Zionism Plus Impunity: The Mathematics of Israel

by former Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Duleep de Chickera

When the Secretary General of the UN, condemned the Hamas attack of 7/10 [October 7] and cautioned the world to see it in context, he came under harsh criticism from Israel. But he was right. It is misleading to enter a conflict in the middle of the story.

The story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict begins around the close of the 19 th C-CE when organized groups of diaspora Jews descended on Palestine. They claimed the land was promised to them by God.

At that time Palestine was populated mostly by Arab Palestinians, (Muslims and Christians), and smaller communities of Jewish, Druze and Samaritan Palestinians, to whom the Jewish claim was audacious. Palestine was their land.

Today’s inhumane massacre of Palestinians, updates the story. It tells of how a tenacious toe hold of a century ago, has subjugated their land. Those who lived on it have lost their land, freedom, and more. Trapped and targeted, they face annihilation.

A mix of Zionism and impunity explain this travesty of justice.

Zionism

This ideology was provoked by the incessant anti-Semitic pogroms in Christian Europe, which persecuted Jews as “Christ Killers”. Under the direction of Theodore Herzel, the father of Zionism, Jewish suffering was shaped into a clamour for a homeland in Palestine.

Zionism is not Judaism. It has become an ethno-nationalist agenda, bent on occupying all of Palestine and ridding it of Palestinians.

Conversely, Judaism is the authentic religion of the Jews. Because it equates belief in God with loving care over ones’ neighbor, it has potential to co-exist with others. This difference explains today's opposition of numerous Jewish Israelis to the Zionist Israeli agenda.

The convergence of two factors have helped the Zionist agenda. The Balfour declaration that devised a homeland for Jews in Palestine, reflected European guilt. European Jews had to be compensated for European atrocities, but far away from Europe. Provision in the declaration for the protection of the rights and privileges of the then inhabitants of the land, has been proved to be a lie.

The other factor was the prevailing climate of western colonialism. The Zionist invasion of Palestine occurred when the plunder of other lands by some greedy nations, was the norm.

Impunity

Zionism alone could not have turned Israel into the bully it has become. The manipulation of western guilt, to equate any criticism of Zionism with anti-Semitism, earned Israel limitless impunity. Recent hearings by Congress into alleged Anti-Semitic protests in some Universities in the US, illustrates how this manipulation works.

Zionist impunity first manifest under the British mandate (1920-1948). Palestinians who fought Jewish invasion were branded as insurgents. Their leaders were exiled in the Seychelles and in a practice emulated by Zionist Israel, their dwellings, demolished.When the Palestinians revolted against Jewish land acquisition, Britain declared Martial law and trained Jewish Night Squads to hit back. These squads later evolved into the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).

When the conflict got out of hand, British attempts* to partition the land and regulate Jewish immigration and land acquisition, came too late. Zionist Israel had smelt the power of impunity.

War and strategies

World War 11 and the horrendous holocaust, brought a flood of Jewish refugees into Palestine and further bolstered the Zionist agenda. With the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948 after the British mandate, war broke out between Israel and the surrounding Arab states, in support of the Palestinians. Israel-Egyptian tensions in 1967, led to a second devastating war.

Both wars stirred the trauma of the holocaust and doubled Zionist Israel’s resolve for a land of its own. Consequently, a more fervent fighting force, twice crushed Israel’s adversaries. A calculated cycle of forcible occupation followed; it expanded Israel’s boundaries to close in on its Zionist agenda.

As hundreds of Palestinian villages, mosques and churches were destroyed, millions of Palestinians displaced, exiled or detained and millions of acres of Palestinian land acquired; armed Israeli settler colonies were built where Palestinians lived and farmed, before.

Soon, ‘settler only’ roads and security walls bifurcated Palestinian villages and undermined Palestinian unity. Whenever friction developed between armed settlers and desperate stone throwing Palestinians, the IDF moved in to complete the next cycle of detention, displacement, more settler colonies and so on.

