Patriotic Sunday
Saturday, August 31, 2013 at 3:00AM 
I find the video I have embedded below deeply troubling. What I found the most troubling was the video panning of the audience at the end where the announcer tells everyone to stand to show support for the idolatry they just witnessed. Most do.
In the time of the Judge Gideon in Ancient Israel, the staff of Moses that was used to heal the people of a plague still existed. As you might expect it had become a symbol of idolatrous worship. Gideon was forced to destroy it. The staff itself was not evil, the use of it which popular custom at the time dictated was a violation of the second commandment. This is how I look at the use of flags in worship.
While I am sure that many in this congregation thought this presentation was over the top, I wonder how many still agreed with the philosophy presented? How many of those who did not stand did so for health reasons? Most I would guess.
"Oh say can you see?" I doubt most of my readers do see.
One cannot leave Babylon the Great by worshiping at one of its altars.
Bible, Leaving Babylon 
Reader Comments (5)
"Deeply troubling"? Why? It is simply a patriotic celebration, the type of which is common in this country. There is not a shred of evidence in this video that this is a religious service of any kind. If it was, and especially if it is a Christian service, then being deeply troubled has merit.
By the way, wasn't it Hezekiah that destroyed the bronze serpent?
If it is in a church then it has a religious context.
Let me give you an example in our tradition. At the CEM feast last year there was a Glen Beck video played in the evening. The context of the feast shows the religious element of playing the video. The video was praised from the pulpit during the festival services.
This is completely inappropriate, and the fact most had no problems with it shows the lack of appreciate of the issue of political idolatry.
Unless the church was rented out for the celebration, it was a fine example of idolatry. Note that the title, "Patriotic Sunday" was chosen by them, not me. It was at best a Sunday night service. I suppose it could have been done on a Sunday afternoon, but this seems unlikely.
The Youtube entry notes that this is a :
"Patriotic celebration at the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida."
As Dennis said, doing it "in a church building" does imprint it with "religious endorsement." It could just as easily been done in a public venue like a convention center. But it wasn't.
Perhaps others are comfortable with special forces guys in camo being lowered down from the ceiling in a church, and soldiers standing around in a "church sanctuary" proudly at attention with their AK47s or whatever those were (I'm not a military gun buff), but I'm not.
I don't think Jesus is either. I don't think He would approve of this bombastic display of strident nationalistic militarism in a so-called "place of worship" either, any more than he did the tables of the moneychangers and their bleating animals.
And yes, I was personally distressed at the endorsement from the pulpit of a Feast of Tabernacles worship service of a over-hyped, politicized Americanism "documentary" by Mormon Glenn Beck. And featuring it as one of the "official activities" of the Feast gathering... even in the evening. No, I wasn't just distressed. I was disgusted. But not surprised. This kind of thing is becoming more and more common in all sorts of "religious" settings these days.
I didn't attend that presentation. And if someone had started lowering guys in camo from the ceiling, and marching in other guys with rifles, at a Feast of Tabernacles gathering that I attended, I'd be torn between walking out--and standing up and rebuking the whole affair loudly. (For my husband's sake, it would probably be the former. :-) )
By the way, my dad was a Marine who served in the South Pacific in WW2 and got a Purple Heart from that. I respect his memory and the memory of his sacrifice. HOWEVER, I was appalled the first time I focused in on the words of one of the later verses of the Marine Corps Hymn:
If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven's scenes
They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.
NO, they WON'T. And I do not think God is pleased or amused at the sentiment. This is human arrogance at it's absolute worst.
My first CEM feast was 2001, and as I recall, the patriotism seemed to be a little over the top. Of course, that was right after 9/11. They didn't go to the point of worshiping the military as the church in the video seems to be doing.
Like Pam, I am not much of a military buff, but I doubt that these guys were carrying Russian military equipment (AK47s).