“Americanism” vs. “Globalism”: An Additional Theological Consideration

[Summary: God is the God of the whole universe. He is no respecter of persons or of nations. God must therefore not be co-opted by any partisan agenda, be it “Americanism” or “Globalism,” nor by any national agenda, including an unexamined and ultimate allegiance to the United States of America (at the dismissal of other peoples). Nor must God the universal Creator-Redeemer be unwittingly stiff-armed out of Christians’ political reasoning by appeals to individual conscience and character. U.S. Christians’ faith in the God who created, rules, and redeems the entire world should somehow overshadow all other political concerns – even if what that looks like may not appear clearly or exactly the same in different people’s political decisions.]

    This is an attempt to offer a non-partisan, Christian theological viewpoint that I do not see evidenced nearly enough in the exploding commentary on what some see as the fundamental issue in the current U.S. Presidential election campaign: Donald Trump’s “Americanism” vs. Hillary Clinton’s “Globalism.”[1] My central concern here is not political per se. Rather, I wish to buttress Christians against either being unjustifiably co-opted by narrower agendas, be they current political ones or otherwise, or unwittingly self-excluding themselves from important processes. I also hope that what I will more explicitly lay out toward the end of this brief essay will prove helpful for approaching other issues besides the current U.S. political crisis.

    To summarize the political issue at hand, “Americanism” – labeled by its critics as isolationist, nationalistic, or even racist – stresses restoring various U.S. manufacturing jobs that have been lost due to offshoring by large U.S. corporations and a corresponding U.S. market invasion by foreign companies.[2; 3] The offshoring and foreign invasion have both been fostered by NAFTA, TPP, and other maneuvers of “Globalism” – which, according to its critics, is not only unpatriotic but has also served to line the pockets of the elite and wealthy at the expense of the U.S. middle class and of their decimated communities.[4] Note that the twin categories are primarily economic, and (this latter observation intends no partisan preference) they have been framed as such by the Trump campaign. The fact that Trump the businessman would use primarily economic categories is understandable, as is the reality that Clinton would not create such a construct and risk being categorized as “Anti-Americanist.” Parsing the “Americanism-Globalism” framework any further would take us beyond our scope here, so we will address it as is, especially since that is what others are discussing so widely and vociferously.

    As with any multifaceted, passionately-discussed matter as this year’s bewildering U.S. political process, there has been a wide spectrum of commentary – by “experts,” “pundits,” and obscure folks posting on Facebook – in terms of carefulness, contentiousness, constructiveness, competence, and clarity. With specific regard to the “Americanism-Globalism” issue, there are intertwined economic, social, historical, political, ethical, psychological, and other factors at work.(While not for the faint of heart or those in a hurry, the following piece by Jürgen Habermas, “The European Nation-State: On the Past and Future of Sovereignty and Citizenship,” is a historical analysis of the modern nation-state worthy of attention. This kind of perspective also helps for parsing the following recent, multifaceted statement made by Donald Trump: "The nation-state remains the true foundation for happiness and harmony." [5]) I am definitely not competent to address the economic aspect of this discussion – which often takes center stage either explicitly or more subtly. Nor do I naively think that my or others’ theological views have somehow developed independently from other factors, interests, assumptions, and personal experiences – be they political, linguistic, racial, financial, or otherwise.

    Even so, I am daring to offer here a specifically Christian theological point. To clear the underbrush further for clarity’s sake, allow me to explain that the point I am offering is not the same as either of two other Christian-related arguments I have seen in specific relation to the “Americanism-Globalism” issue. One is an eschatological view that interprets “Globalism” as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.[6; 7] I am among those who understands the Bible to teach literally, i.e., within its various literary forms, that the “End Times” began long before the twentieth century, namely with Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascended reign. Another is a more multifaceted argument that criticizes “Globalism” as a continuance of a U.S. Neocon world vision that was implemented during Bill Clinton’s second term as President and is theologically (and financially-politically) supported by Christian Zionism.[7a] While I would distance myself from both Neo-Conservatism and Christian Zionism, the theological consideration I am adding here to the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” discussion has its own integrity and unique contribution to make.

    The theological consideration I wish to add to Christians’ thinking – in this case, to U.S. Christians’ thinking regarding the U.S. Presidential election process, both generally and specifically regarding the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” issue – is this: God is the God of the whole universe, including the galaxies, sub-atomic particles, mighty angels, and all peoples past, present, and future throughout the world. Moreover, there is no ethnic-national difference among peoples he envelops in his redemptive purposes. This great, intimate, and universal Creator-Redeemer is just, holy, loving, and absolutely no respecter of persons and nations. He is God, and there is no other.

    So does recognizing that universal reality about God tip one towards “Globalism”? Perhaps at first glance it does. However, the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” framework is a partisan construct cast within a U.S. political process. Even while portrayed as unpatriotic and economically unjust, “Globalism” is one U.S.-centered approach to serving U.S. interests (at least per its defenders). God as universal Creator-Redeemer cannot be confined to “Globalism” as the only legitimate option within a U.S.-centered political process. Indeed, one could argue (and many do) that “Americanism” is just as good for the entire world, if not better, than “Globalism” in terms of all peoples’ political and economic well-being. In either case, God must not be co-opted by any partisan agenda – even if proponents of such agendas sincerely believe that God’s favor clearly rests on such a political program.

    Along with the two theological approaches to the “Americanism” vs. “Globalism” issue mentioned earlier, there are several other theological approaches being circulated for U.S. Christians to consider regarding how, or whether, to cast their votes for President this year. These thoughtful approaches, that are worthy of careful consideration, include guarding one’s conscience [8] or character [9], why to vote for neither Trump nor Clinton (and, possibly, for another candidate) [10], as well as giving wider reasons for why one candidate’s presidency would carry less damaging consequences than the other’s [11; 12].

    What I do not see being circulated – and thus the effort to articulate and offer these remarks for your consideration – is a view of God as universal Creator-Redeemer that correspondingly relativizes myself as an individual, or the United States of America as a modern nation-state, in a manner that prioritizes God’s interests and, in subservient fashion, those of the entire world. In other words, how is this year’s U.S. Presidential election, including my and others’ particular votes, affected by God being the universal Creator-Redeemer who is always intent on preserving the world, working worldwide for the sake of his Kingdom, and redeeming his people from among the world that he has created?

    Asking that question will not necessarily clarify how, or if, one should vote this year. It is, however, a question whose silence in the current discussions is deafening. Speaking as a U.S. Christian myself, I think that many of us are plagued by both a fundamentally individualistic Christian identity as well as an unexamined allegiance to the ultimacy of the United States of America. U.S. Christians’ fundamental identity as citizens of God’s universal Kingdom must trump (no pun intended) these secondary identities. I hope to see more evidence of our fundamentally corporate, universal Christian identity – as servants of the universal Creator-Redeemer – evidenced in upcoming commentaries about the U.S. political process.