Srinivas Kuchibhotla (1984-2017) and his wife (now widow) Sunayana Dumala
“Get out of my country!”
That’s what a distraught and rather drunk man shouted just before he shot three people in a bar in Olathe, Kansas on February 22, 2017. Two of the men he shot were skilled engineers from India who worked for technology giant Garmin at its Olathe headquarters. The third was an American man, a regular at the bar, who tried to intervene. One of the Indian men was killed in the attack.
You can read the whole story in this news article that ran two days after the shooting: “‘Get out of my country,’ Kansan reportedly yelled before shooting 2 men from India, killing one.” For more background and details, see “2017 Olathe, Kansas shooting” on Wikipedia.
Of course, this was a terrible crime, and the perpetrator will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. But the wrongfulness of the crime has already been heavily covered in the regular news media.
Beyond that, what really struck me was the words that the perpetrator yelled.
“Get out of my country”?
Whose country is it, anyway?
Psalm 24:1 says:
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it.
And last I checked, the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag still ended:
One nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.
Where does this guy get off thinking it’s his country? I thought it was supposed to be God’s country!
The earth is the Lord’s
Alok Madasani, wounded in the attack
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that the United States of America is especially blessed by God any more than any other nation on the earth. The Bible doesn’t say, “The United States is the Lord’s.” It says, “The earth is the Lord’s.” All of it. Including the United States of America.
We humans get these funny ideas in our heads that we own things and they are ours. And though that’s convenient for sorting out who gets to use what, the reality is that we don’t actually own anything at all. God made everything, God owns everything, and God lends some of it to us to use for longer or shorter periods of time.
Before Europeans came to North America, various indigenous tribal peoples had the use of the land for many generations. Then Europeans came and took away the use of most of the land from the native peoples, claiming it for themselves.
And the hard truth is that this sort of thing has been done by various races and cultures all around the world for thousands of years. Europeans just happen to have been the most successful at it in the last few centuries. Nothing particularly special about that. It’s the way of the world.
But it’s not necessarily God’s way.
And land taken by conquest tends to be lost when the conquerors overextend themselves, or become corrupt, and other empires and nations rise up to take over the positions of power, and the use of the land along with it.
And yet, none of them actually owns the land. They only have control over its use for a certain time.
The example of the Israelites
Ian Grillot, wounded in the attack
Christians of European stock often point to the Bible as support for their rise to power in Europe, North and South America, and on the world stage. Didn’t God give the Land of Canaan to his favored people, the Children of Israel? And now, the belief goes, European Christians are God’s favored people, and God has therefore given them this great country, the United States of America.
But people who think this way might want to read their Bibles a little more carefully.
It is true that according to the Bible story, God gave the Israelites victory over the former inhabitants of the Land of Canaan, known today as Israel and Palestine.
But it is also true that according to the Bible story, when the Israelites failed to obey God’s commandments God took that land away from them and gave it to other nations and races.
God’s gift to the Israelites of living in and using the Holy Land was contingent upon their faithfulness to God and their obedience to God’s commandments.
You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien
Here is one of the commandments God gave them:
You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:21)
And again:
You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)
God expressly commands the people of Israel not to treat the foreigners living among them as the Egyptians had treated them, harshly abusing them and making them into slaves. Rather, resident aliens were to be treated the same as the native born, for the Lord said:
The same law shall apply to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you. (Exodus 12:49)
That is the law of the Lord. And though the Lord gives us the use of the land, it is not our land, but God’s land. It is not our country, but God’s country.
And if we do not want God to throw us out of “our” country just as God threw the ancient Israelites out of theirs, then we must by all means obey the commandment of the Lord not to wrong or oppress the resident aliens among us, but to welcome them, treat them well, and apply the same laws and the same justice to them as we apply to those born and bred within the land.
For further reading:
- Is Racism Equal-Opportunity?
- Power Corrupts? Absolutely Not. Arrogance Corrupts Power.
- The Myth of Ownership: A Thanksgiving Reflection
- Think No Evil, Speak No Evil: The Way of the Angels
- How Do I Love My Neighbor?
- God is Love . . . And That Makes All the Difference in the World
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Lee Woofenden is an ordained minister, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides for everyday life.
Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life 
Thanks for the article as usual, sir… The article just makes me wonder if patriotism has any place, and from what motivation can someone rightfully protect that which is *is*, geographically i mean, in order to prevent it from being overrun by foreigners… take terrorists for instance.
Hi SeunAlaba,
Thanks for your comment and question. Good to hear from you again.
I believe that patriotism and love of one’s country is fine, and a good thing, as long as it means supporting one’s own country and its people while respecting other countries and their people as well. It is good to support and work for the welfare of one’s country because our country is, in a sense, a “larger neighbor,” since it consists of many people united together rather than just one or a few people.
Protecting one’s country from attacks both from within and from outside is also part of loving one’s country. The vast majority of people who travel or move from one country to another are peaceful people who are simply looking for wider experience or a better life. But those few who cross into one’s country with ill-intent and carry out criminal and destructive acts must be treated just as criminals who come from within the country are treated: they must be brought to justice for their criminal acts.
what do you think about the way things are moving towards a one world government like in the book of revelation? maybe this is the end times generation, where the anti Christ will emerge to rule over the earth till Christ comes back? scary and interesting times where living in.
Hi Foster,
It’s not at all clear to me that the world is moving toward a one-world government. Yes, there is the United Nations and a body of international law. But for the most part, individual nations are still running their own affairs, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Even the European Union is showing signs of cracking at the seams.
As for the book of Revelation, I don’t think it was ever meant to be taken literally. I don’t think it is talking about worldly kingdoms and battles, but about events that take place in the spiritual world. The events described in the book of Revelation will never take place on this earth. For more on this, please see:
Is the World Coming to an End? What about the Second Coming?
This may sound politically incorrect, but just as Heaven has separate communities with different ways, I think it may be best if different places on this planet have different ways, instead of every place on this planet being the same multicultural melting pot, with either no overall ways or clashing ways. This does not mean that all immigration is bad though.
PS: Just as there is a difference between an intruder and a guest, I think there is also a difference between an illegal immigrant or invader, and a legal immigrant.
Hi K,
That’s a political issue, which is outside the purview of this blog.
Hi K,
Politically incorrect or not, it is the reality. Most parts of the world have a primary race and culture that is different from the race and culture of other parts of the world. Historically, the United States is unusual in consisting almost entirely of immigrants, including a mix of European, Asian, and African immigrants. But even the United States has a dominant culture that is European in origin. (Hispanics are also European in origin.) Today, people are more mobile than ever before, and there is much more mixing of races and cultures within particular countries and regions of the world than there ever has been in the past. But in most places there is still a dominant culture that sets the tone for the others.
In heaven, I presume there will be similar patterns, because the people who live in heaven come from earth, and they continue to be the same people in the afterlife as they were here on earth. Some parts of heaven will likely be racially integrated just as some places here on earth are, whereas others will be sorted by race and culture, just as many places here on earth are.
Our experience in South Africa was that some Blacks, especially those who were better off financially, moved to the formerly all-white areas, which are now racially integrated. Others, though, even some who were well-off financially, preferred to remain in the Black townships, in a more fully African culture, because they enjoy living in that culture, among their own people. Again, I think it will be similar in heaven.
What there will not be is places where people are not allowed to go due to race, culture, and so on, even though they want to. Everyone will freely go where he or she is most comfortable and at home. For some, that will be where there is a mix of races, which many people enjoy. For others, it will be where they are among their own race, culture, and people, which is what they enjoy.
Just to be clear, this is based on the societal patterns that exist here on earth today. In Swedenborg’s day, the races were much more separated, mostly remaining in their own countries and regions, which is how Swedenborg describes the situation in the spiritual world of that day as well, in which people from the various nations were sorted out into different areas just as they were on earth. But today’s people live in the 21st century with its societal patterns, not in the 18th century with its, so it stands to reason that today’s people will continue patterns that they have built here on earth.
I think that even if God created and sustains physical existence that there are many worlds within, that doesn’t mean one cannot own land on a planet in this universe.
I do not like the idea of God being like a pharoah of ancient Egypt who would own everything in the kingdom that is owned by those under his jurisdiction. So can people in this life or the next not really have any personal property, according to Swedenborg?
PS: I think the way it works is that God creates and sustains existence, and so a planet that forms via natural processes within existence is His in that sense, but not necessarily in a property of finite beings sense.
Otherwise it sounds like that own-nothing-and-be-happy meme if everything is really the property of God in a property of finite beings sense.
