We-the people of the United States-already are in a holy war, whether we like it or not, and we have been for decades. We don't think of what we've been doing as engaging in a holy war-and I'll get to why shortly-but make no mistake, we have been fighting for what is holy to us.

Our enemies of the moment-Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and the worldwide network they're part of-certainly seem to be convinced they're engaged in a holy war. They've made it clear they're fighting for their particular strain of Islam by resisting our global dominance and launching attacks against us. Some have argued that what they stand for isn't true Islam, but that's not an issue I have any interest in exploring here. For my purposes, what matters is that they believe it's true, and that they've openly and explicitly declared a holy war on the United States.

We have to look deeper to understand what our holy cause is, however. If we are, indeed, fighting a holy war, the logical place to look is our religion. If something is holy it must be religious, right? So, what is our religion?

And that's where things get muddy. There is, after all, no official national religion in the United States-we've never been a theocracy in the way the governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Città del Vaticano are. One of our great freedoms, enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution by the founders of this nation, is ostensibly freedom from government-imposed religion.

Still, the population of the U.S. has been predominantly Christian since it was founded, and, though immigration and social change have altered the religious makeup of the country, I think it's safe to say most U.S. citizens still self-identify as Christian today. It also seems clear to me from my understanding of history that Christian beliefs (of various forms) shaped the ideas of many of the founders of this nation and, therefore, the documents they crafted as the written basis for our system of government.

Moreover, many of our current politicians-most prominently George W. Bush-are very public about their asserted Christianity, sloppily invoking the name and blessings of the Christian God in their speeches. The rhetoric of "good" and "evil" has been heavy in the air since the attacks, both to repudiate our enemies' violence and justify our own.

So, has the U.S. been fighting for Christianity throughout the world? In some covert way, I mean, without acknowledging it, even to ourselves?

I don't think so-and not because of our firm and uncompromising commitment to the separation of church and state, either. No, when I compare our government's domestic and international policies to the teachings attributed to Jesus in The Bible (and I have read the New International Version), I find it impossible to imagine how anyone could credibly argue that the U.S. is a genuinely Christian nation. I'm convinced that the Christianity of most of our politicians is primarily for show, no more than an image they prefer to project to others-and perhaps even to themselves. Their stated allegiance to the teachings of Jesus has little real impact on U.S. policy.

I don't think our holy cause is the great dream of freedom and democracy for all, either. Though many words have been spent declaring that we were attacked because we're the noble champions of liberty and self-government throughout the world, is that really true? If those who make these claims actually believe what they're saying, why haven't I heard them calling for us, as a nation, to publicly rededicate ourselves to our democratic institutions? Where are their speeches exhorting us to make our government more fully participatory, to eliminate every last barrier to equal opportunity, to rein in federal, state-and even corporate-power? If this war is truly between freedom and oppression, what better way could we defy our enemies than by expanding our freedoms?

What we've gotten instead are new laws and edicts to restrict our civil liberties and expand the federal government's intrusions into our lives. Oh, they're all supposed to be temporary, of course, simply the necessary safeguards we must employ in this time of war. Pay attention, though, to the simultaneous assurances that this will be a long and largely covert war, that there's no end in sight and no clearly defined objective we must attain to achieve victory, and that only George W. Bush (or his successor) will have the wisdom and authority to determine if and when we've "won." And also keep in mind the federal government's record in regard to reducing its own powers.

Moreover, our long and continuing record of aiding and arming oppressive dictators on the one hand and of toppling elected but "anti-American" governments on the other makes it clear our support of such values is mostly confined to rhetoric. It makes for fine propaganda and enables us to feel good about ourselves, but our verbal commitment to freedom and democracy abroad is subordinated in action to our much more deeply-held values.

Even within our own federal, state, and local governments, I think it's fair to say that genuine democracy has been a figment of the national imagination from the beginning. Our government was never intended to be of, by, and for all the people of the United States. As is commonly known, it began by excluding everyone who wasn't white and male from participation, and most of the original states restricted voting "rights" to property-owners, as well. Though some gains have been made along the way by grassroots movements-including "universal suffrage" for all those eighteen and older-the true powers in this nation have always found ways to reverse or effectively neutralize them. I won't attempt to go into detail here, but I highly recommend all U.S. citizens read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. It's an invaluable rebuttal of our national mythology.

So, if it's neither Christianity nor "freedom and democracy," what almighty-what holy cause-have we been fighting for?

