American Idolism

Mike Hogan
Sep 5, 2018 · 9 min read
“Angel of Liberty, the Vision of George Washington” by Jon McNaughton

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism,” is a line taken straight from President George Washington’s Farewell Address of 1796, and it rings eerily true to this day in American politics.

Above is a painting by Jon McNaughton, a conservative Mormon artist who uses his art to intertwine his religious and political views into propagandist pieces. This particular painting is titled: “Angel of Liberty: The Vision of George Washington” -which attempts to reiterate the fallacy of a story often attributed to our founding father. It was published in a periodical after the Civil War (more than half a century after George Washington’s death), contributed by Charles Wesley Alexander, who under a pseudonym wrote several fictional accounts of famous historical and political figures with absolutely no basis of validity; with a goal, similar to that of McNaughton’s, to promote and attempt to legitimize his idealistic views and/or opinions.

Church and State

This work of art highlights a problem that has loomed large since the very inception of the United States of America; in regards to the separation of church and state, the Constitution of the United States makes no mention of God, while the Declaration of Independence contains the kind of subtle references that would undoubtedly later lead to legal stipulations and an inevitable integration.

Even though, the First Amendment of the Constitution contains the indisputable assertion that legislative bodies should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion” -but just consider the holiday season: between Thanksgiving and Christmas; which are federally recognized days of observance- and both arguably are, or at least the latter for sure, Religious based holidays (Christian).

Based on what is written in the Constitution it would seem that federally recognized ‘religious’ holidays would be the utmost direct and simplest forms of infringement upon the 1st Amendment’s mandate.

Christmas was not recognized as a federal holiday by the founding fathers, it wasn’t until after the Civil War in 1870 under the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, along with New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving (as proposed earlier by President Abraham Lincoln under a religious context during the war in 1863), that these days of observance became officially recognized. This was largely to be considered a conscious effort by leadership to lift morale and inspire unity between the North and South as the Civil War ended and America underwent a period of reconciliation and reconstruction.

Long before all that, the founding fathers carried a strong sentiment of opposition, like that of President Thomas Jefferson, who famously invoked the First Amendment in a letter responding to the persistent petitions of a Baptist church to federally recognize days of thanks and prayer, in which he cited the Constitution and reiterated the importance of “a wall of separation between Church & State.”

Now, it might seem silly to try to convince anyone that recognizing religious holidays is folly, but the underlining consequences are grave. The push-back against them by the founding fathers was out of a legitimate fear of consequence to heading down a slippery-slope of compromise on the issue, and as American history has progressed, this fear has come to fruition, and the consequences realized.

This sort of leniency and compromise continued to blur the lines in measuring the barrier between church and state in America, and by 1894 Religious institutions gained tax exemption status under law by an act of congress; by in which, in addition to charitable and non-profit reasons, the First Amendment’s own words were twisted and used in a perverse manner to support the idea that argued for tax exemption, as it would be unconstitutional to impose tax laws upon the church.

While the tax exemption of religious institutions gets a lot of attention, that is not where the most damaging aspects of the merger of church and state come into play. The most crippling aspect is in a psychological marriage of Patriotism and Faith, implemented in practice and influence by our leaders.

Political Faith

By 1950 we see the culmination of this psychological merger take full hold in two seemingly minor details. In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower oversaw the words “Under God” inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance; and in 1956 the motto of the United States, “E Pluribus Unum” (meaning: “Out of Many, One”), as established on the Great Seal by the founding fathers in 1782, was officially changed to “In God We Trust” and displayed on our printed currency. An instance that was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1970 in which they ruled has nothing to do with the establishment of Religion on grounds of a non-denomination, and thus, America’s “Civil Religion” was born.

It’s no secret that religion has been used throughout history as a way to not only establish order, but to influence and control populations, as is insinuated by the popularly paraphrased writings of Karl Marx, “Religion is the opium of the people.” And in the case of Civil Religion, the purpose isn’t any different.

In the late 70′s and 80′s the phrase “God Bless America” became a staple way for U.S. Presidents to end speeches. Although its origin comes from a song written in WWI, which didn’t gain popularity until it was later revised during WWII. A song that in so many words acts as a solemn prayer in the name of a nation that was founded on the principle importance of a clear and concise separation between church and state; a song that infers with its lyrics that God “stands beside” and “guides” America, which captures the true essence of the danger in the commingling of divinity and government.

Ironically the phrase, “God Bless America” was first used in a speech by President Richard Nixon in the midst of the Watergate Scandal. An occurrence that is achingly close to a conclusion of the statement made by one of the greatest essayists of the 18th-Century, Samuel Johnson, when he said: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

As of today Religion has effectively infiltrated state and even eked its way into our national identity, and it has wrought the exact insidious and intellectual perils that the founding father’s warned and protected against.

