Ocular Fusion

Since my entry into the blogosphere a few months ago, I've noticed quite a few Christians, especially seminary students, who seem to struggle with the idea of "dual citizenship"--i.e., balancing their identity as both Americans and Christians. As they react to what they see as a too close alliance between the cross and the flag among those on the Christian Right, their tendency is to resort to Platonic dualism and "either/or" solutions. In other words, choose whom you will serve, cross or flag, but never both.

As with most things,"there is nothing new under the sun." Anxiety over the relationship and responsibilities of God's people to state is an old concern, predating the church itself. Not only are there clues to this ancient dilemma available from scripture, but from tradition and church history as well. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things, has plumbed the depths of the nature of church and state in his article, Our American Babylon, and turned out a very balanced treatment of the issue:

"We Christians are a pilgrim people, a people on the way, exiles from our true home, aliens in a strange land. There is in all the Christian tradition no more compelling depiction of our circumstance than St. Augustine's City of God. Short of the final coming of the Kingdom, the City of God and the earthly city are intermingled. We are to make use of, pray for, and do our share for the earthly city. Here Augustine cites the words of Jeremiah urging the people not to fear exile in Babylon: 'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its peace you will find your peace.'"

"The argument, in short, is that God is not indifferent to the American experiment, and therefore we who are called to think about God and His ways through time dare not be indifferent to the American experiment. America is not uniquely Babylon, but it is our time and place in Babylon. We seek its peace in which we find our peace as we yearn for and eucharistically anticipate the New Jerusalem which is our pilgrim goal. It is time to think again--to think deeply, to think theologically--about the story of America and its place in the story of the world. Again, the words of St. Augustine: 'It is beyond anything incredible that God should have willed the kingdoms of men, their dominations and their servitudes, to be outside the range of the laws of his providence.'"

I highly recommend this article for all, especially those who are currently struggling with these weighty matters.

On a different note, why is it that for the past 25 years, the writings which have nourished me the most and been the most critical in my ongoing spiritual formation have been almost exclusively the product of those hailing from the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions?

I guess figuring out the answer to that question will be one of many things which will occupy my thought as I continue to hang out in American Babylon.