"For God and Country"

History is filled with wars and battles which were fought "for God and Country".  One political party in the United States not only makes "for God and Country" a political slogan but makes Christianity part of their platform and how they define themselves and want to define the United States.  "For God and Country" is more than just a rallying cry to fire up the party's base, it is also a weapon to use against the opposition.  For if one party is for something and/or someone, the opposing party must be against that something and/or someone.  So one party declares itself God-fearing, flag waving Patriots and paints the other party as, well, not because they do not embrace the exact same values.

Abraham Lincoln understood that creating those types of labels does not work and is misleading.  In his Second Inaugural Address given on March 4, 1865 just forty days before he died, President Lincoln said that the Union and the Confederacy "read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. " Both sides believed that they were correct in their interpretation of what is right and just in God's eyes.  Both sides held opposing views.  Who was right?  If the outcome of the war was meant to be the indication of which side God had chosen, then the Union had it right and the Confederacy had it wrong.  Unless, of course, the God who can never make a mistake, did make a mistake.  Or the Southerners were being punished somehow and would eventually and ultimately be rescued from their defeat.

History records the outcomes of the wars and battles, but people often decide their own reality based not on facts, but on what they want to believe.  So members of one one party want to believe they are always good Christians and ever "for God and Country" and want to believe the opposing party is filled with people who are both godless and unpatriotic.  True or not true?  How does one decide?  Perhaps by looking at the actions rather than the words of the political parties?  That's a thought worth pursuing.

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus talks about giving food to the hungry, giving something to drink to the thirsty, giving clothes to the naked, giving shelter to the stranger, and giving comfort to the sick.  Which political party has done this most often?  The Christian "for God and Country" party that does not support Social Programs which provide assistance to the those most in need of help?  Or the other party that not only supports those programs but was responsible for creating them?  Perhaps more important than wearing "for God and Country" like a badge of honor is acting like all lives and all people matter.