Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?!

Religion and Empire are in bed together, but whose bed is it?

It seems as though as long as there have been both religions and empires, the two have been in cahoots. It seems obvious looking at the world around me now, and as I’ve grown up, to the point that it would be easy (and quite reasonable) for one to assume that religion and spirituality are always interconnected with the forces of empire. I was coming of age as the twin towers fell, and it was shouted from every news station in the US that Islam and the Taliban (or Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan) were synonymous (and that it was bad). Then in turn we sang “God Bless The USA,” and claimed we were a “Christian Nation” (and we, were clearly good). There are countless more examples from every nation and organized religion, and this has caused many to forego any involvement in organized religion at all.

But the question needs to be asked: If Religion and Empire are in bed together, whose bed is it?

Why does this question matter? Well, look around. Shit’s fucked. The US is currently gripped by a Christian Nationalist movement that threatens to destroy what little democracy we have left. Israel is committing genocide against innocent Palestinians (with the US’s help of course). Nations in the Middle East are rolling back protections for and rights of women on the daily. If we want to change the trajectory we’re on (or be able to build something different from the ashes) then we need to have a clear understanding of why and how we got here in the first place. In other words, we need to know where to put the blame, so we can better understand how to change things and prevent them from happening again.

When two major, foundational institutions at the core of our society are twisted up together the way religion and empire are, it’s easy to assume that they are one in the same, or worse that only one of them is the problem. In this case, Religion is always the problem, but people rarely think about or even notice how Empire is pulling the strings. I might even go as far as to say that Empire is so deeply ingrained in us that we almost never think about it at all. And that is a problem.

When I talk about Empire, what I’m talking about can get a little fuzzy, so let’s bring it into focus. Empire by definition is “an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority” so says the Oxford English Dictionary, which is part of what I’m getting at, but we have to dig a little deeper into the entry to find the meaning I want to focus on. The archaic definition from Oxford hits the nail on the head: “absolute control over a person or group.” Empire is the seeking of control and dominance. We often think of this in large-scale terms, but it also happens (and often starts) in the small-scale. It’s this kind of Empire that has us all bought into the insidious idea that we’re better than someone else, and thus should be at the reins of society (and literally everything else). White supremacy, Patriarchy, Capitalism (aka The Big Three) are all current manifestations of Empire, and they all strategically place one person or group over another, allowing the top group to exact total control over the others.

But how often can we pinpoint where Empire is sticking its nose in things and making a mess? In cases of things like Christian Nationalism, it seems much easier to point at the Christian aspect, without addressing the Empire part. We think that Religion has crawled into bed with Empire, giving up any legitimacy it once had in order to gain more power. This view allows us to scoff at those who engage in organized religion or even spiritual belief, clearly they aren’t rational people and shouldn’t be in charge of anything. But us on the other hand?

Can you see how quickly even we fall prey to the whims of Empire?

But what if it’s Religion’s bed that Empire has crawled into? What if Empire has put on its Sunday best in order to gain more and more power—all while pretending it has some moral or spiritual high ground? When we take an honest look at the aims of Empire and the aims of every major religious tradition we find that Empire offers nothing to further the aims of Religion: loving your neighbor, reverence for nature, caring for the poor and downtrodden, integrity, community, honesty, peace, hope, etc. Empire is in fact wholly antithetical to these aims. But Religion is the perfect disguise for Empire to weasel its way deeper into the hearts of millions. Empire has co-opted Religion in the most bedazzling misdirect of our time (and maybe all time).

How else could we possibly explain the teachings of a man from Nazareth who was murdered as an enemy of the state being used to defend and uphold police brutality? How else could we get from “Turn the other cheek” to Endless War, from “God is Love” to “God Hates Fags”?

Religion isn’t simply some benign institution, it is a direct threat to Empire. A collection of people coming together to practice humility, love, grace, mercy, and all the rest, how could Empire possibly take hold if people are operating in this way? It can’t. So, in a brilliant move, Empire said, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” in an attempt to neutralize its most challenging opponent, and as of the writing of this article, it’s doing a terrifyingly good job.

It’s time we saw clearly the man behind the curtain in these situations. If we want things to change and for the world to be more loving, we need to pinpoint how Empire is at the heart of our issues—not Religion. This allows us to be precise in how we act, while also giving those of us who’ve fallen prey to this bait and switch to let go of our Empirical ways of thinking and being without giving up the religious and spiritual traditions that give our lives meaning, depth, and connection.

The only way forward on a planet in crisis is to rid ourselves of Empire, and the best way to do that is through regular spiritual practice in and with a community of people who share our aims, or in other words, Religion.