I think evidence of our true holy cause can be found in the reactions of the Bush administration and most in Congress to the attacks. First, I think it's important to note that few were interested in trying to understand why anyone would strike at us this way. Most acted as if it was obvious that we are unquestionably right and pure, our attackers manifestly wrong and diabolical, that we bear none of the responsibility for creating the kind of world in which fanatics hijack airliners to crash them into buildings full of people. The rush to military retaliation was almost unanimously and unquestioningly supported by our "leaders." This almost complete aversion to thoughtfulness doesn't bode well for our chances of actually winning our "war on terrorism."

But our government's resolve to crush the "evil terrorists" was only part of the message directed at the people of the United States, and I think it's telling to investigate the rest of it. In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, what else was the Bush administration telling the people of the United States? "Get back to normal." But what did they mean by that? What "normal" things did people stop doing for a while after the attacks?

Here's a quote from an Associated Press story published on November 20th of last year in The Kansas City Star. It was attributed to Don Evans, Cabinet Secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department. He was addressing a forum on the state of the U.S. economy titled "America Works" held at the University of Chicago:

"People ask all the time, 'What can I do, what sacrifices can I make for my country?' One thing is moving on through fears. Go back to the stores."

Now, I'm sure I could produce a selection of similar quotes from others in the Bush administration and members of Congress, but it seems to me that any more would be superfluous. I saved this particular story precisely because I felt that quote baldly and succinctly encapsulated the Bush administration's message, while hinting at our true national cause, as well.

What do I mean? Well, what was the point of prodding people to "go back to the stores"? What harm could possibly come from people staying out of the stores, of taking some time with our loved ones to mourn our losses and look for ways to help? Well, I think it's safe to assume he didn't want us to go back to the stores just to look at all the merchandise. No, he wanted us to get off our duffs, stop crying and worrying, and buy, of course. But why buy? Because buying-consuming-is the fuel this capitalist economy burns. Ultimately, it pays for all the military and industrial might we use to impose our will on the rest of the world, and it makes us the world's only "superpower."

Yes, that's it, I think. The holy crusade we're pursuing throughout the world is our "Manifest Destiny" to expand the capitalist economy, to bring every square inch of the planet under its control, and we wage war through various means trying to achieve this end. This is the one right way to live we and our allies are imposing on everyone else through both national policies and multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and, to a greater and greater extent every year, the United Nations itself. It is our economic expansionism that has brought us into conflict with so many around the world, including the radical Islamists of al-Qaeda. Our almighty is profit, our salvation economic growth. Mainstream economists are our priestly class, our defenders of the faith, and Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is the current High Priest to whom we look for guidance. Heretics are few and far between. I am one, you may be one, but-for now, at least-our real but unacknowledged state religion, the Church of Perpetual Growth, grinds on, devouring everything and everyone that can be exploited for a profit.

Perhaps the leaders of al-Qaeda understood just what they were up against. After all, which targets were struck in the September attacks? First and most devastatingly, of course, was the World Trade Center, preeminent symbol of the globalized capitalist economic system the U.S. advocates, and, arguably, its most holy shrine. And the Pentagon is the command center of the U.S. military, whose planes, ships and soldiers have been stationed all around the world in order to intimidate any who disagree with our policies and to crush any who dare to actually oppose our expansion.

Am I trying to justify the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon with this speculation, to argue that they were somehow legitimate acts of resistance? Absolutely not. I would no more try to justify these acts-which are utterly despicable to me-than I would try to justify the fire-bombing of Dresden or the dropping of Little Boy on Hiroshima and Fat Man on Nagasaki. Am I arguing that all these acts are "equivalent"? I don't see any value in measuring one atrocity against another-I simply want to end them. My point is that we shouldn't be surprised when we suffer "collateral damage" in civilization's internecine wars, too. Why would we be safe and secure while others suffer?

Yes, I'm convinced this is the holy war we've been engaged in, though I think it's safe to say the average citizen hasn't consciously chosen it and might not even support it if asked. No, most seem to have accepted the big lie that the U.S. is promoting "freedom and democracy" around the world, and they pay little attention to our actual policies.

But what, if anything, are we prepared to do about it? Do we, the people of the United States, want our first and highest priority to remain the making and selling of things for a profit, regardless of the damage our lifestyle does to people around the world, to the rest of the community of life, and, indeed, even to us? I do not. This whole nasty, vicious mess the U.S. has helped make of the world infuriates and sickens me. I wish I could see a way to free us all from it this instant, but I do not. That doesn't mean we can never end it, though, only that we can't know now when-or how-it will be ended.

If you'd like to put a stop to our holy war, as well, I hope you'll speak out and inspire others to dissent from our de facto state religion, too. This Church, like any church, will collapse if enough people abandon it.