Did the American Revolution Defy the Teachings of Jesus?

The state of South Carolina has recently introduced legislation that would require all social studies teachers to basically teach a deeply celebratory view of the American Revolution and the US founding in general. This is problematic on many fronts, particularly related to academic freedom and historical integrity. I’ve written about this issue related to the American Revolution in the social studies classroom. Specifically, I’ve looked at the reasons we need to critique the American Revolution and view it through a peace education lens. The article can be found here (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00377996.2019.1709148)

However, today I was thinking about how the American Revolution was not only incompatible with the teachings of Jesus but in many ways it was actually in direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus. This creates an uncomfortable reality for those, particularly in the church, who like to paint an almost sacrosanct view of our history and revolution. It is clear throughout the Gospels that the path of Jesus is not one of armed rebellion. There are many modern political issues where we have to infer how Jesus would have responded, but this point was quite direct. The people in Jesus’s day faced a level of opposition and oppression that would make the “oppression” of the American colonists by the British look laughable in comparison. Rome was a nation that brutally put down any type of dissent and was fine publicly crucifying people to make their point. They worshipped other gods, and were hostile to anyone who opposed their reign. In comparison, the American colonists were largely angered that they had to pay taxes without adequate representation and that they were not allowed to take over more Native land. Again, I do not think this means that this policy of colonization Great Britain was right nor that Great Britain was walking the path of Jesus either (though their policy towards Native Americans was certainly better).

However, when Jesus was confronted with how to deal with the Romans of his day, he did not tell his Jewish followers to revolt. H instead gave them some pretty radical instructions like to love and pray for their enemies. Perhaps even more extreme, if a soldier forced them to carry their equipment for a mile to carry it for two. He went out of his way to praise the faith of a Romans Centurion and proclaimed that he had not seen that type of faith in all of Israel. He later warned his followers that those who live by the sword will die by it.

I cannot help to think that in some ways our twisted historical narrative of the founding of a “Christian” nation based on a violent rebellion has led us in some ways to remain one of the most violent societies in the developed world, a society where there is a police killing or a mass shooting almost every week. Throughout our history, we have worshiped at the foot of violence and guns, and we see those results daily in our nation. As a church, we need to quit celebrating the American Revolution as if it were the path of Jesus and realize it was the direct opposite. This does not mean that good things did not come out of the Revolution. Many of the ideas of the Enlightenment such as freedom of speech and religion and the ideals of equality did eventually gain a firmer base in the new country. Our Constitution was also a strong step forward for that time in history. However, we should never treat our revolution as sacrosanct or even worse as something that aligns with the ideas of the Gospels.

Christians have often been formed more by our nationalistic narratives than the Sermon on the Mount. Because of this, it not only distorts our vision of our national history but more tragically it distorts our vision of Jesus.