The U.S.’s Holy War
In the Battle for the Soul of America, Wakan Gli Appears
While Christian Nationalists celebrated the Louisiana State Legislature requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom, a rare white buffalo, born last spring in Yellowstone National Park was, during a Native Tribes ceremony and celebration, formally named Wakan Gli (“Comes Holy/Returns Sacred” to the Lakota). Both, taken together, give opposing voices to two very different movements taking place in the United States. Movements that make the “Battle for the Soul of America” much more than a presidential campaign slogan.
“Americans have been abandoning organized religion in droves, and while some have walked away from religion altogether, a distinct group of Americans now call themselves ‘spiritual but not religious.’” according to the Washington Post (Dec. 8, 2023). One reason, perhaps, is seemingly increased global conflicts between religions, particularly Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The energy pressing us to choose sides has been relentless. The impact however has, perhaps, forced people to choose spirituality or atheism as their off-ramp.
Christian Nationalism has become a dominant voice in U.S. politics
When I think of religion, I see dogma: organized principles for living one’s best life. Conformity to those principles, interpreted as deified messages/commands from a divine messenger, is how followers know they will ascend to a place of peace and knowing for eternity. It’s a dogma that emphasizes fellowship, which can also be a kind of group think, with those of like ideals. When I talk of religion, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, and Yahweh come to mind.
Now, let’s be clear, there are significant differences between the beliefs of Christians and Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism’s brand of Christianity brings a colonizer zeal to the role religion plays in society. They intertwine 16th Century Calvinist beliefs in predestination, that God has chosen White people (of European origin) to have dominion over all others, with Christian ideologies. In Christian Nationalism, we have a movement New York Times Columnist David French calls “deeply rooted in identity, the belief that Christians should rule” nytimes.com (Feb.25, 2024). They regard nation building as their evangelical calling.
Theirs is an evangelical quest to imbue U.S. society with their beliefs. The thought piece/plan, Project 2025, outlines Christian Nationalists’ commitment to becoming arbiters of society’s values and morality. Therein also lies the desired end game of their alliance with the “Make America Great Again” movement.
Spirituality has deep roots in the lands now known as the Americas
Spirituality is my connection to that which is greater than me. It’s a way of being where my soul, my consciousness, gets nourished by energy that flows through and around me. In spirituality, my best self is defined by my ability to live in Grace, love, and harmony with the universe, the earth, and animals (including other humans), creating a more profound common good. When I talk of spirituality I speak of The Great Spirit/God.
Wakan Gli’s birth fulfills a prophecy the Lakota and other Indigenous peoples, including the Sioux, Cherokee, Navaho, and Dakota, hold as high as Christians cherish Jesus Christ’s second coming. Its arrival, particularly as Christian Nationals gear up to control the country’s morals, values, and governance, signals to many that the country, if not the world, is indeed at a crossroads.
“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more…a spiritual awakening must happen,” Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and the Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle, told The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com
Religion’s Betrayal of Spirituality
Beliefs that “God’s chosen people” will ascend, while “evil others” will be subject to God’s wrath made Indigenous people’s cultural belief systems, and spirituality, easy targets for judgment and condemnation. Sewing such religious dogmatism into the fabric of the country’s “founding” by proselytizing beliefs in American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny, set religion upon a collision course with spirituality.
Chief Pontiac’s reflection (above), accurate or not, depicts a spiritual belief: the land is sacred. Its resources and the animals who live upon it are gifts from the Great Spirit that sustain human life. Sharing their accumulated wisdom and knowledge, from the perspective of stewardship, tragically turned into the ultimate sacrifice for many tribal members.
Al Fin: At a time of religious assertions spirituality’s champions emerge
Several years ago, I toured Native tribal lands in Southwestern Alaska. A young Haida tribal member spent the better part of an afternoon teaching us about First Peoples’ lives in that part of the world. In her early twenties, she also told us about herself. While studying in New York she felt she was preparing for a career, but not for a life she wanted to live. Becoming a tribal docent allowed her to learn what she did not know about her community and culture, including her tribal language, she said, smiling shyly. Being paid to teach us, so that we might appreciate them more, was an added benefit.
Decolonization is what many Indigenous people call their recommitment to learning and sharing their tribe’s practices, cultural values, and more. Keeping their languages and traditions alive is a way to reassert their presence in these lands. Reconnecting, spiritually, with their communities, the land, and the universe deepens their beliefs and hopes for a better life.
For many years I’ve wondered whether the almost total dismissal of Native peoples’ centuries-old accumulated knowledge and wisdom has dealt humanity the same fate biting the hand that feeds you often brings. And if you believe, as I do, that there are no coincidences, Wakan Gli’s appearance signifies that spirituality instills wisdom that too often religious dogma alone denies. In this regard, we know we’re at a crossroads. Either we become better stewards of the land, ourselves, and each other or we follow dogmas that have already separated humanity into those who will ascend and those who will not.
In my view, however, the reasons religion and spiritualism do coexist in greater harmony are, though fundamentally intertwined within U.S. society, manmade and shallow. Especially when we’re talking about the country’s soul. From this perspective, the prophecy is already fulfilled - we have a lot of unraveling to do.
