The American Dream

At the Annual Theological Conference of the Society of Biblical Literature I went to one of the meetings where they had a book review of In The Shadow Of Empire edited by Richard Horsely. The conversation in that section was incredibly rich. It might be news to some here, but it was plainly evident to everyone in the section that America is in fact the new Rome. This country is the empire in the world that is oppressing and creating institutions that refuse peace and wholeness. One of those institutions is the American Dream. The dream itself is an institution which inhibits a progression of social justice. The discussion peaked with an audience question seeking to find an alternative dream to offer people. To some of us who have experienced such an American Dream we are then capable of jettisoning it. However, what of the oppressed who have not such a blessing (in as much as it is a blessing)? How can we deny them relief from their plight? We cannot deny them relief, obviously. What do we offer them instead?

These feelings remind me of this post on Internet Monk about the “Suburban Jesus”. So, I am certainly going outside his initial gripes, but I think they stem from the same place:

Suburban Christianity is frequently not about an honest following of Jesus. It’s about an edited, reworked Jesus who blesses the American way of life and our definition of normal and happy.


It’s Jesus the sponsor of our beautiful church. It’s Jesus the bus driver of the ticket to heaven. It’s Jesus the guy who wants us to be nice to children. It’s Jesus who presides over all kinds of niceness.

Remember that Jesus is a true revolutionary, and those who want Jesus but reject the revolution always have a nice slide show and plenty of facts and figures.


Remember that to those who are ignoring the game, or eating in the parking lot, or dozing in the sky boxes, the game on the field is just a game. To the players on the field, it’s blood, desperation, hope and perseverance.

But I haven’t gotten an alternative dream to the American Dream yet. Perhaps I fail to fully understand Jesus’ Kingdom message for now. I think I’ve got the full extent of his vision and the vision of the prophets for the restoration of the world. But, we don’t exactly live in that realization now. What realization do we live in? What is our hope, daily, monthly, yearly, for our lives? Besides the vague, and oft-touted fundamentalist “Glorify God”, what dream do we have to offer the impoverished and oppressed? Get out of your poverty, but do not sit in excess? Only to re-enter that impoverished world to help others? I am not sure they would find that particularly moving. Maybe they would and I’m the one off base.