Bill McKibben has written an interesting article in Harper’s Magazine on The Christian Paradox. Meaning that although the U.S.A. has a strong Christian majority (perhaps 85% of Americans claim to be Christian), the actions of its government and citizens run counter to Christian teachings.
Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” […] The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up.
When Jesus summed up his message for his disciples, he said the way you could tell the righteous from the damned was by whether they’d fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner.