When people speak of loving their country, they mean ... its spirit, its essense, what it stands for, its image in their minds and before the world. Naming this the angel makes it possible to distinguish the soul of the nation from the actions of any given administration, or leaders, or dominant class, race, or group. This distinction is crucial. It means we can censure, criticize, and oppose unjust policies without having to dissociate ourselves from our love and concern for the land, its history, traditions, and contributions to humanity. The angel makes it possible to relativize the psychic authority with which our leaders tend to become invested, and to recall people to the transcendent, spiritual vocation to which they are ordained and by which they--and their leaders--are judged.
- - Unmasking the Powers
These words were written over 20 years ago by Walter Wink, a Christian scholar, who illuminates what science, capitalism, and socialism ignore: the "intangible interiority" of nature and societies (archaically symbolized in the form of angels). His ideas are no less relevant now for speaking truth to the Bush Administration and its minions who have confused the larger soul of our nation with their own self-serving interests.
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