While God himself designed the sovereignty of nations as a protection for human liberty (see Genesis 11), men contrived a native tribalism that was destined for conflict.
Consider the Comanche Indian. The Lords of the Plains called themselves NEMERNUH – “the people,” for which the historical understanding is that they considered other tribes and peoples as less than human or, in the least, less than NEMERNUH.
But the term for which we remember them is Comanche which comes from “KOH-MAHTS” – a Ute Indian phrase for “enemy” or more precisely, “Those Who Are Always Against Us.”
And this is the sad history of all identity politics from the Utes and the Comanche, to the Hatfields and McCoys, to ANTIFA, BLM, LGBTQ, et al.
The intention of our forefathers was that we bond together in mutual identity and appreciation of the self-evident understanding that “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Whatever we were before we trusted in this foundational principle would be purged free in the fires of liberty’s melting pot and we would be “out of the many, one.” We would be Americans. A people not of similar background but of a united purpose. You don’t have to be a Christian to be an “American”, but to have true unity amidst all our diversity one must in the very least trust in those words.
As a Christian our bond is even stronger than that which exists among Americans.
For in the body of Christ:
Here there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, savage, slave and free; but Messiah is all, and in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves in tender compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience— bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord pardoned you, so also you must pardon others. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfect harmony. Let the shalom of Messiah rule in your hearts—to this shalom you were surely called in one body. Also be thankful. Let the word of Messiah dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:11-17)
Image: Excerpted from: U.S. Government – Extracted from PDF version of Our Flag, available here (direct PDF URL here.), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41373752
