Litany for Christian Citizens, and other Resident Aliens, in America

Christian Citizenship Sunday Litany

Written by Leo Hartshorn, minister of peace and justice

Leader:		Render unto the emperor the things that are emperor's and to God the things that are God's. (Mark 12:17)
People:		The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalm 103:19)

Leader:		We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . . . (Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776)
Reader 1:		We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal...we insist that (women) have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them. (The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, 1848)
Reader 2:		I swear to the Lord I still can't see why democracy means everybody but me. (African-American poet Langston Hughes, 1943)
People:		And Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears (God) and does what is right is acceptable to (God). (Acts 10:34-35)

Leader:		Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost, to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! (Poet Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, New York harbor)
People:		You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)

Leader:		...With liberty and justice for all. . . . (Pledge of Allegiance)
Reader 1:		Our Law says well, to delay justice is injustice. . . . (William Penn, 1693)
Reader 2:		The camp (Guantanamo Bay) has been transformed into a de facto permanent facility where 660 adults and three children are kept in a legal black hole...with no idea whether they will ever be charged with a crime or released. (British journalist Andrew Bunscombe, November 2003)
People:		Remember those in prison, as though in prison with them. (Hebrews 13:3)

Leader:		In God we trust. (motto on U.S. currency)
Reader 1:		The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force. (Thomas Jefferson, 1807)
Reader 2:		U.S. military budget is still the world's largest, and growing... $399.1 billion, 2004. (Center for Defense Information, March 2003)
People:		Woe to those...who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 31:1)
Reader 1:		The Almighty has his own purposes...with malice toward none. . . . (Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address)
Reader 2:		Established religions, whether they are formally or informally constructed, serve to comfort and bless society; they function as chapels. They baptize a nation's ideals and practices by proclaiming divine guidance and support. . . . Established religions, like chapels, challenge neither adherents nor society. (Diana Butler Bass, Broken We Kneel: Reflections on Faith and Citizenship, Jossey-Bass, 2004)
People:		You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and trampled under foot. (Matthew 5:13)
Leader:		Almighty God...has marked the American people as the chosen nation to finally lead in the regeneration of the world. This is the divine mission of America. . . . We are the trustees of the world's progress, guardians of the righteous peace. (Albert J. Beveridge, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and senator, January 9, 1900)
Reader 1:		The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low, and the pride of everyone shall be humbled; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. (Isaiah 2:11,17)
People:		If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)