An "unpopular" 4th of July Post… Why this is Not a Day to Celebrate…

Last updated on: July 6, 2011 at 8:16 pm by Kurt Willems

An "unpopular" 4th of July Post… Why this is Not a Day to Celebrate… 2011-07-06T20:16:58-07:00 Kurt Willems

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UPDATE: After you read this post and comment, Mason pointed out a very good article from Christianity Today written by Historical Christian Scholar Mark Noll (he is read in seminaries across America)… It asks similar questions from a historical perspective.

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ORIGINAL POST:

I want to start out this post with a huge disclaimer… what I am about to say may sound radical or irrational to some. I also want to say that I have a great respect for those who differ with me on this issue that I am about to discuss, so I invite your ideas on this post as well. Finally, I have a great deal of respect for those who are Christians and who ‘support’ military and our troops. Those who serve our country (although I may disagree with it to some extent from my standpoint theologically) deserve respect for their sacrifices and I am glad to have some friends who have served or are serving in the armed forces.

With all of that said, I have been struggling with the idea of the 4th of July for the past year or so. Each year we get together and remember the day when America won her freedom. We reenact the story through live action plays, we set off fireworks as a display of joy, and we sing prideful songs about our freedom from oppression. In many ways, we treat Independence Day like the Jews in Jesus’ day (and even to this day) remember the exodus from Egypt. Now here is the issue I have: No matter what position you hold in regards to being a Christian and war (I happen to lean towards a nonviolent stance), I cannot justify glorifying the ‘wining’ of our independence from our friends across the pond, even from a ‘just war theory’ viewpoint. How can we celebrate that we killed thousands upon thousands of people (MANY OF WHICH WORSHIPED THE SAME GOD!) over the fact that they were taxing our mammon with out giving us representation in parliament or whatever?!!!!! This seems just plain wrong!!!!! Yes, there might be some kind of justice issue here, but the greater injustice to taxation without representation is the violent killing of our brethren.

Is there anyone out there who agrees with me or am I just crazy [if you disagree take it easy on the crazy comments (-; ]? If you agree, why? If not, tell me your thoughts on this historic day and Christian biblical theology.

Jesus and Independence Day

Jesus and the Fourth of July

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