Homeland Security and Other Reminders of Nazi Germany

I am excited that, for the first time in my life, my guy won. I liked Carter, and was a district campaign manager for Dukakis and dressed up as him for Halloween. But I couldn't vote until Clinton, and he was far too conservative for me, so I went Nader both times. (Not in 2000. I'm not that guy.) I loved Gore's environmental stance, and voted for Kerry because, well, he wasn't Bush. So this is the first time in my life that I voted for someone who actually won, and frankly, I'm a bit unsure of myself. I'm used to being the persecuted minority, able to blame the other guy. What do you do when you're now part of the group in power?

But in truth, no matter how much I love Obama, as a Christian, I have an obligation to be prophetic. For us, it is never Country First, but always Kingdom First. Patriotism is the antithesis of Christianity. We can never put one country above all others, for in that way lies madness, and war, and death. Rather, we are called to continuously be a voice for the voiceless, to speak for the outcast and disenfranchised. This is our calling, even if we like the guy in office, even if we voted for him. So I will speak for justice when Obama works for justice, and speak for justice when he strays from the path. My allegiance isn't to America or Obama, but to Jesus Christ, and ushering in the Kingdom.

So this is the first action I call Obama to. It is a small matter, and easily fixed. It's called Homeland Security. I am not saying you should abolish it, or change the structure. It's a small matter of the name. "Homeland Security" has the connotation of Fatherland or Motherland, from Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. It suggests that your home is separate from others, and you have allegiance It has the idea that you put one ethnic group above another. It has a connotation of Facism; that one must give allegiance to the central security agencies, not that one freely gives authority to them.

Thus it was with horror that I first learned of the name proposed by George II. Make no mistake, name's matter. Many have had troubles with Homeland Security since it began, because they have overreached their authority, limiting our freedom in the name of security. I suggest one small solution, that will partially help, is rennaming the agency, to something like "Domestic Security". How we perceive the agency, and more importantly how the agency perceives itself, begins with its name.

Now that the great Babylonian Captivity is coming to an end, we can begin to correct the many mistakes of the last eight years. Let us begin small. A little name change, switching some letterhead and website urls. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.