Charlie has an excellent post about the 4th:

chuckp3
What’s sad is when Christians forget that freedom came on Easter and buy into the “freedom” imparted by the 4th. Ranging from mainstream churches to TBN millions of Christians took this week to celebrate the empire, not the Kingdom. The politics of the empire (specifically Republican politics) were touted as the fullest expression of the Christian faith, even while our government continues to visit violence upon the poor of the world. On this 4th let’s remember that the Sermon on the Mount should be our political platform, the Apostle’s Creed our pledge of allegiance, and the Kingdom of God our nation.

This is similar to something Stanley Hauerwas said. He said “People are saying the world changed on 9/11. The world changed actually in 33 A.D.”

The orgasm of patriotism whicn the churches seem all too happy to join and encourage is simply out of place and unrepresentative for the Christian and the church.