By the end of the 1948 war, Israel had occupied 77 % of Palestinian land including most of Jerusalem and the remaining 22% was annexed during the 1967 six day war. At the beginning of 2023 the Israeli war machine had illegally established more than 150 settler colonies on Palestinian land. With all of Palestine under Israel, the subjugation of a people on their own soil was almost complete.

Two Israeli laws reinforced the Zionist agenda of total occupation. The Right to Return Law, welcomed Jews from anywhere in the world, and the draconian Absentee law, annulled Palestinian ownership after they were forced off their land.

With the inflow of large numbers of Jewish refugees and immigrants and the prevention of over two million Palestinian refugees from returning, the demography of Palestine changed drastically.

Israeli impunity, ensured by the US and its western allies had made these glaring violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, appear normal. As a victim of despicable crimes became a ruthless oppressor; its allies stood on the wrong side of history.

In the meantime, global endorsement for Palestinian self-determination, UN recognition of a Palestinian authority, UN observer status and the declaration of a Palestinian state in 1988, did little to change Israel’s attitude.

This rigidity provoked the rise of groups like the PLO, determined to liberate Palestine and its people from the yoke of Zionist occupation. This was typical of all peoples under wanton western colonialism. Had these Palestinians resisted German invasion during WW 11, they would have been honored as ‘The Resistance.’

With time, the secular PLO under Yasser Arafat, changed its stance to talk peace with the leftist Israeli PM, Rabin. Rabin’s daring to shift from violence to negotiations, cost him his life. Later on the emergence of Hamas, an armed Islamic group, intensified the conflict, as killings increased on both sides. Strained relations between the PLO and Hamas finally led to their separate but limited control over the West Bank and Gaza respectively.

Gaza

In 2005, the densely populated Gaza strip was disengaged as a non-profitable, volatile zone, by Israel. After Israeli settlers in Gaza were compensated and resettled in the Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli withdrawal turned into a siege. The borders of the strip came under IDF control, and all movement in and out, including the supply of food, medicine and fuel by the UN Relief Work Agency, was brought under its scrutiny. Israel, a law to itself, had Gaza at its mercy.

Then came the incidents of 7/10 [October 7].

Today the relentless bombardment of Gaza, the massacre of innocents, the targeting of hospitals, UN workers and Media personnel, as well as embargos on food, medicine and fuel, demonstrates the enormous power of unchecked impunity. In the name of ‘self-defense’ arbitrarily conferred by the US and some western allies, Israeli bombardment threatens to go on till Hamas is liquidated. The soaring numbers of civilian deaths and the recent white flag incident, in which Israeli hostages were killed on sight by the IDF, suggest that civilians will have to die for Hamas to be liquidated. After Gaza, it will be the West Bank, if not immediately, eventually.

A shared land

An ideal solution to this conflict, in an ideal world, is a shared land. If this is ever possible, the Palestinians will be free on their land and Israel free to live-'in'-a land they believe to be a promise.

But there are two daunting prerequisites to a shared land.

1. It will not happen until the US protection of Israel stops, the discriminatory right of veto on the UN Security Council is repealed and the UN is empowered to do its work independently.

2. It cannot happen until investigations into war crimes by Israel and Hamas; and crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing by Israel; are in place. Urgent negotiations cannot postpone investigations. Justice delayed in the name of peace, absolves the guilty.

If these requirements are bypassed, our world is likely to witness another genocide under our watch.

With peace and blessings to all

* through a Royal Commission (1937) and White Paper (1939)

Regarding "Self-Defense"

The US and other Western countries provide carte blanche support—financially, militarily, by UN voting, by public statements, by leaders' personal visits—to Israel's "right to self-defense." However, US and other Western countries at best equivocate regarding any right of Palestinians in the West Bank and in Gaza to defend themselves against decades-long, militarily-enforced Israeli expansion into Palestinian territory and confinement of Palestinians themselves. Current US claims that Israel's war is against Hamas and not against Palestinians is wishful thinking and actually no more than verbal hair-splitting.

