By: Peter Isackson

Peter Isackson — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:00:58 +0000

There is a further irony. The formulation of the first amendment opened the door to the creation of a religion of the nation qua nation. That is why, well before the recent surge of fundamentalist, Apocalyptic Christian Nationalism (largely merged with Christian Zionism); we could have an “unAmerican activities” House committee. The adjective American should apply to anything related to the geography of the place called America. But by associating it with beliefs and ideologies (capitalism), America became a credo and not just another nation state.
“God bless America.” The idea of America as a god and the idea that a Christian God — supposedly universal — would bless America (and implicitly fail to bless everything else) came to the fore early in the republic’s history. It generated concepts such as “manifest destiny.” Instead of the Old Testament’s “chosen people” America became the “chosen nation,” which makes a lot of sense, since the people have never counted for much in the oligarchic system.

Comments on: My God! America’s White Christian Right Is So Wrong

By: Peter Isackson