Third Awakening Blind

The real problem with Dubya’s talk of a “third awakening” is that the flavor of Christianity associated with this so-called awakening is America-centric rather than Christ-centric. Allegiance to the One who proclaimed the Good News is replaced by the Pledge of Allegiance, and Christ is replaced by the object of the Pledge—the flag of the United States. And, in spite of the fervor with which these so-called Christians defend the phrase “under God” in that Pledge, God is clearly subordinated to American nationalism and the militarism that unavoidably accompanies it.

If there were in fact a “third awakening” sweeping across this land, we would hear scathing rebukes of the war-mongers who now hold sway over our public discourse, not recruitment drives, from the pulpits of our churches. We would see ministers of the Gospel dragged off in cuffs protesting the misdeeds of this Administration, not scenes of good-ole boy backslappery between Dubya and the right-wing churchmen that sit at his table.

No, there is no awakening, only the sleep of the insensate damned. May God have mercy on this nation.