Here are some representative quotes from various linked commentaries—listed chronologically from latest to earliest—followed by my own brief [bracketed] comments:

Michael N. Schmitt, Lieber Institute - West Point (Oct 10, 2023): “Israel – Hamas 2023 Symposium – The Legal Context of Operations Al-Aqsa Flood and Swords of Iron”

“Concluding Thoughts

I believe that Hamas had no international law right to launch Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, while Israel was entirely within its rights to mount Operation Swords of Iron. The hostilities that have resulted are best classified as a non-international armed conflict. At the time of the attack, Israel was not occupying Gaza but may qualify as an occupying power if it moves into that area and controls it effectively. Each of these conclusions, however, is subject to reasonable disagreement or qualification. Sadly, much of the commentary on the conflict, especially on social media, has been far from reasonable and often inflammatory.” [I appreciate the penultimate sentence’s acknowledgement about being “subject to reasonable disagreement or qualification.” This commentary is written from the author’s U.S. military viewpoint. Viewed from within the towering separation walls snaking through the West Bank and from within blockaded Gaza (now being militarily decimated)---as well as from most of the rest of the world’s position, evidenced by countless proposed UN resolutions opposed by the US alone—the legal, moral, humanitarian, economic, military, and historical aspects of the matter look quite different.]

Ihsan Adel, Law for Palestine (October 8, 2023): “Do Palestinians have the right to resist, and what are the limits? Short article”

“Right to resist, including armed resistance: Yes. Right to indiscriminately kill or target civilians: No. It’s as simple as that.” [While published a day after the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel, clearly this “short article” was composed earlier. There is no mention of what transpired on October 7, but surely the article would have condemned how Hamas fighters “indiscriminately kill[ed] or target[ed] civilians.”]

Greg Shupak, The Wire (May 16, 2021): “Palestinians Have A Right To Defend Themselves”

“In a statement issued Monday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price condemned ‘in the strongest terms’ the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Urging ‘de-escalation on all sides,’ Price then delivered the standard recognition of ‘Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself and to defend its people and its territory.’ When the Washington bureau chief for Al-Quds daily asked whether Palestinians shared in the right to self-defense, Price’s response was equivocal, affirming that ‘the concept of self-defense,’ should apply ‘to any state.’ To the stateless Palestinians, one can then conclude, the State Department extends no such rights. This is a double standard shared by much of the corporate media, as well as among politicians, across Western democracies…. Implicit in this double standard is the idea that Palestinians should simply submit to their own murder, assault, and dispossession.” [Key to this and many other discussions is how one views the ongoing Palestine-Israel situation, particularly whether or not to consider it an Israeli colonial-military occupation of Palestinian land (at least vis-a-vis post-1967 territories).]

Servet Gunerigok, Anadolu Ajansi (May 13, 2021): “White House avoids question on Palestinians' right to self-defense”

“Biden said on Wednesday that Israel ‘has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory’ as violence escalates between Israel and Palestine. When the reporter asked whether the Biden administration also condemns forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes, Psaki said US officials have raised the issue at many levels but avoided answering the question directly.” [Such vague equivocation by the US is consistent with the US’s enormous military and financial aid to Israel—in effect a commitment to give Israel whatever it requests to be by far the strongest military force in the Middle East (directly connected to US strategic interests).]

Ibrahim Fraihat, The Brookings Institution (July 11, 2014): “Palestine’s Right to Defend Itself”

“To forestall another war, and to prevent further brutality against civilians, Washington needs to take immediate measures to avoid the hypocrisy of legitimizing Israeli violence against Palestinian civilians under the guise of ‘self-defense’.” [The US has simply continued its “self-defense” mantra over the years, and today we are seeing the horrific ramifications. As Noam Chomsky has noted, the US—including those of us who are US taxpayers—are as responsible as anyone for the carnage in Israel-Palestine.]

How Long, O Lord?

