The idea of the exceptionalism of the American nation and its unique role in helping the oppressed populations appeared many centuries ago. Religious Americans believe that they are destined for the mission of helping the Jewish return to their native Holy Land. These beliefs come from the social, religious, and political realms. Despite good intentions, such a policy can lead to negative consequences in the future.
Religious and Political Movements
Special attention to the Jewish people began to be paid when theologians started closely studying the Holy Scriptures. While reading the holy texts, many researchers were imbued with a desire to correct the evil caused to Jewish by Christians (Oren 2008). Around this period of historical development, the state decided to take a course toward rapprochement with the east; this was beneficial from a geopolitical point of view (Oren 2008). The United States sought to expand its influence in the eastern countries to strengthen its position on the world stage. Subsequently, full-fledged integration began to take place: Jews, in particular, became part of the American society and iconic figures in the struggle for the rights of the oppressed population.
From a religious point of view, the desire to correct mistakes and lead the process of rehabilitating the exceptional value of the Jewish people can be associated with the early ideologies of the Puritan settlers. Puritans used the concept of Divine Providence to justify God’s chosen people. John Winthrop expressed this idea metaphorically as the ‘city on a hill’: the New England Puritan community should serve as a role model for the rest of the world (Krieger 2019). Since then, the belief in exclusivity has taken hold and has continued to be supplemented by evidence. Proponents of the American exceptionalism theory justify its national creed, historical evolution, distinctive political and religious institutions.
Eschatological Beliefs
According to the doomsday scenario, eschatological theories are similar in both the Jewish and American faith. There are few references to the afterlife of the soul in the Hebrew Bible (Ehrman 2020). However, the conditions of such a future life are determined by rewards and punishments following deeds during life on earth to maintain the moral order established in the Hebrew Scriptures (Ehrman 2020). Jews associate their fate with the need to justify themselves for the sins of their ancestors (Ehrman 2020). Following the Jewish roots, Christians adhere to a linear view of history and understand the end of the world as the ultimate goal of all things and God’s providence (Ehrman 2020). In Christian beliefs, the concept of saving spirits through a righteous life and atonement for sins is also essential. That is why assistance in returning Jews to the Holy Land can be important in determining virtuous deeds during the Last Judgment.
Positive Consequences
The thought of the American people’s uniqueness has indeed done many positive things for developing countries. Numerous refugee assistance programs, contributions to health care systems, and assistance in the relocation of victims of armed conflicts are one of the main goals of US foreign policy. Without the idea of American exceptionalism, implementing such measures would not have been entirely possible. However, in the case of the Jews, Israel independently launched an extensive facilitated repatriation program that has been running smoothly for many years.
Possible Negative Consequences
Despite the apparent positive aspects of the religious and politically formed thinking about the exceptionalism of the American nation, this opinion can have negative consequences. First, in the particular case of the Jews, many of them, due to the division, have long been assimilated into different countries and have no desire to return to their homeland. Imposing a sense of the need to return to the Holy Land can again lead to the separation of Jewish families. Also, interference in the internal affairs of other states, despite good intentions, can destabilize the situation in countries and unleash conflicts.
References
Ehrman, Bart D. 2020. Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife. Oneworld Publications.
Krieger, Alex. 2019. City on a Hill: Urban Idealism in America from the Puritans to the Present. Harvard University Press.
Oren, Michael B. 2008. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present. W. W. Norton.