American Civil Religion and the Theology of Hope

"I have always been interested in American 'civil religion', as Robert Bellah called the political philosophy of the USA in 1967. With its messianic overtones, the public theology of the United States is typically modern and a secular product of the millenarian branch of the Christian hope. But because this messianic certainty of a better future always goes hand in hand with an apocalyptic dualism in the final struggle between God and Satan, Christ and Antichrist, good and evil, these religious politics are by no means merely a blessing. 'God bless America' is often heard on the lips of American presidents. But whether God blesses America will become apparent when it emerges whether America is a blessing for the peoples of the world, or their burden and curse; for one is blessed only in order to be a blessing oneself" (Moltmann, A Broad Place, 144).