How long, O Lord? Anti-Semitic mistreatment of the Jewish people, pre-eminently and horrifically displayed in the Nazi Holocaust.* Broken and self-serving British-colonial promises to Arabs, leading to the 1948 Nakba and modern state of Israel.** Ongoing U.S.-/Israeli-tax-funded mistreatment and confinement of Palestinians—and confiscation of their land.*** Gallant, long-standing efforts by some Israelis, Palestinians, and others to overcome the prevailing and misinformation-fueled fear and mistrust through building relationships and standing for equal justice for all.**** Now the 9/11-esque***** October 7 slaughter and capture of civilians in southern Israel and genocidal displacement and slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza (and the West Bank). To follow the request from a faithful Palestinian pastor I know, “I ask for your prayers for God's mercy to envelop the entire region, and I hope for intervention and peace from the international community. People on both sides are suffering greatly.” How long, O Lord?

* I was able to take students to Auschwitz about 20 years ago. Touring that compound was eye-opening, unsettling, and disturbing to say the least.

** One of the best documentary films I have seen about the messy history leading up to 1948 is "Israel - Story of a contested country | DW Documentary" @ https://youtu.be/4upvoxP9-kg?si=-Zh5zsCqRUrUfrvJ

*** I grew up as a typical white U.S.-American Christian with a vague favoritism toward Israel and ignorance of Palestinians (and of Middle Eastern history). As a college student I joined a typical “Holy Land” trip to Israel to be inspired by visiting sites of biblical history. Years later, one of our daughters, as part of her college experience, spent several months living with a Christian Palestinian family in the West Bank (joined by my wife at the end). Soon afterward I visited the West Bank, talked with Palestinians, and saw the checkpoints, towering separation wall, and sleek Israeli settlements. I now resonate with the following analysis I heard recently: “If Israel has the right to self-defense, then Palestinians have the right to resist the Occupation.”

**** One of several such groups, working for “peace, justice, healing and transformation,” is the Holy Land Trust @ https://www.holylandtrust.org/

***** Both attacks were horrific and terrorizing. One main difference is that the Hamas fighters had the additional strategic challenge of breaking out of their formidable Gaza imprisonment.

Christian Mission Research and History

After an unintended hiatus from posting, here are some thoughts about thinking historically as a Christian mission researcher:

   Along the lines of such exemplary, contemporary mission historians as Andrew Walls and Dana Robert, the Bible strikes me as conveying “history” to be an ongoing, multi-generational, worldwide-universal, living, and covenantal God-creation interaction that involves divine-human commitments and responsibilities. Faithful and responsible historical views will not restrict the Lord of Hosts’ worldwide and macro-historical dealings by focusing primarily on one’s own heritage or generation. The triune God’s historically decisive covenantal acts of creating and redeeming his world are centrally important, not mine and my generation’s - despite what my self-absorbed context and its syncretized individualistic Christian spirituality might alluringly insist.

   Within macro divine-creation history, we human beings walking the earth today play only very small parts in the grand drama that also includes those who have gone before and those yet to come. We today also cannot know our generational location between Jesus’s two comings - despite what certain eschatological schemes might insist. Accordingly, for those of us involved in Christian mission research - whether focused on historical or contemporary situations - our roles are small and partial, albeit essential and meaningful.

   A strictly scientific (even with a Christian veneer) view of history and of research might focus on “raw data,” “snapshot” patterns, and tested techniques (whether all of which are understood as humanly, divinely, or synergistically produced) to be studied and harnessed for fulfilling the Christian responsibility to help all peoples learn of Jesus and so fulfill Matthew 24:14. A more artistic historical view might stiff-arm away data and strategy in favor of simply serving faithfully within immediate circumstances and trusting God to take care of his sovereign purposes. Within a divine-creation covenantal view of history (such as that sketched earlier), for its part Christian mission research appreciates the small and partial, yet essential and meaningful, role of its findings to help Christians meet their covenantal responsibility as Spirit-empowered and Spirit-led witnesses. A covenantal view of history recognizes that much of God’s redemptive work - for example, giving witness through the heavenly bodies, leading the magi from the east to worship Jesus, mercifully dealing with the Ninevites by bring Jonah to them - takes place quite apart from his followers’ efforts (well informed or not).

