I Will Not Stand For The Empire

Why do I refuse to pledge allegiance to the flag of the US? Why do I refuse to pledge allegiance to any earthly kingdom?

The first reason I refuse to cite the pledge of allegiance is because we are not supposed to lie. The United States of America is not a nation “under God”, no matter what the religious statists claim. Even if this were true, it is a deistic claim, not a Christian claim. I am a Christian. "God" can mean many things to many different people, and in fact it does. I know the American kingdom is not under the Christian God.

The second reason is because we are not supposed to take the Lord’s name in vain. For statists to attach the name of God to their agenda is to take God’s name in vain. The gospel is not concerned with political achievements, nor does it need military, industrial, or economic strength to be successful. It needs selfless Christians that serve no King but Christ. The Lord’s project is not centered on any country, and his interests and purposes have nothing to do with the interests of any of the kingdoms of men. Though I care about the people of this country, I will not use the Lord’s name in vain by equating Americanism with Christianity. He is not an American Patriot; he is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the Church, not the State, is his agent for changing the world.

Another reason is because as a Christian, I cannot serve two masters. The interests of God’s Kingdom and the interests of man’s kingdoms are antithetical to one another. In the kingdoms of men, rulers and elitists use citizens as cannon fodder for their immoral wars and financial interests and dupe them into doing so with words like patriotism and honor. Many of these are willing to invade, occupy, and kill people in other countries, not because their own families are in danger, but because the Government tells them to. Kingdom of God people seek to convert sinners to Christ, not to kill them because a president orders them to. The way to serve my generation, as a Christian, is to love the Lord and my neighbor, to preach the gospel, to help the needy, and to provide for my family and protect my family – not to obey the orders of Government tyrants. Loving the people of our country should not be confused with obedience to tyrants. Preachers should be leading the charge, but many of them bring this idolatry into their church buildings. I, along with many others, will not pledge allegiance to anyone but Christ.

Still another reason is that it is not true that there is liberty and justice for all. America incarcerates more people than any State on earth, and much of it is for using a substance that the Government says is illegal, while other harmful practices are tolerated or even promoted. Drugs are harmful, but churches, non-profits, and other community organizations are better equipped than the State to turn people from these harmful practices, while keeping families connected.

We are serfs, working and making profits for the politicians to take away from us to pay for their salaries and programs, and they will put us in jail if we do not pay them for the privilege of living on our own land. They call it property taxes; I call it theft. They take our income from us and call it income tax; I call it theft.

How many of us are barred from practicing the trade we are good at because we do not have a Government license? Why should a man be deprived of providing for his family in the way he is best at doing so, just because he doesn’t have the Government’s permission? If he isn’t good at what he does, others won’t ask him for his services. The Government thinks we are stupid and that we don’t know how to make wise choices about who to go to for services.

Is it "justice for all" that millions of babies are murdered before they are ever born? This alone should cause anyone to be ashamed of pledging allegiance to the United States or its flag.

I think the Black-lives matters movement is an absurdity. I think white supremacists are devils. But there is no doubt that black people and Indians were mistreated and slaughtered in the nation’s past for the purposes of riches and expansionism. Wealth can be gotten wrongly or rightly. Capitalism is not a moral evil, contrary to the rhetoric of some politicians. But mistreating people for the purpose of amassing wealth is wrong no matter what “ism” its under. Today, white people are being ridiculed, slandered, and shamed for just having white skin, by people that are evil minded, many of them white themselves, and the cycle of hate continues. My people are not the people of any particular earthly nation or skin color. My people are those from every nation who follow Christ as King. But many will claim to be Christians and yet have no problem with bombing and maiming people from other nations, because, well, they are not Americans. America is not the Kingdom of God, and liberty and justice are foreign to this land. America is relatively free compared to some other countries, but America is not the land of liberty. It is a land of tyranny. Absolute freedom has its risks, but tyranny is evil, and in the name of doing what is for the public good, tyranny is unleashed on us all. They don’t ask us to kneel to the image of Nebuchadnezzar, we are told to kneel to the image of Uncle Sam, and few are willing to face the fiery furnace for refusing to kneel. They betray the Lord for their religion of Americanism.

No amount of twisting the teaching of Romans 13 can make it teach that we are to give in to tyranny or give any country our allegiance. If you have a Bible, read all of it, not just proof texts. You will find that many false doctrines have been propagated by singling out certain passages of the Bible to the exclusion of the rest. I refuse to be a good citizen when being a good citizen means going along with sinful deeds, including when those deeds are carried out by the Government and people in office or in uniform. God is not in the business of nation building. America is not his pet. America is Sodom and Gomorrah all over again.

The early Christians refused to yield to the Roman Empire, and faithful Christians today will refuse to yield to the American Empire. Its people like this that have made this land great. But there are few left. I intend to be in that number. I will stand for the people of this land, but I will not stand for the Empire.