The USA is ruled by supposedly Christian fanatics who do not agree with the words of Jesus
When the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain, Benjamin Franklin designed an impressive state seal for the newly established republic. His vision: a sea in which the evil Pharaoh's army is drowning, with Moses standing on the shore surrounded by saved Israelites. Thomas Jefferson had a slightly different idea: he wanted to depict the people of Israel in the desert, led by a pillar of fire.
Ultimately, however, he won an eagle that holds arrows in one talon in case of war and an olive branch in the other – symbol of peace. These original proposals, however, show how strong America's identification with the people of God described in the Bible was from the beginning.
This is surprising, because the founding fathers of the United States were not devout Christians at all, and certainly not fundamentalists. They were not “bathed in holy water”, but rather soaked in the ideas of the Enlightenment. Many of them belonged to Freemasonry. Most adhered to a worldview known as deism — they believed that God did create the world, but then he no longer interfered with his work through miracles.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall have no right to establish a state religion. You must also not discriminate against followers of religious minorities. Thomas Jefferson wrote in one of his letters about: “wall” that should be built between the state and religion.
America like the Promised Land. For white people
Still, Americans identified with the Hebrew Bible. More precisely: they treated the American Revolution as their exodus from Egypt. King George III, the English monarch, was a pharaoh to them, George Washington is the new Moses, and the “New World” is their CanaanGod's Promised Land. This passage from the Hebrew Bible often proved deadly to Native Americans.
The American community was supposed to be a nation that – like the Israelites on Sinai – was united by law. The United States was to be ruled not by kings, but by the letter of the Constitution. Benjamin Franklin wanted the motto to appear on the American national seal: “Rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.”
The US Constitution at the National Archives in Washington. Illustrative photoBonnie Cash/UPI Photo via Newscom / PAP
Of course, this was hypocritical. At the time of its founding, the United States was at half aristocratic republic, half gulagwhere black slaves toiled on plantations. 12 American presidents of the United States were slave owners. Still, some of the founding fathers—Washington and Jefferson among them—felt guilty about it; they sincerely believed that this plague would one day disappear by itself.
Supporters of slavery also referred to the Hebrew Bible. They quoted a passage that took place after the flood: drunken Noah sleeps naked in a tent, and his son Ham finds him in such a state and calls his brothers – Shem and Japheth – to see his naked father. Shem and Japheth, looking away, cover him. When Noah wakes up and learns what has happened, he curses his grandson, Ham's son: “Cursed be Canaan! Let him be the lowest servant of his brothers!” (Genesis 9:25).
The concept of different “races” would have been incomprehensible in biblical times, however slave owners used this passage as evidence that God intended Africans (i.e. “descendants of Ham”) to serve whites (descendants of Japheth) and the Semites (descendants of Shem).
From radical abolitionists to radical rightists
Before the 1980s, religion in America was more the domain of progressives than conservatives. This included, for example, white evangelical Christians of the 19th century who were abolitionists – radical opponents of slavery. The civil rights movement was also deeply religious: “Let my people go!” (Exodus 9:1). This time, the role of the Israelites was taken by oppressed black people, and their Moses was named Martin Luther King.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Washington, August 28, 1963National Archives/CNP/AdMedia/PAP
In a famous speech delivered on August 28, 1963, in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. he sounded like biblical prophets. He had a universal vision along the lines of Isaiah and paraphrased the words of Amos: “No, we will not be satisfied until justice breaks down like water and justice like a stream that never runs out!”
And what is it like today? Over the past 20 years, Christian churches in the United States have virtually collapsed. America is still far from the secularism of Europe, but the number of people who consider themselves Christians has dropped to 63 percent. society. However, the rest of the believers are becoming more and more radical.
The most extreme case is the movement called the “New Apostolic Reformation”. His followers, like Pentecostals, believe they were baptized by the Holy Spirit. They consider the Democratic Party to be literally demonic. They believe that the separation of church and state is wrong and that America should be ruled by Christians faithful to the Bible. This is not a marginal trend at all. The supporters of the “New Apostolic Reformation” include, among others: Congresswomen Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, former General Michael Flynn, Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Paula White, the president's spiritual adviser.
Saint Augustine turns in his grave when his words are quoted by JD Vance
100 years ago, to be considered a full-fledged white person in America, you had to be a Protestant. The Irish, Italians and Slavs did not belong to this group. This has changed. Today, no one pays attention to that There are six Catholics in the nine-person Supreme Courtone Anglican and one Jewish, and the only Protestant is Ketanji Brown Jackson, a black woman.
Also the vice president of the USA, JD Vance, is not a Protestant, but he openly admits to Catholicism. He justifies his ultra-conservative policy not with the Bible, but with the father of the Church, Saint. Augustyn. In the work De civitate Dei Augustine described his own vision ordo amoris — the order of love for one's neighbor. Vance interprets ordo amoris in this way: you must love your own countrymen first, and strangers can only count on love later, if at all.
The article continues below the video
All of this is theologically very questionable. Other Christians especially noticed this. For supporters of the “New Apostolic Reformation”, one thing matters above all: power in the state. Their idol, Donald Trump, loves nothing more than success, and he openly despises “losers”.
Conservative Christian Peter Wehner noted that it resembled a German philosopher with a huge mustache rather than the Bible: “What is good? Everything that increases the sense of power, the will to power, the power itself in man. What is evil? Everything that comes from weakness […]. The weak and failures should die: this is the first commandment of our love for people.” This is what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in “Antichrist”.
A simplistic and nationalistic interpretation ordo amoris by the vice president raises skepticism in Catholic circles. Jesuit James Martin reminded him of the parable of the Good Samaritanthe main teaching of which is that the alien behaves as the Torah commands.
Trump demanded an apology for his words about mercy
Donald Trump's second term began with a Bible-inspired scandal that has since been forgotten. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Church, asked the president to show mercy during a service at the National Cathedral in Washington. Mercy towards immigrants and their children who live in fear, towards LGBT people, towards refugees.
“Our God teaches us to have mercy on the stranger, because we were all once strangers in this country,” she said. This identification with the biblical people of God emerged again. Trump responded to the sermon by demanding an apology from the bishop. He might as well demand an apology from the authors of the Bible.
Mariann Budde delivers a sermon at the National Cathedral the day after Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration. Washington, January 21, 2025EPA/WILL OLIVER / POOL / PAP
Let us open the Book of Books: “The alien who sojourns among you shall be considered a citizen of yours. You shall love him as yourself, for you also were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:34). “The same law shall be for the natives and for the foreigners sojourning among you” (Exodus 12:49). “Practice yourself in good! Care for justice, help the oppressed, do justice to the orphan, stand up for the widow!” (Isaiah 1:17). “Hear this word, O cows of Bashan, you who dwell in the mountains of Samaria: you oppress the poor, you oppress the poor, you say to your men, 'Bring us, and we will drink.'” The Lord God has sworn by his holiness: Behold, the days are coming upon you, when they will take you with hooks, and the rest of you with fishermen's lines, and through the gaps in the wall they will come out, every one of them, and they will drag you to Hermon, declares the Lord! (Amos 4:1-3).
This is all extremely uncomfortable. Finally, a quote from the famous miracle worker and wandering rabbi from Galilee, who in a parable allows the king to say: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40)
Which of the masked agents of the American immigration service ICE will not get chills after reading these words?