   In short, those involved in mission research play limited but important roles within the ongoing, living, and worldwide drama of redemption, which is accomplished in Jesus Christ and orchestrated, however and whenever he pleases, by the triune God himself. Historical research in particular aids us to praise and thank God for his faithful, determined, and zealous commitment to fulfill his covenant. It also helps us to learn about, appreciate, and honor those servants who have preceded us, including how they have followed Christ in various contexts and circumstances. Besides being valuable in its own right, such knowledge adds to God’s people’s collaborative discipleship as we continually discern and decide how best to serve the cause of the gospel within living history’s ever-changing contexts and circumstances.

My 9-Point Perspective on the ex-POTUS Impeachment Acquittal

In September 2019, I posted "My 9-Point Perspective on the POTUS [First] Impeachment Inquiry." I have copied-pasted then tweaked that post here, noting the updates and changes in purple font.

1. Compared to the triune God’s “unshakeable kingdom” (Heb 12:28) and all Christians’ inherent freedom to witness and serve, current U.S. political matters are but one more “drop in a bucket” or “fine dust” (Is. 40:15).

2. No matter our particular nationality, Christians’ international identities as divine image-bearers should be more fundamental in shaping our priorities and attitudes about fellow human beings and world affairs than our important national identities.

3. Much of U.S. Christianity seems deeply, almost hopelessly, syncretized with U.S. identity and interests. This syncretized Christianity is no more blatantly exemplified than by explicitly Christian groups that also explicitly hold the U.S. and Israel as God's specially chosen countries.

4. Current U.S. politics are more partisan than ever. Due to small-mindedness and financial self-interest, most Congress members and their constituents (the rest of us) focus more on manipulation and “winning” power than freely seeking what is true, right, and just. Thankfully there are also Congress members and constituents that seek what is true, right, and just, regardless of short-term costs.

5. Democrats’ and others' U.S.-based righteous indignation over DJT’s mob-boss-type bullying - in the current case internationally for the sake of perpetuating his presidency at all costs, including through violence - neglects consistent U.S. international bullying. All nations act out of self-interest; it’s just that the U.S. has recently had more military and economic clout to employ misplaces too much ultimate and religious allegiance on the U.S., or "America." Religious language - e.g., "sacred," "hallowed," "desecrated," "Temple of Democracy" - was far too prevalent in the prosecution's presentations about the January 6 insurrection.

6. This Narcissistic Personality Disorder ex-POTUS - who, yes, demands personal loyalty and bullies like a mob boss - has manipulated enough political and popular self-interest and partisan-interest to buttress (and get others devotedly to chant) his ongoing, honest claim to have been, and to resume being, both the greatest and most mistreated POTUS, and indeed world leader, in all of history.

7. This impeachment process will passed the Democratic House then failed a super-majority conviction in the Republican evenly-divided Senate; DJT will has once again claimed vindication (and most likely be narrowly re-elected for another four-year term will continue to assert himself as the MAGA messiah).; and, Let's hope that mud-slinging partisan U.S. politics will only increase decrease, at least for a little while, with the removal of DJT's bully pulpit and Twitter account.

8. While I understand better than before why so many U.S. citizens support this POTUS because of implemented policies (as well as his populist style), I continue to regret having had a hyper-NPD mob boss as POTUS. I also oppose, or in some cases question, many of his economic, international, social, and immigration policies. Others will continue to bring up their relief that the realistic 2016 alternative was not elected, which I understand.

9. U.S. Christians will continue to face the powerful struggle between living out of their inherently theocentric, graciously bestowed international human identities and partisan U.S. nationalism.

