Fundamentalist Christians living in the United States must live with some serious cognitive dissonance. People who are ideologically like the former president really intrigue me. I am not speaking of neo-cons per-say, but specifically those who believe it is their duty, bestowed upon them by the Almighty, to spread democracy around the globe.
This is interesting to me because democracy is at complete odds with the type of Christianity in which they believe. Democracy entails equality of all citizens in all matters; in basic rights, in the law making process, and every other aspect of society. And, to be truthful, this is not that bad of an idea. The United States was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and for this to be possible we must live the belief that we are all equal. That each individual’s happiness and security is vital and worth protecting.
When we take a look at these Christians, namely fundamentalist and bible literalists, they make it obvious that they seek to spread their version of democracy to those “enslaved” to their cultural, traditional way of life. These Christians who believe it is their duty, as if they are knights serving their king, to spread the influence of their ruler; democracy. The thing is that the have already made your decision for those they seek to liberate and free. They preach democracy and freedom of choice, but they have an ultimate outcome; their choice. Their way of life.
The point is that you cannot think that the best way, the best form of government, is a democracy when you believe the highest order operates as a monarchy.
A reconciliation must occur and it can only happen one of two ways:
- We accept that Monarchy, and submission hitherto, is the best form of governance.
- We accept that Democracy, and freedom, is the best form of governance.
The founders of the United States obviously had their opinions on the matter. By establishing a democratic republic they effectively liberated themselves from financial slavery and life-long oppression under a monarchy. They knew, as we do to this day, that it is the individuals’ right to be free and live a life of happiness. And as long as the law was laid down from a single source, liberty and happiness would only come to those who pledged allegiance to the controlling body. Our founding fathers wanted more for us. They wanted all citizens of the new republic to have access to happiness and freedom regardless of their political ideology. They knew this was the undeniable right of each human being.
If we take a hard look at the religion and way of life that Jesus taught, rather than the religion about Jesus, it becomes immediately clear. What Jesus preached was equality amongst all humans. He did not preach submission to a monarch; an all knowing, all powerful, giver of edicts and laws that must be followed. Indeed he advocated submission to the highest force, the All Powerful; un-adulterated Love.
During his ministry he did not associate with the heads of state or the ruling religious elite. He lived his life with the people who had been forgotten by society, the people who did not share the rights and freedoms given to the ones who submitted to Roman domination, the ones who had no say in how their life should be lived. He gave a voice to those who could not speak for themselves. He performed the miracle of bringing back to life, reintegrating into society, the untouchables. Jesus did not discriminate saying “those who believe in me (or my father) are the ones deserving of recognition.” No one had to submit to his authority, or that of the creator, to receive love, people were free to choose to receive his blessing of warmth and compassion. Jesus preached a truly democratic way of life, where is was the individuals right to choose what was best for them and their happiness.
Just because people do not practice freedom the way in which we Americans do, does not mean they are not truly free. We can see that what these hypocrite “christians” are really spreading is a form of economic monarchy which accords with their belief of how the Universe actually operates. Where democracy is degraded into a freedom to choose from which multi-national corporation to buy from. They have decided that submission to the king, corporate America, is the highest good.
I have always wondered: what would happen if the people of these nations, being taken over by corporate greed, voted us out of there country? Could we justify invading them again? Could we not say that democracy has triumphed; the people have made their educated choice to keep their way of life over accepting a new corporate monarch?
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