A few days ago after the SSM ruling, Arminian curmudgeon Roger Olson was goading his foes-
It will be more than a little ironic if they continue to hold elaborate “God and Country” patriotic worship services around July 4 while resisting what the Supreme Court has decided.
Those celebrations will still go on. SSM is the law of the land, sadly, but that is more a reflection of the societal changes that made it judicially expedient to do so. The sin isn't so much in the marriage proper but the sexual attachment that prompted it. Those attachments will still be there with or without the ability to incorporate a marriage license into it, so I'd not be as outraged as some are if I were a county clerk asked by Adam and Steve to process their paperwork.
We're far from needing a second Civil War or a mass exodus to some culturally-conservative country (Poland, anyone?). Thu US has never been perfect; the 1950s had a number of unsavory things that we'd rather not swap out for, so even the "good old days" weren't all that great.
Today, we're celebrating the US as a concept. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Yes, that was written by a slave-owner, but also by a guy who shuddered at the idea of a just God holding court on America's sins. Yes, he was a theological liberal who held his own one-man Jesus Seminar two centuries ahead of time, but he and the other Founding Fathers provided the framework for religious liberty and economic liberty to flourish more than elsewhere on the planet.
That religious liberty is a bit fragile at present, but it is more intact than elsewhere on earth. That could change in the years to come, but if the worst manifestations of persecution are InterVarsity having to meet off-campus and the occasional SSM wedding cake suit, we're ahead of the game vis-a-vis other countries. Not that those shouldn't be fixed (and may well be fixed in time, since the Supreme Court has yet to rule on either), but we're in rather good shape for now.
July 4 grates on liberals for its jingoism, as conservative American Exceptionalism hits them as cringe-worthy.More thoughtful Christians, even those on the theological right, will point out that the God-and-Country theme often gets the order mixed, that being a cheerleader for a selfish American lording it over the rest of the world militarily and economically isn't a great witness overseas or at home.
I was quipping with a Canadian friend; Canada Day used to be called (and still is by old-schoolers) Dominion Day and July 4 could well be called Dominionist Day, especially when the God-&-Country meme starts to be laid on thicker than the meringue on the lemon pie.
However, that America is also sending aid when there is a disaster, helping poorer countries develop and fight disease, and stepping in militarily if it seems it would really help. We could do more of the first two and pick our spots on the last one better, but we are on balance, as the recent Navy ad put it, a global force for good.
We're still a very good experiment on how to run a country. Not a perfect model, but a good one. Still a work in progress (and the occasional misfire and regress), but one to be celebrated today.
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