Nations is the word that is usually used for something that hardly corresponds to what the word means in Scripture. The nations are clans mostly, peoples linked by ancestry, culture, language, and religion. By that we mean something very different from the thing that has borders and territory and a place on a map defined by somebody but probably not so much the folks within those borders. Modern nations are a construct, an invention of some minds who thought this would end some of the conflicts and violence. Boy, that has not exactly gone as planned. The Middle East is but one example of borders gone wild with disparate peoples who have been forged into a country but the threads of that union are being constantly unraveled by the inherent divisions within. How does anyone decide what is in the national interest of people who cannot agree on what that interest is?
Religion is not the simple thing in this equation either. See how Muslims of different denominations within Islam war against their kin. Christianity is no different with the history of Europe being also a history of religious wars, or at least wars fought in the name of religion if not religious in themselves. We often forget how fragile the ties that bind us as nations and peoples and countries today. It is to our peril. The grant illusions of a global existence in which such minor inconveniences such as conflicting cultures, languages, religions, and values do not matter was always the weak link in the idea. Now with America First and its counterparts throughout the world, the whole thing is being rethought. Economics aside, there are few proponents of such idealism as the coexist crowd wants it except those who do not believe much of anything. So what do we do?
One of the more obvious things it to recall how important a common faith is to define a nation of people. While there are always disparities in class, wealth, race, and ethnicity, a common faith can overcome all of them to bind the people as one even with all that differentiates them within that common faith. However, without a common faith, the unity is not simply more fragile but, in the majority of cases, it is impossible. There are no nations that endure over the long haul without a common faith to unite the people and contribute to overcoming all that would divide them. Without a common faith, the answer lies in some sort of oppressive regime -- whether totalitarian such as Germany was under Nazism or is in China OR authoritarian as now exists in many of the oil rich Middle East states. Even then, Germany found a form of religion to be helpful and fostered it and even China has brought the Roman Catholics and Christians in house churches under the umbrella of the state. This is also true of the authoritarian regimes where religion is fostered to assist in the overall state of governmental affairs even if there is some degree of religious pluralism within the society -- the so-called civil religion. Rome knew this and even the Soviet Union knew this but somehow we have forgotten it.
The increasing problems of Scandinavia, Great Britain, France, and so many other parts of Europe exist in large measure not simply because of immigration and refugee resettlement but because this comes at a time when the religious fabric of these nations are in decline. Without a common faith, a nation is hard to establish and hard to sustain. With it, the dynamic changes radically. Even in America we are facing the problem of who we are as a nation apart from the common Christian backgrounds, beliefs, and values that once were implicit in our identity. How can a nation long exist without the structure of a common faith to encourage and support a common value system and identity as a people? It appears to me that this is behind some of the struggles we are having today. Diversity looks good on paper but does not translate into a workable political system without something strong and clear to unite the diverse. Nations are made not by borders or laws but a common language, culture, and, most of all, a common faith.
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