American Theocracy: Americanism

It is my contention that American society is not, first and foremost, a democracy.  Although it contains some key democratic elements, American society much more closely resembles a theocracy than any other concept of government. 

What is a theocracy?  There are several definitions.  From Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 1977: “literally, the rule of a state by God or a god.”  Less, literal, but more helpful is Webster’s 7^th New Collegiate Dictionary, 1967: “government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials regarded as divinely guided.”  And more comprehensively is The American Political Dictionary, 1982: “any political system in which political power is exercised directly or indirectly by a clergy, and in which church law is superior to or replaces civil law.  The implication is that decisions are made by a Supreme Being and are transmitted to human beings through agents who rule in a theocracy.”

Such a definition is, however, still a little narrow.  It seems to correlate theocracy only with Christian rule.  Obviously, a theocracy could exist in which church law is not Christian law, but rather Koranic (Sharia) or Talmudic or Confucian law.  So we could amend the definition to say ‘religious law’ in place of ‘church law.’  Those who do not yet see where this is going will likely point out that our Congressmen and Senators are surely the furthest thing imaginable from a collective of religious leaders.  Insofar as religious leaders are supposed to be the moral conscience of our society, politicians are clearly as far from a moral conscience as possible.

But what is the religion of the United States?  Christianity, you might say.  Well, 55% of Americans agree with you, but I’m not here to debate that point.  The Constitution clearly indicates the separation of church and state.  Christianity is NOT the state-sanctioned religion of the United States.  So what is?  Americanism. 

And so we’re back to definitions – what is Americanism?  Americanism combines a belief in politicized American Exceptionalism (that America is the best country in the world) with a devotion to all things America.  What’s great about Americanism is that it’s not exclusive.  You can be an Americanist and a Christian or an Americanist and a Muslim or a Jew or an Atheist.  Nevertheless, Americanism has many of the same components that other organized religions have. 

What are the essential components of organized religion? 

Scriptures.  Americanism has the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – Check. 

Deity or Deities.  Americanism has a whole host of people, referred to colloquially as the Founding Fathers (no religious overtones there).  George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, etc., etc., etc. – Check. 

Places of worship.  If you’re an Americanist, like other religions, you must pay homage to the deities.  You do so at the temples constructed in their honor: the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial.  These temples are even constructed in the Ancient Greek style so as to evoke the only polytheistic tradition with which many Americans are familiar – Super Check.

A clergy.  The role of the clergy in traditional religion is to help the ordinary citizen interpret the scriptures.  This role in America is played out by politicians generally, but by the courts in particular.  At the highest level, Supreme Court Justices interpret the meaning of the Constitution so that it can be understood and obeyed by all Americanists.  They even wear clothing that distinguishes them from ordinary citizens – Check.

There exist innumerable other similarities.  How does one become a member of most organized religion?  The vast majority of followers of any particular religion arrive there by birth and upbringing.  The same is true of Americanism.  One becomes an Americanist by being taught throughout his or her upbringing that America is the greatest country in the world and that her Founding Fathers were divinely inspired. 

Of course, like other religions, Americanism does allow for converts.  I’m not speaking about immigrants.  I would argue that most immigrants are actually raised Americanists, that they were Americanists long before moving to the United States.  When I speak of converts to Americanism, I’m speaking of people who are initially raised not within the Americanist tradition but then come to it later.  They first believe that America isn’t any better than other countries, or perhaps even worse, but eventually they are persuaded that America is, in fact, better.

Furthermore, like Christianity for example, certain followers can become sanctified.  Such seems to have been the case with John F. Kennedy, and is gradually becoming the case with Ronald Reagan.  These are people who were so unwavering in their commitment to the Americanist cause that they are deserving of worship.  Currently there is debate over the manner in which Dwight D. Eisenhower’s transcendence is managed.

Moreover, Americanism has a long history of waging war to assert its righteousness.  Like the crusades, which attempted to demonstrate that the Christian God was the one, true, God, Americanism waged a genocide against the indigenous population of North America to assert its dominance.  This, coupled with imperialistic aims around the world (see the Philippines, Cuba, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc., etc., etc.) has created an enormous swath of the world that buys at least part way into the Americanist vision. 

So when I say that the United States is a theocracy supported by the official religion of Americanism, I mean that any other perspective is so far removed from the public discourse as to be politically untenable.  Part of the Americanist tradition is freedom of religion, so one isn’t forced to be an Americanist by virtue of being an American.  However, not to be an Americanist is to be excluded from public discourse by the hegemonic ubiquity of Americanism.  To participate in the governance of the country, one must agree with the ideas of divinely inspired Founding Fathers and an exceptional history, and  possess blind faith in the greatness of the United States.