This psychological marriage between church and state attributes an infallible and ill-advised righteousness to our nation and its actions, fostering a similarly unquestioned blind-faith and loyalty in one’s country, that religious institutions preach and demand toward God from their followers.

Religion promotes a willful ignorance by teaching that questioning God is nothing more than doubt, and that the devil himself sows the seed of doubt, and therefore “doubt” should be looked down upon, resisted as the temptation of evil, and even repented for as a sin.

We see this cultural phenomenon taking place in policy as our political landscape is ripe with antiquated and detrimental religiously affiliated stances on a wide range of issues, from same sex marriage and reproductive rights, to global warming; but among the public it takes an even more grotesque form in a condemnation of protest within our country, where protesters are “demonized” as ungrateful and disrespectful, or even worse, unAmerican; even though protest has proven time and time again throughout history to be the very spark of progress.

The founding fathers must be rolling in their graves, for they fought and dedicated their lives to a revolution against a foreign oppression, from a religious monarchy based on the divine right of Kings and Queens in England, to gain their independence. And they did this in order to form a new country of their own that would not be susceptible to the same pitfalls of their former masters. And the driving force among the American colonies that lead to the eventual revolution was sparked by a single protest, the Boston Tea Party; the United States of America in fact owes its very existence entirely to a protest.

Public Worship

The damages of this psychological infusion of church and state among the public is not anymore clear than in the worship of symbols.

The American flag for example has become to receive such reverence as that of a holy symbol, like that of a cross; and the National Anthem is modeled as being “sacred” as if it were a prayer.

Respect and adoration of these patriotic symbols is not only expected, but demanded. In a similar sense that in order to be a good Christian one must show faith in the lord, and so in order to be a good American one must show faith in the nation, and any lack thereof is treated as a new form of treason, akin to blasphemy and heresy.

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag, and carrying a cross”is a poignant quote that comes to mind on the topic at hand, which under heavy scrutiny is often attributed to Sinclair Lewis, and it’s likely some variation of it is accurate as it originates from the 30′s and 40′s, a time where fears and warnings of a supposed rise of fascism within the United States under the guise of “Americanism” were common.

The strategy of subversively instituting God into Politics by way of Civil Religion is exceedingly useful in an effort to consolidate support, and the dangers of this type of thinking is particularly clear and present when speaking on the topic of the United States military.

Criticism of America’s foreign policy and/or military is viewed in a sense as an ungrateful biting of the hand that “defends” your “freedom”, all the while, every single war fought by America since the Civil War was an “offensive” one, fought on foreign soil. America hasn’t even fought a war for “Freedom” in more than 70-years.

Among the public today, service members who are paid to do a job are idolized, celebrated and revered with no exception; no matter the details of the illegal wars that they partake in and/or contribute to on behalf of our government, which are in all cases seen as morally justifiable, because of America’s standing as a righteous beacon of hope guided by faith, rather than a nation with specific interests like any other.

And this leads to a willful ignorance toward the civilian casualties that are the result of its aggression, and absolves America in the light of the public from any potential war crimes and/or wrongdoing.

This psychology is rooted in the fundamental ideologies of “Good vs. Evil” -a false dichotomy originally set forth by Religion, with the simplistic view that we are Good and our enemies are Evil. How else could you convince the Public that we are the “champions of peace”in the world while we drop more bombs, cause more war, and kill more people than all other countries combined?

As the great poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, once bluntly put it, “Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious”.

Voltaire paints the picture of the deviousness deriving from religious belief best when he said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

This subversive-psychological intertwining (or undermining) of patriotism and religion births an ill-advised righteousness to its cause; creating an environment where it is too easy to disguise or promote hatred, injustice, intolerance, bigotry and even violence in a mantle of justification based on so-called American values: a pretended patriotism; or a misinformed-patriotism, since the average person cannot distinguish the difference between national pride and blind faith.

The immortal words of Leo Tolstoy most adequately illuminate the usefulness (and detriment) of attributing an infallible righteousness to our Nation in a blind flag-waving-faith among the public: “Patriotism in its simplest, clearest, and most indubitable meaning is nothing but an instrument for the attainment of the government’s ambitious and mercenary aims, and a renunciation of human dignity, common sense, and conscience by the governed, and a slavish submission to those who hold power. That is what is really preached wherever patriotism is championed. Patriotism is slavery.”

Dialogue & Discourse

News and ideas worth talking about. Fundamentally informative and intelligently analytical.

Mike Hogan

Written by

Amateur Writer, Astronomer, Philosopher, Intellectual and Critical Thinker.

Dialogue & Discourse

News and ideas worth talking about. Fundamentally informative and intelligently analytical.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade