God Bless Everyone, No Exceptions
I was walking home with my children at sundown last night and a car stopped at a corner and waved my gang and I across the street. I waved and crossed. And when the car passed I watched it for a moment and noticed a bumper stickers that said, "God Bless The Whole World, No Exceptions."
I wondered what it meant.
Was it saying that some of us don't want God to Bless some of us. I would assume they meant it as a knock on us homophobic Christian conservative types because we wouldn't want God to bless everyone -only homophobic Christian conservatives.
I'd also make the point that God doesn't love someone because of their sins but in spite of them.
The other possible meaning that sprung to mind was it was a knock on "God Bless America" by saying some wouldn't want God to bless those Arab countries.
Are they saying we're wrong to ask God to bless America? Because that would seem at least a little foolish, right? Aren't we allowed to ask for particular blessings? When I pray for my children should I feel guilty because I didn't pray as hard for my neighbor's children, the starving children in China, or every child in the world for that matter? Asking God to bless America is not asking God to curse, smite and punish every other country.
Either way I question whether God should be used as a knock on anyone. Because clearly the sticker is not just a positive statement. They're knocking someone, right? Is it a political statment or a religious one?
Does anyone know anything about these bumper stickers?
24 comments:
I think these bumper stickers are reactions to atheists protesting against Christians saying, "God bless you."
I also think you need to examine yourself, because methinks a bias is distorting your perception of reality, causing you to assume that something is targeted at you, when in fact, it isn't.
God bless the whole world. No exceptions. Amen.
I have to agree a bit with Geoffrey, I thought it sounded like a nice bumper sticker. Was there something about it that made you assume it was referencing something in particular?
To me it sounds a little like the pro-life stickers that say "Love Them Both" where they're reminding people that the pro-life group is concerned with the well-being of both mother and child.
In this case the point would be to tell people who don't know it that Christ said to bless our enemies, including the terrorists who kidnap bishops, the abortionists who kill babies, the scientists who create human-cow things. If it's a knock, it's a knock on the head to remind us to BLESS our enemies, not just ask God to give them the grace to become more like us.
I can't recall having seen one of them, so I might be missing something, but it sounds like a pretty good idea.
I guess I'm just a bit of a grump, 'cause I saw them as a knock on the same groups Matthew did. It's kinda like "the lady doth protest too much.." If we're truly loving or "nice," in the ways the other posters put it, then we wouldn't be pushing it so obviously on a bumper sticker. Let me get another cup of coffee and see.
Matthew, sometimes you think too much.
Meg and I are joining the Grumps R Us club. We meet whenever we darn well please. None of you happy people are invited.
I hate to say it but I agree with Meg and Matthew. I saw one of those bumper stickers but it had one of those Rainbow Pride insignias on it. I knew the lady who had it on her car. She lived six doors down from me. She was Episcopalian.
Tom S.
I agree with Matthew if...
...the driver also had a sticker that said, "What would Jesus bomb?"
...the driver had more piercings than one of those African tribal guys.
...the driver had a "rainbow" sticker (I know, already talked about).
...the car was a prius or some other hybrid AND the driver waved Matthew's family across merely to count the carbon footprints being created so that he could document this grave injust being committed on "our mother earth" and so he could make an official report to his superiors.
...the car had an "Obama 08" bumper sticker.
If none of those are the case, I disagree with Matthew, and it was merely a nice universal blessing.
Maybe I'm crazy. It just seemed odd to me to elaborate with "No exceptions." It's different than just saying "God Bless us all."
It's like speaking to those who would exclude some from God's blessings.
I first saw these emerge as a knee-jerk response immediately post 9-11, when "God Bless America" started appearing on many a pickup truck bumper in my hometown, usually accompanied by plastic testicles swinging from the trailer hitch just below it.
Is God getting any royalties from these things?
I think Matthew is right on...just look at the "people who bought this item also bought..." on the bumper sticker's page...
http://www.stickergiant.com/Bless-the-World_b5643.html
I called my wife earlier and she told me I was crazy and that it was just a nice blessing. But she thought I was crazy before today so she doesn't count.
But now the great Matt Swaim and Julie come here and back me up, that blows my wife's opinion out of the water.
I can rest easily again. Whew.
It doesn't hold a candle to this one I saw in Alexandria, VA:
Jesus Loves You, But I'm His Favorite
Matthew, stick to your guns, you have ample grounds for suspicion. Whenever I see a bumper sticker like that (and believe me I do, living in Manhattan), I, like Gen. Buck Turgidson in Doctor Strangelove "smell a big fat commie rat."
Guilty until proved innocent, I say.
I've seen this one -- on cars in our Catholic church parking lot. They also have ones like 'tree hugger' and 'Bush lied, people died' on them. It's funny you bring this up because I recently told my husband not to park at Mass behind people with these kinds of stickers because it pains me to be reminded that we have a bunch of libs in our parish. Now we do a bumber sticker check everytime we go to Mass!
I love your blog BTW!
--Laura
But aren't you now being reminded of it even more now because you're driving around looking for them. I think that's great though.
I'm pretty lucky at my church that there aren't too many crazies and I've seen a few pro-life bumper stickers. Imagine that, pro-life Catholics.
Hey all. I fumbled along this blog this morning and found it really interesting.
I put one of these bumper stickers on my car a few months back, and really like it.
My main reasoning for it is just that it seems so selfish to me to repeat the mantra of "God Bless America" when clearly he already has, and we refuse to do anything with it except ask for seconds.
I am en evangelical Christian and work as a youth pastor in an Evangelical Free Church, and am not overly ecumenical, but I see the selfishness of America and the American church very similar to the nation of Ancient Israel, whom God blessed that they might show the world the grace of the one true God. Instead, they were selfish with it, they forgot about the God that blessed them, etc.
So anyway, for me it is a reminder every time I get in my car that I need to be spreading the blessings God has given me instead of hoarding them.
This is good conversation.
Andrew R. rothacker@lefc.net
I have to jump on the grumpy band wagon, because usually this stickers are on cars with liberal stickers as well. The best thing I've read on the subject can be found here.
Ever wondered why St Paul says "A curse on all who don't believe in Jesus" or the like.
Blessing, or curses are sometimes thought as prophesy, though most disagree with Augustine's view, I like it.
In fact, read the new-advent article on curses... p.s. I find it hard to say God bless america, and almost was shocked by benni saying it, but then again that's my media, and I live in a very different country (Soth Africa)... in any case, I do think america a beneficial nation, despite Iraq.
Just interesting, further, it may be a duty of justice to curse someone, such as the church does at almost every council, so god bless the righteous, and those seeking truth, but should wer really ask him to bless everyone... that's a thought... :) Marc
Just a note, remember to put http before website name when on google blogs.
God bless te church in america, and wherever it stands firm (Especially here... smiling)
It amazes me, a believer in Jesus Christ, how you have had to evaluate the meaning of this encouraging bumper sticker. God bless everyone....is simply that. HE should and does bless everyone, regardless of race, color, belief, sexual orientation, political views, gender, or economic position. Come on fellow believers.... and do you think that just because you are a conservative Christian that you are right???
Then why add the No exceptions? God bless the whole world is complete enough. How about we let God bless who He wants to bless, and let Him pass judgment on those He wishes. And to go way back in the posts I don't think it's an atheist movement as I live in an area with a large mennonite population and they tend to have this sticker a lot, along with "Who would Jesus Bomb" and other "cute" bumper stickers. I suppose though that you could call them atheists anyway... I don't think there would be much of a difference.
The sticker originated with Unitarians. Most people who espouse one religion or another think that they should change the way everyone else thinks (or condemn them to hell). That's called evangelism. And it's what we fight every day. Freedom of Religion means people are free to believe anything they want. Including that which doesn't support your ideas. God Bless Everyone, no exceptions, means we love people just the way they are and accept that we cannot understand thousands of years of their culture by using only our own viewpoint. It's about loving everyone exactly as they are. Which is, in fact, what Jesus shows us to do. Most people don't actually want to do what Jesus would do becuase they believe in the righht and left and what their pastor said. Because then they'd have to make sure the girl who got knocked up had a safe and supported abortion and aftercare by a good psychologist, or the gay couple was allowed to sit bedside while their partner died. Jesus never did what was right or left or he wouldn't have loved a prostitute or told you not ot idolize him.
Yes, Jesus did love people as they were, but He also let them know what their sins were and that they needed to change. And I'm not sure I believe that the unitarians are responsible for this sticker.
I saw one of these stickers for the 1st time this past Friday in Western New York. Along with that sticker was an Obama 08 sticker. That did not bother me because I voted for that man. Googling the bumper sticker phrase led me to your blog.. .
I will say this; the church I attend preaches Christ's salvation for us all. Many in our church trusted Bush and do not understand how Wall Streets greed "raped" the common man the past 8 years. Unregulated derivative trading, plus the selling of mortgages for the sake of selling them to poor uneducated low income folks to get commissions, plus the things that remained unmentioned by the press that were done by these greedy folks, caused this mess that created 10% + unemployment rates and the "suffering of middle America". Bush handed Obama a proverbial "rock" this past January.. . It's only been 9 months and my fellow church goers are expecting a dramatic turnaround. Give it another 1 to 1-1/2 years.. .
The sticker should say "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". God would not have allowed Obama to be elected president had he not wanted it to occur. We should pray for our leaders, not curse them. God has a plan.. . trust Him.
I see this sticker as a backlash against those that think republicans can do no wrong and those that believe Wall Street can do no wrong. Isn't greed one of the 7 deadly sins? God is neither democrat or republican; He is God. Don't be blinded by Fox news nor ABC/NBC/CBS et all.. . Trust in God's work and God's word alone. Amen.
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