Why America is bad for Christianity part 1

Some people...many people would disagree with the premises I will set forth in this bit. That is fine, it is their right. I would even go so far as to say that society has been structured in such a way as to prevent people from agreeing too much with what I have to say. Too many modern arguments will not brook their truth.
Yet I have no fear of being contradicted. I believe a healthy, INTELLIGENT debate can do nothing but help participants. I might refuse to participate in an argument, but a debate I am always up for.
This is how I differentiate the two: Argument: "You are wrong." "No, you are wrong, poopy head." "I am right. I read a book." For an example of a debate, go back and find my post "today I am sad", the one following it in which my Dad replied, and then again my reply to him. I like to think all were well thought out, reasoned responses that addressed the issue without attacking the person.
With that said, on to the premises:
1) America is dedicated to individualism
2) Christianity has more in common with Communism than Democracy or Individualism (yes, Democracy as practiced in this country bears more resemblance to Republican forms of government...your point?)
The country was founded on the philosophy that people who worked hard could improve their lot in life. Accidents of birth would not determine the worth or status of an individual but instead his or her effort and intellect would make that choice.
This did not always work...without the help, for instance, of Squanto the English who eventually dominated the growth of the U.S. would have been driven off the continent and the French, Spanish, or less likely, Russians or Dutch would have guided the intellectual and philosophical development.
The country then further developed on the principles and philosophy of individualism. This helped justify the taking of Native American lands as the "hardy pioneers" pushed the "frontiers" further and further into "unoccupied" land. (editor's note: the quotation surrounded words assume you have a certain familiarity with TRUE history and not the polite fiction commonly taught in public schools.)
Some individuals took advantage of this philosophy and their own utter lack of scruples to build immense fortunes while developing the country. Dislike them or hate them, men like JP Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Astor, Gould, and a few others...Randolph Hearst, the not-so-subtly mocked anti-hero of Citizen Kane comes to mind...these men DID accomplish a lot in developing the infrastructure of the country. They did so cruelly, heartlessly, ruthlessly...and effectively. They succeeded because the prevailing belief that individualism was somehow right and Divinely Inspired pervaded the country.
Lest you think I pick only at soft targets, Edison, the man of a million inventions, actually invented very little. He modified, he garnered patents for the constructs of assistants, he (allegedly) stold (review the history of the movie camera and projector). He was considered a great man because of his individual effort...
This attitude of individual responsibility has been under attack for a few decades. It started with FDR and the New Deal. The New Deal was only possible because the devastation of the Depression was so complete that people not only were willing to consider a new way of thinking, that of receiving help from the government, they also had no choice.
Look at some of the slogans of WWII...about America pulling together,. working together to overcome the German and Japanese threats. Then of course the nation needed to pull together to battle Communism. So the attitudes changed, but subtly. And the more they changed, the louder the rhetoric has gotten about people being individuals.
Don't believe me? Start paying attention to the ads about having a personal style, not following the crowd...listen to the rhetoric over welfare and social security and unemployment...how people just need a hand to help them self.
The idea that the individual made this country great and keeps it great is so deeply ingrained in the very structure of this country that people have a difficult time perceiving of life in any other way. And this belief intrudes into religion.
Huh? How can I say that? Well, many ways. Take an easy example from pop culture and pop music; Depeche Mode hit it big with a song "Personal Jesus" (1989). While the lyrics are somewhat obtuse, the very title inspires the thought that Jesus means different things to different people...that who or what He is can be adjusted to meet personal taste.
In the same way, people "shop" for churches. Maybe not so bad...or maybe it is. Shopping implies that you are looking for something that matches your tastes...you are adjusting the product (Jesus, Church) to meet your needs and desires rather than changing your needs and desires to meet what God wants. It is about ME, not about GOD. See how it fits in?
Newsweek or Time or some other craprag like that wrote an article a few years ago that had the theme, and this should be FAIRLY close to the title, that "Baby Boomers are returning to church...but on their own terms."
The thrust of the article was they sought places where they were "comfortable"...even going so far as wearing shorts to church, munching donuts and drinking coffee while "chatting" about the Bible. Jesus has become a "brother", a "buddy", a "pal"...prayer became something "conversational" between amigos.
This is positioned as many things, but at its heart it is just a relatively natural and, in retrospect, perhaps inevitable outgrowth of the national emphasis on individualism. After all, if my life choices are defined by and about me, why not?
This merely scratches the surface, but sometimes, when you itch, it feels good to scratch. So here ends the portion on Individualism. Please note, I neither praise nor condemn individualism. I simply acknowledge it and am trying to give you an idea of where I am basing my developing argument.