A Nation Under God

When I say that I pledge my allegiance to a “nation under God,” I mean what I say.

I am not always sure that I mean the same thing as what someone else may mean when they say those words. Scholars debate what Abraham Lincoln had in mind when he said these words in Gettysburg, when he resolved that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” He added the words “under God” when he gave the address; they weren’t on his draft copy. It was something that he wanted to say, but we’re not totally sure what these words meant to him.

For me, when I take up the name of God — even in regard to my nation — it is a statement of my faith. And we are told that the Lord will not hold them guiltless, who take up his name for nothing / in vain / to misuse it.

My nation is my nation, and it is a nation under God. This means that my nation has a place in my life and I have a place in my nation’s life, as a citizen. But my Lord has a place in my life higher than any nation.

If faith in one God, the Father almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, has any meaning at all, it means that ALL nations are nations under God. And therefore nations with obligations, duties, opportunities and limitations, under God.

That my nation is a nation under God determines all my relationship to it. It determines all my commitments as a citizen. It declares the value of every human being; the limitation of my trust in any human being; and my obligation to include every human being in my thinking and evaluations.

This came most clearly to me, when I looked into the issue of torture. The value of every human being (even those accused or captured);  the limitation of my trust in any human being (no matter what their title, authority, or power);  and my obligation to include every human being (even present enemies and their families / descendants) in my thinking and evaluations.   So . . . “A Nation Under God May Not Torture.”

But this conviction also affects my thinking on dealing with the climate, with gun violence, with health care and all that goes into my life and politics as a citizen of a nation under God.

It can be summed up in a statement that I learned from my reading of Simone Weil, a statement that my re-reading has been unable to track down, so I quote it in several different forms. (I hope none of these forms or paraphrases are a mis-quotation.)

“If you are not willing  to stand up for EVERYONE, then NO-ONE should listen to you.”

“If you will not speak for everyone, then there is no reason anyone should listen to you.”

If you will not stand up for everyone,

then there is no reason anyone should listen to you.

Simone Weil