This week, as most of you have heard, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the phrase "under God" renders the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in public schools. In spite of the rush to condemn the court as anti-religious radicals, I can see, constitutionally, the place of their decision. But at the same time George W. Bush's statement was adept: He said that the line "under God" in the pledge was a "confirmation of the fact that we received our rights from God, as proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence." So what then is the relationship between this country and Christianity? And what is our relationship with our country based on our Christianity? The best place to start that conversation is at the beginning, so let's think back, 226 years ago.

It took until the spring of 1776 for the sense of unfairness to finally come to the rest of the colonies. Now, Massachusetts had arrived at this sentiment ahead of the rest, and, as you well know, not because of an enlightened sensibility, but because they had been subject to the most egregious indignities for the last six years, not the least of which was the outright occupation of Boston by the redcoat troops. The British troops had turned families out of their homes, destroyed property, and, of course, turned the Old South Meetinghouse into their riding school. Anger and frustration abounded in Boston.

But it took until the spring of 1776 for the fervor to build in the other colonies. The special taxes levied on the colonists first awoke that sense of unfairness, but it wasn't until the burning of city of Norfolk, Virginia and the siege of Portland, Maine that things reached the tipping point. The people began to cry out-"Unfair!," and at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, emotions ran high. Although dissenters persisted, there was a growing feeling that independence from Britain was the only way forward. But how? They needed to make their appeal to the colonists, to the dissenting members of the Continental Congress, to the people of Great Britain, to Europe and to all the world.

Where did Thomas Jefferson turn for support? What theoretical foundation could be found for such a claim? I know this congregation contains some eager students of history and philosophy. Perhaps even now you are resisting the urge to raise your hand or whisper to your neighbor the correct answer: "I know, I know-John Locke's Treatise on Civil Government, or Thomas Paine's Common Sense." You would, of course, be correct in mapping out the history of ideas, but there is another answer that is also correct. Perhaps some of you have already guessed that one too. Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence, along with the political theories set forth by Locke and Paine, rest their claims for natural rights and civil equality on the biblical faith, on the biblical message of our equality before God.

Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, published in January of 1776, was written in plain language and drew upon familiar biblical stories and images to rally public outcry against the British hereditary monarchy. He says, "Exalting one person so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of Scripture." Paine provides more depth to his analysis in his longer Treatise, The Rights of Man. In it, he explains that every account of creation points to the unity of humankind. Citing the first chapter of Genesis, "God created humankind in God's image, male and female God created them," Paine argues:

"every child born into the world must be considered as deriving its existence from God. The world is as new to him (or her) as it was to the first (human) that existed, and his (or her) natural right in it is of the same kind."

So Thomas Jefferson's immortal words were carefully chosen: "All men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights." His argument to the British and to the world is that we have all been created equal by God, and if we are equal as we stand before God, then we should be equal on the playing field of politics, whether a resident of Britain or in the colonies. The Declaration of Independence has within it a theological claim, a foundation in God's equal regard for all humankind.

Indeed, it's even pretty good theology. The creation story is a powerful message of God's love for all creation, as God creates us male and female together, without division or supremacy, and pronounces all creation good. That message winds its way through the Hebrew Bible. Just think of the story of the Exodus, or all those stories of men and women of no social standing rising to positions of leadership, or the calls of the prophets for justice for the poor and the outcast. Rosemary Radford Ruether labels this equality theme the "prophetic-liberating tradition," and summarizes it as "a rejection of every elevation of one social group against others as image and agent of God, and every use of God to justify social domination and subjection."

Nowhere is this theology more evident than in the life and message of Jesus. Jesus not only preached a message of hope and salvation for all people, but he became notorious for disregarding nationality, gender and economic status in his relationships. He would heal a Jew as quickly as a Gentile, like Roman centurion or the Samaritan woman. He kept company not only with Jewish community leaders, but with tax collectors and prostitutes. He was executed for treason, because his radical message of a kingdom of God, where all people had a seat at the table, was a threat to the civil and the religious authorities.

