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You've probably been hearing a lot on the news lately. Whether it's in Europe, America, the islands of the sea, or even all the way on the other side of the world in Russia, China, perhaps even the Middle East. The point remains you've been hearing it. Populism and nationalism are on the rise, as are ideological wars of words and fists.
Are we on the verge of a new era of civil unrest? Civil war? Will the dialogues cease and the soldiers march again? Who can know. Yet there is one thing we must address, the faith.
Where is it a Christian is supposed to stand in regards to this issue? Are we to turn a blind eye or address it, together, as one in Christ?
Firstly, lets get some background information on Nationalism. We know for a fact it's a patriotic ideology. It's a belief system in the sovereignty of one's own nation and the preservation of its cultural and ideological identity. Such things are the soul of a nation, at least to the nationalist. Naturally this would sound quite pleasing. Love of country and preservation of heritage is good.
Now it's time for the other side of the coin.
It also comes with vile connotations of xenophobia against the foreigner, superiority over the rest of the world, and selfish national pursuits at the cost of others. Worse yet it can also be coupled with racial, religious, and ethnic persecution against "undesirables". Which we've seen time and again among the viscous.
With that in mind it's about on par with capitalism and communism. One for the sake of prosperity, the other equality. Yet both with their ugly sides that horrify us all. But that's the point, it's a worldly system is it not? Why should we be surprised when there's an dark side to its usage in this life? It reflects men's hearts.
Regardless, the question still remains... where do we stand when confronted with this ideology?
Scripture is the first bastion that all ideologies must pass through in order to be discerned by the Church.
Do also keep in mind.
Be aware, the time Romans 13:1-4 was written was under the oppressive regime of Nero during the days of the old Roman Empire.
Now that we have both the idea and Biblical points in mind. Lets address.
Pride, can and has been used to justify some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. Be it through blatant deceit or murderous intent, arrogance can and has corrupted the intentions of various leaders and peoples throughout every period in human history. God has witnessed the most monstrous regimes in existence come to power being exalted by such feelings and rhetoric. So is it any wonder we're supposed to be wary of such sentiments? They can turn good men into monsters.
God has a place in his heart for the displaced, poor, and beaten down. This has been a common Biblical theme for the Church to emulate and it will REMAIN such throughout every era we exist. To ignore it is to ignore part of who we are as the Church. It is inseparable from the Christian spirit. This is why we're to be good to the immigrant, even if our government completely screwed us over with unnecessary wars in far away places that displaced all the people there over here.
It's obvious God is impartial to his creation. All who seek him be they black, yellow, pokie dot, or even green God will accept as long as they follow his command and love the Lord their God with all their mind, soul, and spirit. It's completely alien to the doctrine of our Gospel to reject someone based on their ancestry, nationality, skin color, gender, or appearance. It's the heart that counts.
The least of us, is the greatest. Such is so with civil servants. To serve the public trust and uphold the institution of righteous government is to honor both God and justice. Be it in a court of law, social reform, public relations, etc. They're supposed to serve the people, sacrificing their own wants for our sake. If we need our borders properly regulated or way of life defended, they'll know what to do. That said, they'll also avoid starting pointless wars that displace so many people who end up having to come to us.
As it's been since the tower of Babel, man has been spread out like seeds in the spring among the meadows. For each people God has given a place and boundaries to both live and find their way to Him. To jumble all the people of the Earth in one place is obvious folly. Like different species of bird, they group together among their kin.
God is also a God of order. There is no hesitation in calling for us to submit to authority even if it's deemed as oppressive and unfair. Such is the nature of our Lord that chaos and lawlessness stands opposed to everything he's ordained for this world. Keep in mind, this most certainly doesn't mean there will be no judgement against a wicked and vile king... There always has, and always shall be justice. Be it in this life or the next.
Time for a conclusion.
Overall, the negatives of nationalism are not justifiable nor endorsed by the Church. Racism, elitism, persecution, and pride are all universally condemned in scripture. They are undefendable positions and do not belong in the Church of Christ. Given the Gospel is something that not only blurs borders, but outright fades them away bringing all together in Christ Jesus.
