Is the United States of America still the great nation it once was?
If our founding fathers saw America today, they probably would not recognize it as the nation they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create and defend.
They would think they were in a strange land. In a country of people with unfamiliar ideas.
Some time ago I received an email illustrating just how much we’ve changed since the Second World War. The email was reportedly written by an 80 year old man. I can’t verify its validity, but it made a lot of sense.
The author believed former President Bush made a terrible mistake going to war in Iraq. But he suggested that the mistake was not the war against terror. It was his foundational assumption.
“Bush's mistake,” he wrote, “came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in World War II. It is not!”
Now hold on for just a minute! Not the same country? How can he claim that?
The article continued: “No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve!”
“It is not the same country. America is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorrah and the Land of Oz. We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.”
“Today, for many folks, America is not at war--the military is at war. America is at the mall!”
When I read that, the truth hit me: America has transformed into a different country.
Instead of sacrifice, Americans are into convenience and comfort. Instead of liberty we want license—the unbridled pursuit of any and every passion that suits our fancy.
Shame on us. We were raised to be better people than that. We have forgotten who we were.
John Adams, the second President of the United States, wrote that our government did not have the power to control “human passions unbridled by moral and religion.” And then he added, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
In the House Judiciary Committee Report on March 27, 1854, the leaders of Congress issued the following observation: “At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged… In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity…That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.”
Much has happened in 156 years. Since then America has lost her faith, her morality, her will and her way. The question before us now is “Who will lead us and where will they take us?”
Sadly, some in America do not want God to be part of our future. They don’t believe that faith and politics belong together. They don’t want us to be a Christian nation. And when that becomes the majority view, many Americans will truly become strangers in a strange land.
What’s the solution? As usual, the Bible has the answer. It says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” The word “LORD” is the special name for the God of the Bible.
It is not too late for America to return to her spiritual roots. But it only happens one person at a time. Will we listen to God when he says, “Return to me and I will return to you”?
1 comment:
Excellent observations! I am currently reading a book about the influence of Cartesianism on the Enlightenment, and the author points out the difference in the American Revolution and the French Revolution was that America was guided by faith and France was guided by humanism. We face the same consequences the French endured if we follow their example 200 years later.
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