10 May 2015

Critique of historical “City on a Hill” metaphor: is it attained in modern American society?

The Puritan theological and historical “City on a Hill” metaphor for a utopian society reflecting the essence of “God,” although laudable, was not attained in the past nor has it yet been attained in 21st century America. It is an ideal, which arguably this country is moving toward attaining. When John Winthrop used this metaphor in his sermon on the ship Arbella in 1630, his purpose was to inspire and remind the Puritan merchants, colonists, and others aboard that they were to be a shining example—like a beacon of light in the darkness—in their commercial and Christian enterprise to be established at the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Franklin 166). But we must remember that the Puritans aboard that ship were a homogenous group, and were fervent believers in the Calvinist view that “God freely chose (or ‘elected’) those he would save and those he would damn eternally” (Franklin 14).

There are both very positive and some negative aspects of American culture as reflected by its literature. In reading the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano and Frederick Douglas, for example, one learns about the horrors of slavery and a call to recognize the humanity and natural rights of man. This latter idea was also echoed in the “Cherokee Memorials,” which sought the enforcement of the legal treaties made between the Cherokee Nation and the U.S. Federal Government. Neither group was protected by the Declaration of Independence, since neither group was citizens of the nation even though they were part of humankind. One might argue that the dominant culture in power at the time did not see “others” who were different from themselves and their beliefs—such as African slaves and Native Americans—as among those who were similarly “chosen” or “saved.” It took decades of struggle