However, just government is strongly advocated in scripture. And to serve the public trust is considered an honor. As long as we are on this world there will be divisions among men and tensions among peoples. Such is so in the times we live. It is a unavoidable fact of life. And regardless of our Gospel, many yet will ignore truth and go their own way into destruction. So no, not all can be our brother. Nor can all be trusted within our lands.
It is for this reason that both careful discernment, and distance, is advised. It is easy for a Christian to get sweeped away under the guise of promoting traditional values and Church sovereignty in a state. But we must not mix the two. The Church is a entirely foreign institution to the state and while their positions may intertwine at times, our goal is the reverence, worship, and study of God Almighty and his Word.
We're not to worship the state nor give it equal comparison to the Kingdom of God. We are not to turn our Church services into cheer leading sessions for state holidays. Nor are we to come under the idea our state is a eternal thing. Like every other mortal thing on this world, our state too, shall die. Just as a individual is there like a glimmer of fire dancing for a moment and faded away the next, so to is the state. Some brothers and sisters have even been wronged by the state. Whether by social, economic, or political woes/persecution. They have suffered and feel distanced from the Church when we give admiration to something they've known only calamity under.
I have done my best to give a fair and balanced analysis and I'll admit, it's been a journey for me given these past few months. Ive learned a lot and continue to. But one thing that's been difficult for me is to step up to the fact that regardless of national sentiments and political passions. I must in the end distance myself from such movements. Like any ideology with man, God is rarely even mentioned, let alone at the center. And when passions boil over, it only results in the same old story. More suffering, more death, more regret.
On the brightside of Europe's immigration crisis, we've got this at least.
Thedailybeast.com
Independent.co.uk
Foxnews.com
I hope I have been a help to you.
God Bless and have a wonderful day.
OMG You wrote so much alone that is crazy
I did read the description of this first but the image seems to be a funny one from a game or an anime
Nationalism is double edged and is very delicate but is better than a homogenous hellhole of a globalist Earth that the other side thinks is better for us where none of us will actually respect each other , will always be infighting due of differences , where each of us will try to prove they are a better human than another while in the same time acting like in a planetary zoo where monkeys found themselves in the same place with sheep , giraffes , hippos and horses ; when we know all too well that no person is content and happy but only at the place they call home , with their families , their traditions and their ancestors , no matter how fun is to socialize and mingle with others , we all crave for home just like the last thoughts of a Nord would be of home , like the saying
What i personally think is that the most entitled to be nationalistic are the people that belong to that land first of all
USA case , who can be more nationalistic than Americans are the Native Americans
Europe case , who can be more nationalistic than Slavs are Indo Europeans
Middle East case , whoever was there before ( i admit i studied less about them ) can be more nationalistic than others
Asia same , South Asia same , Oceania same , Polynesia same
This means a lot of fights will happen , a lot of arguing about who was there first and who is entitled to be there and rule that place
Nationalism is simply the rightful self defense against anyone who would come and barge into your home , beat you , have their way with your family , steal things from you and claim your home as theirs now
I have a strong nationalistic spirit in me and personally i want every country to be sovereign , not be anyone's bitch/er , nor depend on anyone else to afford a life , a roof above , bread and butter and who disagrees with these ideals can only be a criminal , robber minded person with ill thoughts in their heads
If we will come to respect each other , we will come to respect each other truthfully if we acknowledge , respect and treat another the way we would like to be in turn by others
Even if Earth would become fully nationalistic , unities and friendships will still happen , mostly between brotherly nations & peoples that shared much together in the historical past and/or are racially connected at some point thanks to a common ancestor
I do firmly believe that we should give a serious second thought and chance to the good ideal of Nationalism
Cool post Joshua , for certain
Once i write here is done will read all that you said here
It's an understandable idea.
But often leads to hostile and xenophobic sentiments. Not only that, but outright murder and brutality. As with any idea, men mess it up. I don't think God appreciates the empires of men in the least. As it stands God has viewed them little more than as beasts. Viscous, wild, and answering not to the authority of the Almighty.
Be it the American Empire, the Roman Empire, or even the Babylonian Empire. In the end all are idols of men as an affront to God. It is for this reason that like the men who created them, they too must die.
