CHICAGO - U-S-A! U-S-A! When it comes to national pride, Americans are No. 1, according to a survey of 34 countries’ patriotism.
Venezuela came in a close second in the survey, released Tuesday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
People rated how proud they were of their countries in 10 areas: political influence, social security, the way their democracy works, economic success, science and technology, sports, arts and literature, military, history, and fair treatment of all groups in society....
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
The Statue of Liberty was fashioned after the Roman goddess Libertas. In previous empires she was called Ashtoreth, and was associated with the planet Venus, and in Babylonian times was known as Ishtar.
The Statue is an idol. So is the flag. So are the many statues which adorn the many buildings in Washington D.C. Christians today do not want to admit that they are because most continue to worship them under the guise of patriotism. God is not fooled.
The biblical definition of an idol is anything that is worshipped as a god in place of worshipping God the Father. And nobody worships the Statue of Liberty or the United States flag. I have never heard of anybody worshipping the Statue of Liberty and the flag.
You obviously haven't a clue as to the biblical definition of an idol otherwise you would have not made the really ignorant statement concerning the statue of Liberty. The flag too is an idol.
However, if nationlism means faith in military power, wars, a single leader, etc, then yes, such is a dangerous form of nationalism. A past example is the Soviet Union. Consider the now independent nations which were once subjected to such a powerful Soviet government which tried to extinguish those "lesser" nations by "russifying" them, exiling them, or exterminating them. Sadly, even today in the borders of current Russia are many unique cultures with fascinating languages and lifestyles which are being eroded away in the name of success(basically material gain). Israel's independence from higher powers could be a scriptural example of what I see as acceptable nationalism, and even an example of hope to small and rather helpless nations in today's world. Well, time for bed....all this could almost be applied to a research topic in college, but then again I guess all those college years were spent because such studies of languages and cultures fascinate me.
MBL, you got that right. I could spend large amounts of time discussing such a topic. Many of the "nations" to which I'd refer are subjected to higher arrogant goverments which refuse (due to their pride) to at least recognize these small populations which suffer at the hands of the government over them.
Thankyou MBL, I'm very aware that "Pride goeth before a fall..." and I agree, especially with the type of pride of many Americans, and "gay pride," etc. Nationalism to me referrs to an ethic group (a nation in the strictest sense) preserving their language, culture, etc....such nationalism is to me not idolatry. However, to me there is no such thing as simply an American culture or language, so my understanding of nationalism hardly can be applied to the U.S. as a whole. I hope that clarifies what I meant. And furthermore, I can hardly call myself "American" any more...so I certaily wouldn't be among those with great patriotism.
Will Senn | 3/18/2013
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