Hi K,
Private property is a useful human legal and social arrangement that so far has worked better than most other systems, especially in larger and more complex societies. In small tribal societies, the idea that the chief owns everything and distributes it to people as he sees fit works fine as long as the chief is a good man and has the good of his people in mind. If the chief is selfish and corrupt, it doesn’t work so well. In larger societies, respect for private property ownership is a hedge against corrupt, selfish, and greedy leaders. But eventually, if the leadership becomes corrupt, it will not protect people against their leaders’ overweening power and greed.
Basically, private property ownership is a human legal means for distributing land and goods among people in a way that protects people against the selfishness and greed of others who would take it from them if they could. And in that sense, it’s a good thing. But it is a necessity precisely because humans here on earth are commonly unregenerate, selfish, and greedy. So here on earth, where there is a mix of good and evil people, it’s a good and workable system. Attempts to create other systems based on collective or government ownership on a large scale have consistently been abysmal failures that plunged the people under those systems into poverty, starvation, and death. That’s about as political as I’ll get here, but it is an objective reality.
A greater reality is that ultimately, we don’t really “own” anything. Even property ownership is about our right to use the land, or the item, or the money, in the way we see fit. And yet, that right is not unlimited. If we decide to use our property to destroy a neighbor’s property, the law will (or at least should) step in and prevent us from using our property in that way. In general, we are allowed to use our property only in ways that society approves of or at least tolerates. The moment we start using it for something that the surrounding society does not tolerate, we will discover the limits of our “ownership” of that property.
It is interesting that you mention Pharaoh. When Swedenborg explains the spiritual meaning of the part where the people cede all their land and even themselves to Pharaoh in exchange for grain during the seven years of famine, Swedenborg does indeed interpret it, in a positive sense, to mean our giving everything over to God, and not claiming any ownership of our own.
This is exactly what the angels in heaven do. They don’t consider anything they have to be their own. They consider everything to be God’s. And yet, God gives it all to them as a gift. Angels have their own houses and yards, their own food and clothing, their own household goods, and so on. Nobody else can come along and take it from them. But if you ask them about it, they will say that it isn’t really theirs. They will say it is all a gift from God, for which they are immensely thankful.
This may seem problematic to us here on earth. We like to think that we own our house, our car, our clothes, and so on. But that, as I said before, is partly because there are evil people in this world who will take everything from us and leave us literally naked in the street if they are not prevented from doing so by laws protecting people’s property and persons, and by law enforcement agents (police) who will arrest them and put them in prison if they violate those laws. Here on earth, wherever that lawful system breaks down, criminals run rampant, and nobody is safe and secure.
That’s not how it is in heaven. In heaven, no evil person can even cross the threshold of any town or city. Those who attempt to do so are instantly wracked with excruciating pain and are unable to breathe. They quickly hurl themselves back down into their own hell. Swedenborg even tells a story of one man who managed to sneak his way into heaven, but when his true character was exposed he was stripped naked and thrown out, and his clothes after him. In heaven, people dwell secure. They do not have to fear anyone coming and harming them or stealing their things.
Because of this, in heaven there is no need for private property laws. Those are necessary here on earth due to the state of society and the existence of evil people among us. But in heaven, no thieves can break in and steal, as Jesus himself said. People do have their own houses, yards, furniture, and clothes, but they are theirs, not due to some property deed giving them ownership rights, but because these things correspond to their own character, and are therefore inseparable from them. God creates them as a gift for each person and household in accordance with each one’s character, meaning each one’s specific kind of love and understanding.
So no, there aren’t property rights in heaven because that’s not how heaven operates. There is also no collective ownership, because humans don’t really own anything, individually or collectively. Whatever may work and be necessary on earth, there is neither capitalism nor communism in heaven. These are earthly systems appropriate to the laws of nature and of human society on earth. But earthly laws do not apply in heaven, because heaven is spiritual, not material.
TL;DR: In heaven, everything people have is a gift from God, who is infinitely loving, who loves every individual with a love far beyond anything we can imagine, and who every moment gives everyone everything they need to live their best and happiest possible life.
For a related article, please see:
The Myth of Ownership: A Thanksgiving Reflection
Can the way I see it still be how Swedenborg saw it from a different POV: that God does not own _everything_ in a finite being property sense, even though He sustains the existence of everything?
PS: Like God and spiritual concepts (love, etc) simply are, while there is private property in a finite being way, at least in the physical?
Hi K,
“Ownership” as we think of it doesn’t really apply to God. Yes, you could loosely say that God owns everything. But it would be more accurate to say God gives everything to everyone. That is the nature of God’s love.