I agree with you about globalism. If you think Empires are a sin. Try world unification under the governorship of secular men. I can't think of anything more blatantly offensive to the Creator than the creation seeking to go on to the stars while not only denying, but spitting upon His name and denying the authenticity of His work. This is the key thing many modernists overlook. They are speeding up the last terror of days through such pursuits and denying the necessity of God in the hearts of men.
It is for this reason that while nationalism may be rejected in principle, we have little choice but to look favorably on its intent to preserve the sovereignty of the nation state. It delays the intent of the evil one in the last days.
The only Empire that's ever actually mattered is the Kingdom of God. It's a place there's no more fighting, no more crying, no more pain. Only the bliss a child of God can know among their heavenly Father and kin. No one there is sad or ashamed. For in this far away land, on God's celestial shores, all are jubilant, all is light.
Golden words on this one Joshua " I agree with you about globalism. If you think Empires are a sin. Try world unification under the governorship of secular men. I can't think of anything more blatantly offensive to the Creator than the creation seeking to go on to the stars while not only denying, but spitting upon His name and denying the authenticity of His work. This is the key thing many modernists overlook. They are speeding up the last terror of days through such pursuits and denying the necessity of God in the hearts of men " quoting you
I am fully for that indeed
We will not actually leave for any stars before the end of the current rule and the Kingdom Of Heavens era starts but humankind has the liberty of trying
Good post all along
P.S. : Check out my future PC wishlist at my latest blog at my profile
wow that was an interesting half hour read XD
Here goes my piece:
I do not believe that nati If anything, it's the belief that all the people who live on a certain defined land could be called one Nation. Now over the years a lot of extreme political parties have used the justification of nationalism to discriminate against minorities and political rivals in/out their countries (famously europe and the Jews in early 20th century).
A sense of nationalism is important in building a stable country. Most countries nowadays have many different social groups, and the only way of making everyone feel that they belong together is to convince them that they form parts of a whole = a nation. That on its own has nothing to do with discrimination. In fact it's kinda the point in eliminating any context for establishing minorities.
"Give what's Caesar's to Caesar, and what's God's to God"
I do believe that the church has zero say in how people should come together and rule themselves.
The faith is a personal relationship between man and god, and not a textbook on how to create a country. Every country that is not built on secularism is a failed country (just look at the arabic countries).
Who told you what god thinks of the "empires of man"? this notion that "any idea, men mess it up" and all work of men is evil by nature, is (sorry to say) just B.S.
People are born free. This freedom is our gift from god, and what we choose to do with it is our own responsibility. Use it for good = you're good. Use it for evil = you're bad. The choices we make define us. No one has the right to claim that any idea is evil just because it was not sent from heavens.
As a christian I'm open to all people and accept all others. But when the other is threatening my existence, my beliefs, and my culture, I can't just standby and stay impassive about it. Calling for all the immigrants of the world to come to the west is, if I may say so, pure stupidity on part of europe. You don't help people if you encourage them to leave their countries and homes, and come to a foreign environment. You cure the problem and not the symptoms (and you don't cause the problem in the first place, right murica?).
What europe is failing to understand is that those millions of immigrants also come with their culture and beliefs (which are for the most part Islamic). Now when those people who are raised their whole life on hating christians, and considering everyone not of their sects as evil and deserving of death, come into a foreign country and a foreign society that doesn't want to follow by their rules and beliefs, it creates problems (France, Germany, Great Britain, and lately spain).
Why would you allow a mosque to be built on top of a church just to keep preaching hate among people day and night? Freedom of speech? But what do you do when this other doesn't understand the concept of freedom itself? How do you deal with it?
My answer: don't. It's really pointless trying to integrate true muslims into any society that was not built by them.
What those articles about "muslims converting" don't say is that most (not all) of those muslims convert because they feel they will receive better treatment from international organizations and western societies if they were to be christians, which is kinda true, which is a shame because real eastern christians are treated like **** when applying for merely studying in a western university.
