According to the Pew Research survey, 28% of American Muslims think of themselves as American first and Muslim second. By contrast, 48% of American “Christians” think of themselves as Americans first and Christians second.
Frankly, I find both statistics somewhat surprising and disturbing. The First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other God’s before me” is central not only to Judaism but also to Christianity and Islam. To place ones’ allegiance to country over God is idolatry!
This country owes its very foundation to the idea that there is a God to whom rulers and countries must submit. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence did not subscribe to the notion that “all men are created equal” because some government said so, but because they believed it was self-evident that God said so (as inconsistent as some of our forefathers were in carrying this out).
Our forefathers believed in “unalienable rights” such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” not because some government established these rights, but because our forefathers believed that we were “endowed by our Creator” with these rights. They believed that governments were instituted to “secure these rights” and that governments that fail to do so should be abolished (Declaration of Independence).
When professing “Christians” therefore, place government or patriotism above God, they 1) become guilty of idolitry and essentially deny the very God they profess to serve, 2) make the same mistake that many German “Christians” made when they put their allegiance in Hitler and the “Fatherland” over God, and 3) they undermine the whole foundation on which our government was established.
Frankly, I find both statistics somewhat surprising and disturbing. The First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other God’s before me” is central not only to Judaism but also to Christianity and Islam. To place ones’ allegiance to country over God is idolatry!
This country owes its very foundation to the idea that there is a God to whom rulers and countries must submit. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence did not subscribe to the notion that “all men are created equal” because some government said so, but because they believed it was self-evident that God said so (as inconsistent as some of our forefathers were in carrying this out).
Our forefathers believed in “unalienable rights” such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” not because some government established these rights, but because our forefathers believed that we were “endowed by our Creator” with these rights. They believed that governments were instituted to “secure these rights” and that governments that fail to do so should be abolished (Declaration of Independence).
When professing “Christians” therefore, place government or patriotism above God, they 1) become guilty of idolitry and essentially deny the very God they profess to serve, 2) make the same mistake that many German “Christians” made when they put their allegiance in Hitler and the “Fatherland” over God, and 3) they undermine the whole foundation on which our government was established.
