Patriotism, Party Politics, and Religion in America
Hoo boy.
First - apologies. I have no Muppets or Sesame Street characters for you this week! My wife is better at the funny stuff.
I grew up on and around military bases. My father was an aviator in the US Navy. In many of my memories he’s wearing his uniform, home late from work in his service khakis, leaving for D.C. before sunrise in his dress blues, waving from the deck of aircraft carrier in his dress whites as the ship pulls away from the dock for a six month cruise. When you grow up in a military family, you hear a lot about service, and patriotism, and giving back to the country you call home.
Another big influence on me growing up was religion. My mother got involved with church when we were stationed in Puerto Rico. As far as I can recall the two religious choices on the base were Catholic and Baptist.
When we returned to the US, my mother joined a church that was part of the pentecostal movement (my dad never went to any churches with us). The pentecostal movement emphasizes baptism in the holy spirit and a direct experience of God. They believe in miracles, healing, laying on of hands, speaking in tongues, being “slain in the spirit,” and other nonsense like the prosperity gospel. I was drawn into the church because I was terrified of the hell they described, but I also discovered girls! Getting to make out in the church basement seemed like a good trade for eternal damnation.
Over the 3-4 years of attending these churches I began to realize . . . these people are nuts! The realization was hurried along by a fight I had with a youth pastor about gay people. He said they couldn’t be forgiven because they embraced a “lifestyle of sin.” I said, “But you’re fat. Isn’t gluttony also a lifestyle of sin?” He threw the baseball he was holding up into the air as if he was going to hit it, then he swung and hit me in the face with the bat. I had to go to the hospital for stitches; when I told my mother what happened she said we couldn’t tell dad because he’d drive to the pastor’s house and shoot him. I still have a scar on my chin.
The things the church preached made no sense—they were inconsistent, the people seemed gullible, the leaders were dishonest, and they believed salvation required absolute commitment no matter how extreme/crazy what God or his representatives demanded. You had to believe the bible was the literal truth, never mind that the most common method used by Jesus to make a point was the parable, which is a fancy word for a metaphor! There were constant schisms and infighting and a high turnover in the church leadership as people got caught stealing the offering money, got involved in sexual scandals, or left to form their own churches. The Hell they threatened and the cruel, vengeful, misogynistic God they believed in made an atheist out of me.
In my lifetime, these two ideas—Christian extremism and unquestioning patriotism— have combined into a dangerous political force in America. The religious right has put forward racist, homophobic ideas, encouraged political violence, and became intertwined with the prosperity gospel (in my memory this started with the Reagan presidential campaign which was when I first started to pay attention to politics as a teenager, but I know it goes further back). God wants you to be rich, and so does Ronald Reagan. I remember my dad saying, “more millionaires have been created under Reagan than any previous president,” as if that were a useful metric for diagnosing a healthy society. (Psssst, secret info: the purpose of an economy is to build a middle class.)
As I got older and more sophisticated in my understanding of politics, it seemed to me that these were anti-American ideas, ideas that denied opportunity, ideas that inhibited true freedom, ideas that punished the pursuit of happiness. As a young teen, I was captivated by Reagan, his direct way of speaking and his faith in the idea of America made me proud of my country. I would watch his speeches from beginning to end. I remember when Reagan talked about having been a Democrat many years before and his shift to the Republican Party: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me!” Reagan proclaimed. My dad told me he felt the exact same way—he too had been a Democrat; he too felt the party left him.
I have personally known exactly one Republican who has said the opposite in the wake of Donald Trump and the extremist/MAGA shift in the Republican Party. He didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left him. Certainly there are others, I can think of a few high-profile Republicans who may not have said those exact words but have refused to endorse the MAGA extremists. Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney come to mind. Those people have become outcasts; the MAGA movement requires the same absolute, unquestioning loyalty that the religious leaders of my youth said was required by God. If God tells you to kill your child you do it (see Genesis 22 and the story of Abraham and Isaac), and if the Republican party tells you to sacrifice 2,600 kids a year (48,000 deaths per year for all ages) you go along with it, because it’s more important to have unimpeded gun ownership.
I’m thinking about religion, politics, and patriotism because of the two big stories in the US news the past few days. First, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Second, the decision by President Biden to not pursue a second term in office.
As much as I detest Donald Trump, his proposals, and what he stands for, I am glad/relieved that Trump was not seriously harmed or killed. And I have nothing but admiration for Joe Biden’s decision. Biden stepping aside reminds me of a story from the very early days of the American Republic. When news reached King George III that George Washington would willingly surrender the presidency after two terms, the king believed it made Washington “the most distinguished man living and the greatest character of the age.”
Carolyn and I have written before about whether or not moving to France is unpatriotic and whether or not we are doing a smart thing. Are we abandoning our country during a time of dire need? We have no intention of giving up our American citizenship and we WILL vote in this election. We will stay informed, pay our taxes, and support politicians that want America to work for everyone. We both love the ideals of America, we love our families and friends here, the lives we have forged, and the careers we have enjoyed. Despite the recent right wing ascendance in France, the country has extremely strict gun laws, universal health care, (nearly) free education, and an explicitly secular government. These facts make France the most attractive second home for us, at least for the foreseeable future.
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois.
Roberto & Carolyn
Thanks for this. I’m grateful for like-minded people like you and Carolyn.
and I thought the Catholic Church was full of BS! Your serious voice is just as welcome as Carolyn's funny one. What stands out to me is your comparison of the demands of the Republican Party to the demands of church followers. That will resonate with many Americans. My husband and I moved to France for the same reasons you listed and we will never return to the US. Still, we will vote and encourage all expats to do the same. US democracy is too important to the world to allow it to fail.