God, Country, Family and the American Religion

What's missing? In this time-honored trifecta of American values, we see priority given to religious faith, to patriotism, and to loved ones. It's meant to encapsulate the American life and rally our loyalties around the things that really matter. But it does more than that. It also suggests a sense of priority. It's a subtle reprogramming of our natural inclination to love others by making it dependent on duty: first to God and then to country. But its understanding of God and country is not a Christian one. If anything, it conflates the two under the banner of Manifest Destiny. Because in saying that this country is a Christian nation or at least was founded as such, we've elevated country to the same level as God in our lives. We're, in effect, saying that God has ordained this country in a way that serving him comes through serving America. Since God's values are at the heart of this nation, we can be assured that protecting American interests is the