On Patriotism and Hero Worship (or, if you prefer, 'Inflammatory')

I have a very strange habit: Whenever I find something cheesy or overwrought or vapid or brainless, I kind of zone out and start testing the idea behind it in my mind. For example: Terrible, theologically bankrupt worship songs usually get me to thinking really seriously about theology. A more concise way of putting it might be to say that if something aims for my heart and misses, it frequently hits my head.

So a few nights ago, I found myself at the Stone Mountain laser show. It was gloriously Southern: I was surrounded by rednecks in camping chairs and on blankets, and vendors carrying overpriced glowsticks and light-up plastic swords; and a very 'Merican (woo!) spirit hung over the whole affair. The show itself consisted of what you would expect; lots of Georgia-themed songs, a bit about the Civil War that got all the Confederates in the crowd worked up. There was a scene depicting a couple of robots falling in love to the tune of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It" that was unexpected and kind of cool; but the rest, though amusing, was pretty predictable.

Then, near the end, they played the full version of "Star-Spangled Banner" (which must have been six minutes long), set to scenes of people most Americans would probably call heroes--John F. Kennedy, George Washington, firemen, astronauts, soldiers, the NYPD, etc. And I stood up and put my hand over my heart, like everyone else, because however detached and over-rational I may be, I am an American. But I started thinking about patriotism and hero worship; and I just do not understand it.

Do not mistake me; I do not believe that there is anything wrong with admiring people who do extraordinary things, and even less with loving the place you call home. But I guess, at bottom, I don't really believe in heroes; and I will never in all my days assert that America is the greatest country in the world. In the first place, what kind of criteria do you use to determine that? I have only been to one other country, and I prefer America to that place; but translating that into America being superior would just be stupid. And as for hero worship: why? Do people not know that all of those men are dead and buried, or will be soon? And even if their lives were given for something we call 'noble', for peace or freedom or justice; even if their lives have made our lives better--we all are going to die, as well; and so will our children, and so will theirs. We are like the flower of the field, that blooms today, and tomorrow is gone, and its place does not remember it; or again, like the dew that vanishes before midday; or again, we are like the wind that passes, and comes not again. "All is vanity", said the Preacher; and he spoke the truth.

So with these thoughts flying back and forth over my mental landscape, I thought (lest I should fall again into that old black despair I used to love so much): To what should these energies be devoted? Nations and their heroes are not sufficient objects for the worship a man, even if they do frequently steal it. A man's country can be, and frequently is, positively evil; and as for heroes -- from dust they came, and to dust they have or someday will return.

Jesus, the Christ, is the only hero who has conquered death, and whose accomplishments and victories will benefit us long after we have withered away, and our place as forgotten us. He did not come from the dust, and He has not gone back there. His kingdom is the only nation that does no evil, and is always, in every way, admirable and worthy of a man's allegiance.

Christ's life was not a campaign. He did not rally for a revolution in a temporary government. He did not seize a seat of power and pass just laws that would pass away as soon as a stronger army than His decided they wanted His land. Rather, He came to write a new law on our hearts that will never pass away, even if every army in the world comes against it. His revolution was a revolution in our hearts and minds; and His cause was our salvation, not our temporary peace and prosperity. When He died, He did not "go the way of all the earth" -- He took sin on his sinless self, condemning it by dying; and rising in victory, He cancelled the debt we had incurred by sin, buying for His followers an eternal freedom, and not a temporary one.

As for His nation, it is not a geographical territory with fixed boundaries -- it is a kingdom in the hearts and minds of men that spans the globe. It is an empire of liberation, not conquering countries for resources, but men and women for their freedom. The Crusaders marched under the banner of the cross, but they were advancing the kingdom of the Pope, not of the Christ he claimed to serve. And the kingdom of Christ is unshakable: though all the armies in the world should fight against it, it cannot fall. It is a kingdom built on love and not strength; on freedom and not slavery.

May our eternal God and Father rescue us, lest ever we should worship or pledge our allegiance to anything less.