Imagine

All these questions and answers making the rounds in Journal Land… I’m going to answer one that nobody has asked: What song do you think best expresses your personal philosphy?

This song has been in the back of my mind for much of my adult life. Years ago, I was a starry-eyed, steadfast member of a Pentecostal church. As time went on, though, I became aware of the fact that the Christian right was NOT all about God. Much of its time and energy were invested in beating "the other side" over the head with their interpretation of religion. Not just the godless unsaved, but other brands of Christianity that they felt did not follow the correct path (theirs) to salvation. I wanted to love God, but ultimately, I knew I didn’t belong among a bunch of people who used what they felt was THEIR special relationship with the Almighty, to belittle, threaten, and sometimes take violent action (abortion clinic bombings) against those who did not believe as they did. And so, the words of Lennon’s song began to play in the back of my mind…increasingly loudly as the Christian right became more powerful, more vocal and more violent. Imagine there's no heaven...It's easy if you try; No hell below us, Above us only sky. Imagine all the people Living for today...

Recently, the tune has become even louder. What a mess the world is in now! The entire Middle East is an explosion waiting to happen. Half the African continent is involved in civil war or genocide. The Balkans crackle with barely concealed violence. India and Pakistan are constantly on the verge of coming to nuclear blows. North Korea is rattling its saber. Central America has roaming bands of rebels who annihilate entire villages full of peasants. Name a corner of the world, and there are people killing each other for political gain.

And the United States of America, arguably the most powerful nation in the world, which has the power to be a HUGE source of good, to promote peace and understanding (notice I didn’t say "democracy") in the world…chooses NOT to. Instead, reeling from an unprovoked attack on our own soil, we take up our guns and bombs and go wading into the general area of the world from which we believe our attackers sprang, and start killing people. In light of our complete inability to uncover the WMD we claimed we were going after, there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was purely an act of revenge (I won’t go into the other possible political rationale behind it…). "An eye for an eye." There are those who STILL argue that the attack was justified, if for no other reason than to demonstrate to the rest of the world that you’d better not even think of messing with the United States. Really? What does such an act of revenge produce? Does it produce peace? Or just a higher stack of dead bodies?

While everyone around me was donning their red, white and blue garb, waving the stars and stripes from every possible orifice, banning French fries, belting out "I’m Proud to be an American" at every public gathering of more that five people…Lennon’s song played a little louder in my head: Imagine there's no countries; It isn't hard to do…Nothing to kill or die for; And no religion too. Imagine all the people Living life in peace...

I love my country. I love the sheer, beautiful expanse of it. I love the history of our long and difficult climb toward guaranteeing freedom and dignity for EVERY citizen. I love it when we try to inspire the rest of the world to value human life. I love it when we open our doors and embrace "the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free…" I love the great men and women our country has produced. I love the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, crafted with such care and diligence by some of the greatest minds this world has ever known.

But I can’t condone using our flag as a weapon to bludgeon the rest of the world into compliance with our beliefs. I can’t rally behind it when it is used as a standard to lead our young men and women into a war tainted with race hatred and the lust for revenge. I don’t believe that is what "patriotism" is about; but if it IS, I want no part of it. In that case, the world would be a better place with NO countries. NO boundaries. NO flags. Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You may say I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one… I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one.