Trump Enablement Syndrome? Thoughts on Joseph Epstein’s July 9 “The Next Pandemic: Trump Derangement Syndrome” on wsj.com

Before reading any further, please read Joseph Epstein’s July 9, 2020 Opinion Commentary here. If you’re tempted to continue without having read Epstein, please reconsider and read that article first. It’s not too long, you can get a few free looks without a wsj subscription, and you need that piece as a backdrop for what follows.

First, let’s confirm that the phrase “So-And-So Derangement Syndrome” goes back almost two decades and was used about “Bush” and “Obama” critics. In early 2017, Trump allies saw his critics inflicted with a much worse case of  “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS) than BDS or ODS had been. Trump himself began using the phrase about his critics in a July 2018 Tweet. Epstein is using it within present circumstances, including the 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign.

Second, the phrase has been used both ways, having been hurled against opponents by POTUS critics and supporters alike. Clearly, Trump, Epstein, and others are accusing critics of irrational, obsessive "Never-Trump" craziness.

Third, Trump critics would do well to conduct an honest self-examination of possibly having contracted so-called TDS, using Epstein's diagnostic stages self-critically to check their own reactions and critiques of Trump’s policies, statements, and actions. It is all too easy to fall into knee-jerk, ad hominem reactions to any polarizing figure and laughingly concur with late-night comics without considering the actual effects of those figures’ actions. Trump’s critics must honestly consider the effects of his decisions, policies, words, and actions - not simply joke about his hairstyle, tie-length, and occasional (and inevitable for any public speaker) speech gaffes.

Fourth, Epstein and other Trump allies, supporters, and defenders would do well to consider the actual, multifaceted, and wide ripple effects of Donald J. Trump the man being President of the United States of America. This man is not an ordinary, healthy human being. While I am not a professional psychiatrist who has done close-up personal tests on Trump, I stick by my (and many others’) claim, made ever since he became POTUS, that DJT is a Narcissistic Personality Disorder of the highest order. I do not have TDS (though Epstein and others may dismiss me by slapping on that label). I do not find funny the degrading jokes made about his appearance or other human characteristics. Rather, having experienced and observed close-up the devastation that NPDs cause, and seeing those same characteristics in DJT the man ever since the 2016 Republican primary campaign, the trauma caused to many women and to black & brown people in this country continues to be devastating. Moreover, nothing the man says can be taken at face-value - nothing. I am not saying that out of an alleged TDS infection, but out of experience and clear-headed observation of him in as unfiltered way as possible (e.g., through his own tweets, through watching some of his presentations in full).

In reflection of his own life, DJT’s vision for the country he leads - be strong, rich, secure - is warped. People need trust, healthy social relationships, aesthetic vibrancy, and many other life treasures beyond money, conformity, and a strong military. Policies can be debated in their own right - personally I disagree with many of those DJT has touted, not because he has pushed them because of the policies themselves - but they do not come apart from who the man is.

Finally, those who continue to defend the current President simply because he has espoused their preferred policies need, in my judgment, to see how they may have been simply co-opted as enablers of a hyper-NPD. (I say that especially to my fellow U.S. Evangelical Christians.) People who are Narcissistic Personality Disorders are masterfully adept at acquiring enablers to advance themselves and get their way. While looking at myself in the mirror as well, I thus warn Mr. Epstein and other Trump supporters and defenders that they very well may need a cure from contracting “Trump Enablement Syndrome.” Be alert.

God and U.S. Metanarratives: “Created Equal … Endowed by Their Creator”

This July 4, more U.S.-Americans than ever before will, or at least should, realize that there are multiple metanarratives of U.S. history. Last year’s quadricentennial of Africans being sold to Jamestown, Virginia settlers for tobacco labor highlighted African-American slavery and its ongoing aftermath. This year’s uprisings for racial equality - sparked by the image of white police officer Derek Chauvin’s brutal knee-on-neck murder of black George Floyd - have cast brighter light on long-standing systemic injustice in the United States. Disproportionate suffering of African-Americans from COVID-19 has been a particularly tragic manifestation of the ongoing injustice. Genocidal displacement of Native Americans over centuries and more recent struggles of Asians and Latin Americans have been brought to the fore as well.

