We just celebrated July 4th here in America, the day we honor our independence as a country. We have all heard stories passed down to us about how many of our ancestors came across the Atlantic ocean to start new lives in a new land - a place where freedom would ring for everyone. A place where every man could have equal opportunities and the ability to make his own choices with limited government intervention. A place where freedom of religion, speech, and peaceful protests were guaranteed. Where freedom to purchase our own property, vote in leaders who reflect our values, and “bear arms”/protect ourselves is within our “rights”. You can look at our Bill of Rights to see many more freedoms our founding fathers felt would make for a wonderful nation in which to live. It was the “great experiment”.
Some say that experiment failed. As we look around at America today, it seems to be more divided than unified these days. What happened to the “United” States?
A recent Washington Post article1 showed a survey this year by Gallup which found that 67% of adults feel either “very proud” or “extremely proud” to be American — down from 85% in 2013 and 90% in 2003. A much lower percentage say they are satisfied with the way things are going: 21%, in June. Two-thirds of the people who responded to a January Quinnipiac poll said they believed American democracy was in danger of collapsing.
What has happened to the American Dream?
I think our collective shadow has taken over.
“In the Jungian theory of the mind, we all have a side that is conscious, and a side that is unconscious. At the core of our conscious mind is our ego, which represents all that we think we are. At the core of our unconscious is our shadow, made up of the parts of ourselves that we disavow, but can never fully get rid of (tethered).”2
I’ve been doing my own “shadow” work lately and it’s been pretty life-changing. Acknowledging my own dark side and how my ego can rear its ugly head to cause harm to myself and others is humbling, to say the least. The shadow-self isn’t bad, really. It’s actually helpful when you can get in touch with it and expose it to the light. Leaving it in the darkness, (denial of it) only makes it grow and have more power.
I’ve heard it said that the only thing stronger than our individual egos is a group ego. I believe that to be true from my experience.
I think America, collectively, has its own shadow work to do. We need to acknowledge our group ego and how it might be a bit out of control. This doesn’t mean that America isn’t a great country. It means that it can be even greater as it looks back on its history with acknowledgment of its past failures, wrong turns, and sins. That is how individuals, companies, relationships, communities, and even countries can grow in a positive direction. However, when we want to whitewash the past (literally sometimes), or refuse to see past failures, then we can’t learn. We can’t grow. We can’t do better.
The collective American ego revels in being “the good guys”, “the best country in the world”, “the heroes”. Who wouldn’t want to believe that about themselves? It is the American narrative that we all love to think is true. However, I believe that being a good American patriot is to be willing to bring our shadow to light and learn from it. I believe it’s about questioning our leaders, holding them accountable, and demanding that our elected officials do their best to protect the democracy upon which our country was founded.
And I do not believe Christian Nationalism is the way to do any of that. I believe this Christian Nationalist movement is feeding our shadow side. It isn’t healing our country or bringing us together. It’s causing a division that seems to be getting out of control.
Merging any religion into the fabric of our nation is the opposite of what our founding fathers wanted. It’s one of the reasons many people left England. The King of England, who was the political leader at that time, was also the head of the Church of England. It was dangerous to publicly practice any other religion other than what the King decreed. Our founding fathers wanted the new citizens of America to have a choice to worship God in any way they wanted, including not worshiping God at all.
As a matter of fact, the United States' founders were so committed to a government not overly entangled with religion, that it’s the very first amendment to our constitution in the Bill of Rights:
The words "separation of church and state" do not appear in the U.S. Constitution, but the concept is enshrined in the very first freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Known as the establishment clause, the opening lines of the First Amendment prohibit the government from creating an official religion or favoring one religion (or nonreligion) over another.3
Hanging the Ten Commandents in public schools, or forcing public teachers to teach from the Bible certainly seems to reek of desperate moves from a religion who is afraid. It seems to me that the collective shadow/ego of Christian Nationalists is driving this. They are afraid of losing control. It’s all fear-based. If you want your children to be taught out of the Bible, then you have the right to send them to a private Christian school, but forcing it to be taught in public schools, being funded by tax payer money doesn’t seem right to me in any way.
What is Christian nationalism?
Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. Popularly, Christian nationalists assert that America is and must remain a “Christian nation”—not merely as an observation about American history, but as a prescriptive program for what America must continue to be in the future.4
Christian Nationalism, in my opinion, is not the same thing as being a patriot. In fact, from what I can tell, they are night and day. Christian Nationalists seem more committed to a set of ideals than they are committed to making this country a safe place for everyone to live in. A true patriot loves our country enough to want everyone to be free. Everyone. And until we get there, we must keep moving forward, not going backwards to the days when only white men had all the rights.
I’ll close by saying one more thing. A true Christian, in my opinion, puts their love for God and others above any dedication to any set of ideals, any political party or any specific leader. And a true patriot loves the PEOPLE of America, not just the IDEA of America. Patriots should be fighting for one another, not against each other. A true patriot fights for all Americans to have the same rights, to be free, safe, provided for, and protected in this beautiful country we call America.
I know several people who said they just couldn’t celebrate Independence Day this year. They feel America is complicit in the murder of thousands of innocent Palestinians and they are mourning our country’s part in it. Other friends feel women’s rights are being taken away in America and racism is being emboldened. Another friend noted that instead of passing laws to help homeless people, laws are being passed to criminalize them and take away their basic human rights.
So what did we just celebrate on July 4th in America? Did we celebrate our independence from the strict laws of England only to put new laws in place which limit the freedoms of some Americans? Is that the direction our country is heading in? Maybe July 4th should not only be a time for celebration, but a time of honest reflection for our country as well. Maybe a little collective shadow work is in order.
So tell me now…. what do you think? Were you able to celebrate Independence Day this year? What do you think being a “good patriot” is all about?
Let me know your thoughts…. M
Resources:
Christians Against Christian Nationalism
Rev. Benjamin Cremer’s essay on Separation of Church and State
direct quote from Medium article: https://angelicaoung.medium.com/americas-shadow-a-jungian-analysis-of-us-829dfc063eef
direct quote from article in Freedomforum.org: https://www.freedomforum.org/separation-of-church-and-state/
direct quote from Christianity Today article What Is Christian Nationalism
I appreciate how you pull everything together. It helps me calm the chaos and gives words to the cacophony. I agree completely. Thank you
You made so many great points in this. Regarding what it means to be patriotic, it's hard for me to put my patriotism into words. I'm very happy to be an American. I'm glad my immigrant grandparents were able to leave the Irish famine and find a safe place to live. I love that America is filled with people from all over the world. I believe that's what has helped create so many technical and artistic advancements. It's a nation filled with the descendants of scrappy dreamers. I think the way our government has been set up is one of the best around, unfortunately it only works when both sides work together. Lately, it feels like both sides have forgotten that. Obviously, the US has been involved in some terrible things, even from its inception with the original Americans. I guess when I think of being patriotic, I think of it as aligning with the best of what we're trying to be as a nation. I've been reluctant to fly a flag at our house cause in many cases, when someone posts some especially mean comment online, I'll go to their profile and they'll be there- smiling with a flag. Just yesterday, the hate group, Patriot Front, marched through Nashville -all carrying our flag. I want our flag back.