Jesus' witness lived on in the early church, like the letter of Paul to the Galatians that we read today. In the early church, at least as Paul imagines and urges, men and women, slaves and free persons, Jews and Gentiles become one in the fellowship of God. Although he wrote long before the modern conceptions of "rights," Paul relies on an ancient image of rights-inheritance. To say that all are one, Paul argues, is not simply to state that everyone gets along, that there is harmony among different groups of people. No, it is more than that-to be made one is to share in an inheritance of God, to share freely and equally the promise of salvation in Christ, to be equally adopted as children of God and therefore to all be heirs to the wealth and abundance God offers. The vision of God, as described by the creation story, in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and by Paul in the early church, is one in which all, no matter the status or skill accorded them at birth, share equally in the inheritance of grace and love God offers. In other words, all men, and women, and children, are created equal.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, George W. Bush was right in his description of the theology of the Declaration of Independence. There is a great harmony between the principles of the Declaration on which this country was founded, and the prophetic-liberating tradition of our faith. But so what? What does that mean for us, we who identify ourselves both as Christians and Americans?

There are those who would vehemently argue that because the Declaration was rooted in Christian ideals we are therefore a Christian nation. This sentiment began right here in colonial Massachusetts, as our Puritan forebears saw themselves as establishing a new biblical society, in the famous words of John Winthrop, "we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." As early as the 1850's, advocates for a Christian nation began working to amend the Constitution. The original framers carefully avoided all references to God, so organizations like the National Reform Association worked to include a line such as: "This nation divinely recognizes the authority and law of Jesus Christ, Savior and Ruler of Nations, through whom are bestowed the blessings of Almighty God." That campaign continued well into the 1950's, and was only quieted when the phrase "under God" was originally added to the pledge in 1954.

But this understanding of the United States as a Christian nation has never been an accurate reflection of the American people. Even in earliest days, there were quite a few Jewish and Quaker colonists, and of course the original inhabitants of this land, the Native Americans, had their own sophisticated religious beliefs and practices on these shores. Today the claim we are a Christian nation seems even less a match for reality. Right here in Boston, probably right within a one mile radius of this church, you will find Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs, Krishnas, Muslims, Pagans and many, many others. No, understanding the United States as the model Christian nation is not the way to reconcile our citizenship and our Christianity.

I think the vast majority of American Christians hold a more moderate opinion. Recognizing the basic harmony between the ideals of the United States and the ideals of Christianity, the two become fused into one. Being a good Christian means being a good citizen, and vice versa. For example, how many of you were scouts at one point in life? If you were a Boy Scout you recited:

On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

The Girl Scouts version was only slightly different:

On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

Because of the harmony between the ideals of the United States government and the prophetic-liberating tradition of Christianity, there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with the fusion of God, country and acts of kindness in this way. But I worry about this uncritical stance.

The two do not so easily fuse together all the time. Yes, certainly the ideals do work in harmony, but perhaps we should try harder to make our faith inform our citizenship rather than uncritically affirming it. Thinking back across history, I am confident that each of you could name countless examples of our government violating its own principles, which we have noted is also a violation of the prophetic-liberating tradition in Christianity.

One of the most notorious offenses in our history was slavery, and in the case of slavery, those who did not question their country through the eyes of their faith, but relied upon the rhetoric asserting this is a God-fearing country, not only endorsed a national policy of slavery but gave it the shelter of religious approval. Listen to these famous words from Frederick Douglass, delivered on the Fourth of July, 1852. "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To (her) your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy."

Simply saying this nation is "under God" does not make it godly. Simply saying, "all are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" does not grant those rights to all. Simply reading "neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female" does not make it a lived reality.

As Christians, we are called to embody those ideas, to make them a lived reality in our own worshipping communities and in the world, above and beyond the call of our country. The challenge of our faith is to make use of the biblical tradition and the ideals of our country to argue on behalf of all those treated in ways that are unfair, unequal, unjust and inhumane-even if that means going against our own government. Like our forebears in the American Revolution, the Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's movement and many other campaigns for justice and equality, we must stand up in the name of God's liberating love.

And our mandate goes far beyond the citizens of these United States. We are called to extend our concern for just and equal treatment beyond the boundaries of nationality, so that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; neither Israeli nor Palestinian, Indian nor Pakistani, White nor Black nor Middle Eastern, neither American or Afghan. As Christians, we must make our stand for just and equal treatment for all, because all are children of God, heirs of God's love and grace.

Frederick Douglass continued his great Fourth of July speech by saying of the Declaration of Independence, "The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost." As we Christians prepare to celebrate this Fourth of July, let us celebrate not the triumph of the red, white and blue, not the simple and uncritical love of God and country, but the great "saving principle" that we all stand equal before God. Let us honor that saving principle by raising our voices, defending justice and equality for all people in all nations, and standing up for all of God's children.

Let us pray.