As a typical middle-class white U.S.-American, I was hard-wired to celebrate the founding of the United States of America with fireworks, bar-b-q, flag-waving, and patriotic music. I grew up knowing only the controlling metanarrative of U.S. history: human freedom was finally realized when our colonial forefathers rejected the English King’s tyranny and proclaimed the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Making that declaration took courage and godly insight, but our forefathers’ sacrifice and fighting savvy finally won us full national independence. Ever since, U.S. military efforts have protected our freedoms as well as helped others around the world gain theirs.

Raised in white-U.S. Christian traditions, I joined others in believing that God’s special Providence had founded “America” for his special purposes. The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence plucked my patriotic heart-strings as much as anyone’s, especially its confession of divine creation of U.S. equality: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our currency’s declaration that “In God We Trust,” and our pledge of allegiance to the flag and our “One Nation Under God,” reinforced my sense that “America” is God’s specially created Christian nation.

Exposures to wider history and to different sorts of people, both outside and within the U.S., have changed my understanding. Those changes have often come slowly and painfully. It was about 25 years ago that it first dawned on me that the North American colonial rebellion against England resembled similar rebellions that have taken place throughout history and around the world. That idea felt treasonous, as it chipped away at my article of faith in U.S. exceptionalism.

Regarding the North American English colonies’ Declaration of Independence, it finally became evident that “all men" only meant Europeans, specifically the North American English colonists and their English countrymen. That is, the colonists were equal with their fellow Englishmen and had their own right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” - and to pursue those rights independently of the English crown’s control. Displaced Native Americans and African slave laborers were not included in “all men.” Our national forefathers’ Declaration of Independence was not a universal statement of human rights, as is often asserted and as I had assumed it to be. Racially based distinctions and economic profit are two of this country’s foundational values.

It is interesting to compare the earlier Virginia Declaration of Rights: “That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” Jefferson used his own colony’s wording as a template for the colonies’ collective declaration he was requested to compose. Note how the Virginia Declaration’s appeal to “natural” and “inherent” rights has been replaced, or upgraded, in the colonies’ collective declaration by an appeal to divine design: “all men are created equal [and] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” The signers of the North American English colonies’ Declaration of Independence from England were claiming divine sanction and favor.

The Christian belief that God specially and uniquely founded the United States of America emphasizes the Christian faith of the U.S. Founding Fathers. That belief also affirms the Christian foundation and character of “America” by pointing to the clear confessions of faith on our currency, “In God We Trust,” and in our pledge of allegiance, “One Nation under God.”

A more historically informed viewpoint will note that these two additional affirmations also arose in particular moments and for motives beyond simple faith affirmations. Originally stamped on coins for a brief period during the 1800s, the phrase “In God We Trust” was resurrected in the 1950s to be stamped on all U.S. currency, and was approved as the first official U.S. motto, to distinguish ourselves from the atheistic Soviets (and, for some, from FDR’s socialist-leaning “New Deal”). “Under God” was added to the pledge of allegiance at the same time for the same reasons.

U.S. history has different strands interwoven into a complex history. There is no single foundation or pure metanarrative of faith and heroism. There has been courageous faith, but there has also been racist genocide and enslavement of fellow human beings. Bringing divine design, favor, or blessing into national declarations runs the risk of trying to co-opt God simply for self-justification, self-benefit, and glossing over wrong.

We can smile at opposing fans praying for their players to score or to stop a score. Within U.S. history, however, generations have either benefited or suffered - and God has by no means sanctioned either unjust gain or oppression of people he loves. God is God, and in his presence “the nations [including the United States of America] are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales” (Isaiah 40:15). God is the God of the whole world, not of any one country. We must recognize him as such, as well as see ourselves as white U.S.-Americans in his true light. Those of us who still doggedly hold onto the belief in an exceptional, divinely founded and blessed “America” must divest ourselves of such a faith that risks co-opting the one true and living God of the universe. Kyrie eleison.