A City upon a Hill

I've spent the past couple of days thinking about what the results of this past election mean - for America and for the world.

The Assimilated Negro asks why America is so important to so many people. Good question. I guess part of the answer is that we've got a big army and a big economy. We buy a lot of stuff, and can protect or punish countries depending on what we think of them. One of the lab members here claims that the U.S. is a big deal because we think we're a big deal. We expect people to pay attention to us and so they do. It's hard to deny that the world is watching the U.S. While I knew the name of Germany's chancellor before I came here, I have no idea who she ran against in the elections. I have no real concept of her platform, and only recently learned her political party. In contrast, I went to the doctor this week and she asked me about Obama. I went to a dinner party last night and spoke with several well informed Germans about the outcome of the presidential election. The world watches the U.S.

Just before the election I listened to Sarah Vowell's latest book, "The Wordy Shipmates." It's about the Puritans who settled in New England. Vowell spends a lot of time considering John Winthrop's sermon "City upon a Hill." The text of the sermon is a favorite of presidents - most notably Regan, who use those words to claim that America is an example to the world. That we're beacon of freedom and democracy in a world of injustice and tyranny.

But, as Vowell points out, Winthrop meant something else. He said

"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world."

Meaning, everyone is watching, and when we fail it's going to be a big deal. It's hard not to hear those words directly as a criticism of the past eight years. When the ideals that America proclaims so loudly are in direct conflict with our actions everyone knows, and we have been a "story and a by-word through the world."

The Puritans believed that America was ordained by God to have a special place in the world, and like Sarah Vowell, I know that's a ridiculous claim. However, like Vowell, I also find myself unable to shake it. I've been thinking about the 4th of July parades that I used to take part in as a child. Sarah and I would go over to the Smith's house wearing t-shirts decorated with red, white, and blue puff paint and ribbons, decorate our bikes with red, white, and blue streamers and balloons, and ride through Fairfield to patriotic music with the other children. I've been thinking of putting my hand over my heart every morning in school and claiming that "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America." I've been thinking about how when I was ten, my favorite song was "Proud to be an American." I remember asking, as a child, whether the U.S. was the only free country in the world, and getting "well, it's the free-est" as a response.

Americans are taught as children that our country is special. We're taught that the story of America is a noble struggle of brave men and women to escape tyranny and establish a new kind of government. A "more perfect union" if you will. And even though the "more perfect union" has come at the cost of the lives and culture of the native people here before us, and even though it was built by the toil of slaves, I cling to the belief that at it's core the idea of "America" are the ideals of freedom, justice, and equality.

The country has been going through a rough time recently. September 11th made us afraid, and we used our fear to jusitfy injustices while the world watched. We're bullies abroad, and our domestic politics are characterized by such extreme polarization that we see the other side a villains rather than fellow citizens.

I know that it's naive, but I feel that with the election of Barack Obama we've turned a corner. The despair that I felt November of 2004 has been replaced with (I know, it's cheesy) hope. I hope that I can reclaim my childhood patriotism. I hope that he will remind us of the noble ideals of America without letting us forget our bloody past. I hope that he will restore our reputation abroad so that our "City upon a hill" is an example for, rather than a warning to, other nations. I hope that this man who won 52.6% of the popular vote can unite the country.

The part of John Winthrop's sermon that I like best isn't the reference to the city upon a hill. It's a few lines before that when he warns the settlers of the difficulty of their work, and how dependent they are on each other.

"We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body."

No wonder people joke about Obama being the Messiah. His task is nearly impossible. How can any president heal our relationships with each other and with the world? And yet, I'm hopeful. Look at any of the pictures of people weeping with joy as Obama's victory was announced. As a nation we're better than what we've become. I hope that we can be inspired to be citizens rather than consumers, to uphold the ideals of freedom, equality and justice, and to "rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together" no matter our political party or our race.

After all, the world is watching.