Abram in the Old Testament is set to wage war. He “mustered three hundred and eighteen of his slaves, born in his house, and went in pursuit.” Upon Abram’s victory, Melchizedek, allied with Abram, “brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram.” “Then Abram gave him a tenth of the war plunder.” Jesus in the Gospel is so very different. He practices peace. He calls free disciples. He is abundant about sharing what is given to him with common people. So it is in Sunday’s Gospel when someone brought out bread, Jesus shares it with the people, “about 5,000.” Jesus took “five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied.”
Institutional christianity unfortunately compares War Lords arming slaves with the peacemaker Jesus calling unarmed disciples. It is likely some of Abraham’s armed men want not to be forced into their soldier slave role. It is also likely some of them desire their position. In part, they may believe their sub-human slave status is offset by a super-human soldier status. That belief, basic to Militarism, is a ruse. Both as a slave and as a soldier, men are made subordinate and used for plunder. The War Lord class uses propaganda to convince soldiers they are not slaves. One propaganda technique is slogans; broad emotional appeals to diminish conscience, thinking. Slogans include ‘Be all you can be.’ ‘The Few. The Proud.’ Sloganeering allows a man obediently enslaved to a superior officer to be oddly thought a savior of freedom. Another propaganda technique War Lords use is nationalism. Nationalism is simply the tribalism of Abraham and other War Lords practiced on a larger scale. War Lords divide us and convince us the ‘other’ is an enemy who needs to be killed. It is camouflage for War Lords using men to gain plunder. For example, United Technologies gains weapons sales of $11.6 billion and CEO compensation of $17.5 million while military recruits gain an average salary of $21, 972. The War Lord class gains plunder by convincing men to kill as an unthinking nationalist troop. War Lords convince so many others to be supporters of those troops. It is that nationalist troop mentality that had the people of Germany supporting their Nazi soldiers trooping into Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, and more, while believing those same troops kept Germany safe from invading Gypsies and Jews. That same nationalist troop mentality has the people of the U.S. supporting its soldiers trooping into Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and more, while believing those same troops keep the U.S. safe from invading immigrants and Muslims. Neither Nazi Germans then, nor MAGA Americans now take a single jump off a cliff into madness one day. Each take one step after another, day after day, year after year as a troop of patriotic nationalists supporting their War Lords and their soldier slaves. It is time to stop supporting the troops.
“In its present form (nationalism) is … men (who have) turned away from the eternal God of the universe, and decided to worship at the shrine of the god of nationalism… “My country right or wrong.”… We live in an age when it is almost heresy to affirm the brotherhood of man.” “More than anything else nationalism makes for war … that dread force that leaves men physically handicapped and psychologically upset … that piles our national debts higher than mountains of gold… that causes our moral standards to disintegrate. Such is the tragic consequence of nationalism. … (W)e must transcend (its) narrow confines … One cannot worship this false god of nationalism and the God of Christianity at the same time. … Will we continue to serve the false god of imperialistic greed or will we serve the God who makes love the key which unlocks the door of peace? … Will we continue to serve the false god of racial prejudice or will we serve the God who made of one blood all men to dwell upon the face of the earth? ” We must “cry out against the false god of nationalism. I realize that such a venture might bring about the possibility of being called many undesirable names. But speak we must.” (The False God of Nationalism, preached July 12, 1953 – Martin Luther King Jr.)
Prayer: Spirit of Oneness, we turn from shedding blood to sharing communion.
Question: How have I been affected by nationalist propaganda?
June 23, 2019 Gospel Luke 9:11b-17 Feast of the Body & Blood of Christ / Corpus Christi