But if that overlay from the prophets be accepted as usable grid and the United States as empire is understood with a divinely given vocation, then we must entertain as well the second step of prophetic imagination that we saw in Isaiah 10:7-14: the United States as empire oversteps its mandate, regards itself as free to act apart from God's purpose, and especially free to show no mercy toward those it opposes. If the United States is an empire in this way, then its failure to restrain itself from using atomic weapons, from using torture, and from killing civilians makes sense.
