STATE HATE

Tonight at church, the pastor made a few comments — as he usually does — about America’s wars, the military, etc.

Something along the lines of “pray for our country,” “pray for the branches of our military who are risking their lives,” “God bless our troops,” etc.

Being of course that I am a heretic in the church of American military fetishism, these comments bothered me for many reasons, just as I roll my eyes every time I see people pledging allegiance to a government or saying nonsense like “God bless America.”

So, my question for Christians is this: do you guys really think that God gives a damn about the United States of America? Do you think that God cares more about people whose passports say ‘USA’ than those whose bear the name of any other government? Where in the Bible does it say that God favors America or Americans?

And why do we pray for “our” troops, and not everyone’s troops? Why do we pray for “our” people, and not for everyone’s people? Are we all God’s children, or just those who fly a red, white, and blue flag? I can assure you that nationalism and jingoism are not found in God’s Word.

I don’t care about “our” troops, I care that people are suffering and dying. I don’t care about America, I care about people. And as Christians, we shouldn’t be praying that “our” guys win, we should be praying for peace.