Monday, August 13, 2007

God and License Plates

I like to change routes going to and from work. Sometimes it’s to avoid a construction site and the usual accompanying traffic. Other times it’s just a feeble attempt to avoid the inevitable arrival at my place of work or home. I mention this because a particular route takes me past a decent sized church and its school. Recently, I noticed above the church doors, the message “WE LOVE AMERICA” posted in large red, white, and blue letters. I’m not sure of the exact date this declaration was erected, but I imagine it showed up around July 4th. I’m accustomed to seeing patriotic fervor on the part of some churches around Independence Day. It is now nearing the middle of August, however, and I can’t help but wonder what the intention of the signage is. Did they just forget to take it down after the Fourth, like a Christmas wreath left on a door until mid-March? Or perhaps their level of patriotism was in question by member of the community and they felt the need to provide proof of their devotion to the nation?
As I stated before, I’m used to seeing churches show the colors around July 4th. The churches my family attended when I was young always included a repertoire of patriotic tunes along with the normal hymns on the Sunday closest to July 4th. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become uncomfortable with the practice. Lately, though, I’ve been more alarmed since the introduction of a free specialty license plate here in Indiana that bares the motto “In God We Trust” over a blue background and a rippling U.S. flag. The license plates have become as popular as the Jesus fish car ornament.
What exactly does the phrase “In God We Trust” mean anymore? More, importantly, what does it mean to those who have chosen this particular plate? Is it a statement of faith? Of patriotism? Or of both intertwined? It is this last one that is the most dangerous. It is an expression of what journalist Matt Taibbi calls “a belief in the inherent righteousness” of the nation (see Adbusters #73, “The Iraq War: No Hangover Cure”). Christians would be wise to remember that, as Fr. Michael J. Baxter writes, “God is not American” (see his chapter on patriotism in God Is Not…, Brazos Press,2004, edited by D. Brent Laytham). I am reminded of Psalm 33 when it states that “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples” (v. 10 NRSV). But also verse twelve reads “Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD.”
Perhaps the license plate we read better “In God I trust” for if we are to proclaim that as a nation we trust in God we must first examine ourselves. Do we really trust in God? I don’t believe so. We trust in Wall Street, free market capitalism, and the dollar; in nuclear stockpiles and military buildup; in entertainment and television, in Wal-mart, McDonalds, and name brands. And the less we actually trust in God’s ways, in the ways of creation, the more we sink into a neo-serfdom, subject to those in places of power to define ourselves and our lives.
It is probably true that those who display the “In God We Trust” license plate hope that by this little measure something will occur. In this way it is similar to calls for the postings of the 10 Commandments in schools and courthouses, or the call for the return of prayer in school, as if merely by their presence or display, a positive effect will be felt. I don’t wish to condemn those who have chosen this license plate to express their hope or faith. The display of such an image is an attempt to strike against a sense of an un-namable wrong - a whiff of trouble in the air. I believe their faith is real, but I do believe it is misplaced and misguided. Trusting in God will require more than a license plate. It will require a deep examination of the values and systems that make up our culture and ways of living and seeing how they measure up against the ways of God, the God that instructed us to love and pray for enemies, to rest, to create beauty, to not shun the poor or oppressed, and to bless God through all our actions.

1 comment:

THE ARTIST'S VOICE said...

"Trusting in God will require more than a license plate. It will require a deep examination of the values and systems that make up our culture and ways of living and seeing how they measure up against the ways of God..."

A loud amen to that brother.