USA: Nationalism with Factional Ultranationalism

The holiness of the kingdom of God must be preserved. If Jesus refused to acknowledge and fight for Israel as God's favored nation- even though it was the one nation in history that actually held this status at one time- how much more must his followers refuse to acknowledge and fight for America as God's favored nation" To say it another way, if Jesus was committed solely to establishing a kingdom that had no intrinsic nationalistic or ethnic allegiances- not even with Israel- how much more should his followers be committed to expanding this unique, non-nationalistic kingdom?  Gregory A. Boyd

The American experiment, the great nation state of democratic principles, maybe a facade. On the surface, it supports pluralism, that which is the idea expressing the peaceful coexistence of diverse voices. But beneath the surface, the ever-present quest for political power, the darker truth reveals itself: the insidious creep of ultranationalism.

Trump's administration, the "America First" policy arose, as a show of mass manipulation. This doctrine, presented under the veil of protectionism for the economy and the military, was nothing but a tactical appeal to the base of ultranationalists. It took advantage of the fear of the "other," the foreigner, and instilled a need for absolute domination. Constructing border walls and enacting travel bans were not merely policies; they were also symbols of removal, meant to reinforce a sense of national identity by defining who was not desirable.

Far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Movement, and white nationalist militias are grim reminders of radicalization in a pluralistic Democratic society. These groups, driven by a quest for power and an incoherent sense of ultranationalistic identity, thrive on the vulnerability. Their philosophies of exclusion and domination reveal the sinister potential of total control.

The military exceptionalism ideology, the belief that values in America gives world intervention justified, is still another example of this compelling ultranationalism. This military ideology allows for funded proxy wars, CIA meddling in well over 100 countries, and foreign policy decisions that are in the interests of American ultranationalistic power. This has nothing to do with being higher in morals, but with strategic control.

Finally, the racial and cultural divides, where communities struggle for an identity and reject multiculturalism, represent the historic battle for dominance of America. The cultural wars, motivated by fear and control, lays bare the American nationalism tendency to maintain familiar identities at the expense of coexistence.

In contrast to the ultranationalism imposed in China by an authoritarian, centralized state, the American political landscape of advocacy groups, pressure groups, and public associations is diverse. But that does not disprove the presence of ultranationalist forces. Instead, it indicates the bluntness of extreme political power of the executive branch over the Congress and judicial power, its ease to grow in various American movements, each seeking ultranationalistic power in its own way.

The American experiment, therefore, is one of endless conflict, a struggle between the principles of pluralism and the seductive embrace of ultranationalism, a structure to the timelessness, and often destructive, character of human need for nationalism and greed for American ultranationalism.