An article from August's Harper's by Bill McKibben is online now in excerpt form.
A few notable quotes from the piece:
Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical.
...
America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior.
...
What if we chose some simple criterion—say, giving aid to the poorest people—as a reasonable proxy for Christian behavior?
In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide fifteen cents a day in official development assistance to poor countries. And it’s not because we were giving to private charities for relief work instead. Such funding increases our average daily donation by just six pennies, to twenty-one cents.
In fact, by pretty much any measure of caring for the least among us you want to propose—childhood nutrition, infant mortality, access to preschool—we come in nearly last among the rich nations, and often by a wide margin. The point is not just that (as everyone already knows) the American nation trails badly in all these categories; it’s that the overwhelmingly Christian American nation trails badly in all these categories, categories to which Jesus paid particular attention.
...
Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, of course, the most violent rich nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations (which at least should give us plenty of opportunity for visiting the prisoners). Having been told to turn the other cheek, we’re the only Western democracy left that executes its citizens, mostly in those states where Christianity is theoretically strongest. Despite Jesus’ strong declarations against divorce, our marriages break up at a rate—just over half—that compares poorly with the European Union’s average of about four in ten.
Teenage pregnancy? We’re at the top of the charts. Personal self-discipline—like, say, keeping your weight under control? Buying on credit? Running government deficits? Do you need to ask?
What exactly is the criterion by which we measure a "Christian nation?" It can't be by the number of people who say they are Christians. It can't be by the size of churches that we build. It can't be by the accumulated wealth of our people. It can't be by the words of our elected officials. All of these and more have been used by some to proclaim our great devotion to Jesus, but it seems to me that Jesus Himself had something else in mind.
At Emmaus Way, the church Amy and I helped to start in Durham, we spent the first several months of our community's life exploring Jesus' manifesto - the "Sermon on the Mount" from the Gospel of Matthew. In this - the longest and fullest explanation of the life in the Kingdom of the Heavens that Jesus gives us - we are troubled when we compare Jesus' Way to our Way. He says that it doesn't matter how many people call Him Lord because Jesus doesn't even recognize many of their faces. He says that our devotion to religion is useless because God isn't interested in religiosity. He says that our facination with wealth is ridiculous because it tempts us to trade God for a lie. He says that God is unimpressed with our words because our actions reveal our true nature.
Everyone has the right, I suppose, to choose a basis for labeling our nation "Christian" or "Not." If it makes you feel better to say we are a "Christian nation" or that we used to be a "Christian nation" or that we hope to be a "Christian nation" based upon a definition of your own creation, then by all means feel better. I humbly submit a new set of criteria - one that gives points for a poverty of spirit, a merciful and pure heart, and a peacemaking agenda; one that looks beyond outward compliance and instead toward inward devotion; one that promotes love for enemies above revenge; one that encourages reliance on God as opposed to our portfolios; one that popularizes plank-pulling instead of speck-plucking; one that seeks a narrow path rarely traveled as opposed to the wide road of the least common denominator; one that fosters service to the least of these over blustery and pompous talk.
Let's aim for that standard and measure ourselves by the Way of Jesus. I think that would be a great help to our churches, our families, our country. And, after all, God helps those who help themselves... right?
