pope Pius XII to the American People, Colliers Magazine, January 5, 1946.
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Comments:
Indeed. Consider the following national self-reflection:
The Almighty has His own purposes. Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! (Mt 18:7) If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope – fervently do we pray – that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether. (Ps 19:9)
– Abraham Lincoln
The carnage and destruction of the Civil War was eventually seen by Americans of both the North and the South as a divine chastisement for slavery, which took the form of a “terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came.” This reminder that it is indeed God who makes nations rise and fall, that He does indeed judge nations, no doubt furthered national self-reflection that resulted in America correcting its unfaithfulness to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God” (appealed to in its Declaration of Independence) in another area: the killing of the child in the womb. Having recently experienced God's judgment, Americans elected representatives in all the state legislatures who would explicitly and officially acknowledge the intrinsic illegality of taking the life of the child in the womb.
America's original conception of government was exceptional indeed: If each and every human being was “endowed by their Creator” with an inestimable and intrinsic dignity and worth the protection of which necessitates humanity’s bringing the state into being, then the very nature and purpose of government is such that it cannot authorize the violation of the dignity of one segment of humanity by another, but instead must ensure that each and every human being is able to freely exercise the inalienable, natural rights that are consistent with and demanded by divinely authored human nature. In this conception of government Caesar becomes primarily the servant and protector of humanity, rather than primarily a ruler over it who sees himself as managing a human herd such that his own agenda is served instead of the common good.
America had been unfaithful to this conception of government and had been chastised for that. It was ready to do what was right for the very least of His brothers and sisters. It had ended slavery and child-killing and seemed almost anxious for the chance to show God they “got the message.” They took it to heart and proclaimed to the world a message expressed well as follows: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This attitude toward God and humanity seemed to be right and good. God blessed America. It became the most free, prosperous, powerful and successful nation on Earth. At that point she was exceptional, whether one wants to admit that or not. It is not her “manifest destiny” but instead her choice to become exceptional once again, or to continue the current decline that began with the contemporary rejection of America's founding principles and the “Laws of Nature and Nature's God.” In particular, it has rejected the laws, “Thou shalt not kill.” and “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is an abomination.”
It is not our destiny but our choice. Blessing or Chastisement.
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
– Jeremiah 18:7-10
No, American exceptionalism is true because we were the first nation, the first society in the history of the world to be founded as a constitutional republic based on the consent of the governed. We were the first nation to be founded on an idea, and this idea with a uniquely striving people and a uniquely religious foundation, created a dynamism that resulted in the most prosperous and powerful country in this history of the world. To say that America is not a unique force for good in the world because we are imperfect is fallacious.
Every person and every nation is imperfect. What a truly stupid argument that is, and most people that make it are those that hate America and what she stands for.
"The United States Constitutional Convention, except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary."— Benjamin Franklin
"This nation of ours was not founded on Christian principles."— John Adams
It's completely another matter to consider that one's country has been ordained. I think the only sensible thing that can be said about that is that unless that country happens to be Israel then it can never be anything more than speculation, and is in addition a temptation to pride and idolatry.
It's not that it's inconceivable that God might choose America, or Sweden, or Khazakstan to implement some special purpose in the world. It's just that one can never know whether it is the case, or whether it was the case at some stage in the past but no longer, or whether it is only wishful thinking.
America is NOW cursed, because no one (99+%) obeys ALL the Commandments.
It is cursed not just because of the obvious sins of the "non-religious," but especially because of the very hypocritical (and pagan/Satanic) Christianity - which believes and teaches lies and traditions of men.
We need to go beyond the Founding Fathers of this country, and all the way back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel - to turn our hearts to them, as Malachi tells/warns us!!
My point is, do we have to constantly be so negative, so worried, so self-hating as to never take pride in some of the good we have done? Who else has done as well? Sure, there is always room for improvement. But that is exactly what America is all about - opportunity to improve. To take the view of the author, as an observant Jew who found freedom in this nation, should I not demand, require or expect that all Christians who deal with me do so in abject humbleness for the crimes their various churches have done to my people and nation, to watch every word, stereotype, use of language they utter to me? If I did, I would be immediately pounced on as a "hater", someone who cannot "foregive" or worse.
Our current problem is that we have voted into power, mendacious leaders who are throwing it away. They reflect the worst of our values, or no values. This is not sustainable. Each generation must strive to earn its blessings, and American society, in large measure, quit trying, on basic values.
a) knowingly built a unique constitution that would eventually right all wrongs
Or put together an entirely optimistic mandate that has lead to the paralysis of government, and the rich allowed to buy the airwaves. A commitment to free speech that allows the worst forms of anti-semitism, bigotry and pornography to be exported around the world.
b) defeated slavery among our own countrymen
After many others managed to do so without needing a war that destroyed a large part of it's population to do so.
c) defeated colonialism
I can't remember a single instance where America fought against colonial powers unless it was in it's own interest (i.e. annexing spanish territories). American influence was negligible.
d) defeated Nazism
Closed the doors to much Jewish immigration, and then left much of Europe to bankrupt it's economy fighting Nazism while standing on the sidelines, only entering the war when attacked itself, and henceforth claiming the credit when the russians did most of the hard work, dying in their millions.
e) defeated communism
Communism in Russia mostly imploded (as was inevitable given it's inherrent weakness as a system). Few in Europe saw it as defeated by America. Whether Chinese "communism" will be defeated by American capitalism is still to early to call.
f) established a separation of church and state in order to free minority religions from the past bias in our own country....
Good on principle. Not so good in practice (ask a Muslim). Tolerance seems to be higher where there is a weak link than none at all (e.g. Northern Europe)
g) liberated other countries at our own cost in blood and treasure
Backed dictators, overthrown governments. Convinced that if we think a country is evil, we have the right to impose our will over it. Slaughtered thousands, decimated the economy, cut and run.
h) advanced technology improving the standard of living for more than our own citizens
As did the French, Germans, Dutch,British, Arabs, Greeks, Romans...... when they were economically dominant
i) lead the world in the articulation of peace
See (g). Outside of Kosovo (fought reluctantly) and WWII (ditto), none of Americas many wars fit "Just War" criteria.
j) landed on the moon
Yep - you did that.
k) defeated many disesases
See (h)
l) give more foreign aide than any other country
Are one of the lowest per capita givers in the West, with most aid restricted to purchases from US suppliers. Even with private donations, gives less per person than most European nations despite significantly higher wealth.
Now I recocgnise I'm being overly critical, and no-one can deny that America is a great and powerful nation. But with that comes the likelihood that like Rome before it, it is more likely to be a "principality and power" than a "light to the nations". An exceptionality claim can only realistically be made by an outsider, and what de Tocqueville saw bears little resemblance to the US of today.
I don't hate America (I lived there for a while). But I can recognise the flaws in it just as I can in my own country. As a Christian I am called to be an alien in this world, a citizen of heaven, and will let God judge nations by it's treatment of the poor, the fatherless, the immigrant. At it's best nationalism is just a form of pride, at worst - idolatory. One to which I might say American's appear exceptionally prone.
Why do I say it was for their own interests? For the same reason they are helping us now. We are the welcome mat to China. Even in the early 20th century the American government saw that. Not that we aren't grateful for some of the protection but being a welcome mat between 2 powerful nations is nice either.
We won the war against Spain and did not need another colonizer. They also stole a lot of our natural resources. No different from attacking the Middle East for oil profit.
I don't want to personally offend anyone out there. But this is how much of the world really sees America. In truth it's the American government, not the people who are really to blame.