The End^^
Yeah i understand your point too
Is total jackassery from USA's part that before the current president , they went on fully multi cultural and democratic favoring wars , immigration and such things and now they all of a sudden turned to 180 degrees advocating nationalistic values , leaving west Europe to deal with the consequence of invading muslim countries
The immigrants should convert to Christianity or go back in muslim countries , they will not adapt in Europe but only make trouble generally speaking
Until a civilian Christian European will be able to migrate to any muslim country and be treated with the same welcome we won't have balance with this
However , Joshua was right because leaders done this not the American people , we hope that now they made the right choice with Mr. Trump
People are not actually too free hoho , not most of us from the masses are not truly free , the freedom of choice is proportional with how much you can afford to be free ( ie. money , social status , connections etc. ) but yes leaders and politicians are more free to make good or bad choices
Conspiracy naysayers that throw dirt at conspiracy ( which is a fabricated government term to attack people onto something ) will hate it but in truth , the world is bad where is bad because there is also the rule of Satan in place , of his followers that want world domination and they are involved in all aspects of society and in all churches except the most secretive of God's churches as they may be ; and to make a long argument short , is a big battle , a war for our world and for our souls
This should answer all questions while in the same time it will rise many more questions
In the end yes , the only pure choice we can make is to side with God or with the adversary , in whatever we do in life
Is the only true choice we can make
hoho96
Of course they have, extremists have been a constant throughout history that've soiled ideologies like a plasma knife through butter. Is it any wonder they all suck?
Yes, and over the course of the last century we've seen the break up of colonial powers and their holdings because those same people the state attempted to force into assimilating rebelled and sought independence. Kinda like Vietnam under the French or India under Britain. You know, the Roman Empire also experienced this when they tried integrating so many foreign peoples into one superstate. Hence their collapse, aside from the moral and political corruption.
I believe the Church is to embody the hearts and minds of every citizen across the world regardless of the nation they live under. The state is merely to enforce the laws and external affairs of the country. Both are separate, but each their own role in society. Unfortunately few, if any, actually attempt to apply this. Nowadays the Church is merely a social gathering for "religious nutballs", at least in western circles. Instead of a spiritual necessity for the people.
Read the book of Daniel Chapter 7 and 2 Esdras Chapter 11. Then you get back to me on what God actually thinks of them. In fact, you can actually look on my profile to read Chapter 11 right now.
Oh, I understand your frustration. But I must point out that this crisis is one of your secular institutions own making. Who authorized and enacted the dethroning of Saddam in Iraq? Qaddafi in Libya? And attempted to do so with Assad in Syria? Turning the entire region into a war torn, economic meltdown? The very same institutions who you earlier gave credit as being run by free men. Hmm... freedom really didn't do justice here did it? Perhaps it's because the hearts of these leaders, God has been absent for a very long time...
I know well that they despise the secular concept of freedom. I despise it as well. Partly because men continue to abuse rather than use it for good. The founding fathers of my country gave us rights to privacy, speech, and due process for a reason. Sadly few in my country nowadays bother to understand the concept. So the American empire dies. What you need to keep in mind is when they look at the west, they see degeneracy and apathy. I see the same thing. So I'm not very fond of defending secular institution nor am I fond of defending theocratic institution. The only government institution that'll actually last is the one where God Himself is the head of it, which we have yet to have here...
I believe that every people, regardless of their point of origin or cultural background. Has the ability to be made right with the Almighty.
Empires murder a lot in their wars and campaigns , they ransack a lot , they force unrightful things a lot , they execute a lot of people that stand against it , they create a class of very rich with virtually no limits to what they wanna do therefore generating depravity while in the same time they create a population of starved , kept in fear people that mostly live in poverty
An empire plays God on Earth and in doing so it commits a sin that of pride and imitating God just like the adversary does it and always done it , but in the end is a mockery
A true godly Earth would have no dominant nation over another , much less empires , we would be more akin to naturistic tribalistic type of societies that focus on eternal continuation , preservation , holiness , respect for life and the land , rather than anything else
It may have advanced societies too with tall scrapers and the like but they would be closed environments , fully autonomous and independent from one another
True unity is absolute sovereignty and independence when each of us will understand that we need not fight for any freedom because we are already free and all we have to do is respect another's rights the way we want ours to be respected
True unity is separation
...but...yeeep ! We are enough far still from such awesomeness on our world