“The Bible is the rock upon which our nation rests.” –Andrew Jackson
We hear today that America is no longer a Christian nation.
Well, I for one, refuse to accept that. But then I’ve read the Constitution. Our roots in it are clear. In a sermon given today, it was said that going back to the first Congressional meeting, church and state were not mutually exclusive. That meeting opened with a three-hour prayer.
In this look back through history, from the time of the Revolutionary War there has always been a close relationship between America and God. Preachers, black and white, played a significant role in the birth of this nation. One, a black preacher in Yorktown, served in 9 political offices for 45 years. Why do we not hear these things?
We don’t hear them in history lessons. The problem is too often, we don’t hear about them all. It is only when we read the old records, look closely at the old photographs and paintings or artists’ renderings, that we see we all fought for freedom, and Christians, Christianity played a huge roll.
Did you know that the founding fathers printed the first Bible in the United States–so it could be taught in schools? That it was taught in schools for eons. Well, it was. I well remember the Ten Commandments being posted in our classroom. Back then, one of the roles of the church was to make sure everyone could read and write. The literacy success rate was astounding.
Since the Bible has been removed and the church shut out–all our fault for letting it happen–the literacy rate in this country has become a national disgrace. More kids play video games and scour adult websites than read the Bible, and we’ve let that happen, too.
Did you know that “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity” appears on an official document, a peace treaty? That’s not a secular but a Christian statement, and there are an abundance of such examples of Christianity being the foundation of this country that are hard evidence of our roots.
America most assuredly was a Christian nation. The Supreme Court said it. An appointee of our founding father, George Washington, actually. But today one can’t deny that this country is moving away from Christian principles and Christians are being persecuted. It’s evident in the erosion of morals and ethics and personal conduct flowing the spectrum from immoral acts committed by leaders all the way down to the exhibition of basic civility among interacting neighbors.
What happened to us?
Well, a lot of things. Changes, which are inevitable and prevent stagnation. Changes can be good or bad, of course. When guided by principles, they’re good. When guided by worldly standards, they’re flawed and full of corruption and greed. We’ve permitted too much guidance by worldly standards and too few–and too little focus–on Godly principles.
A big change occurred when the ACLU latched onto a private letter Thomas Jefferson wrote in which he mentioned the separation of church and state. That phrase is thrown around alot as the basis for actions, but it is not in the Constitution. Jefferson’s was a private letter and it was seized upon and is often cited because it suits the desires of a few and, in their eyes (and out of context), it speaks to the founding fathers’ intent. But if one looks at the totality of official documents and records, that deduction proves flawed, and the premise false. Still, it’s cited and used, and we’ve allowed it. And we’ve gone downhill ever since.
Too many have stopped believing, stopped practicing faith, and living by principles. Proof of that was in on-the-street quizes done recently where the interviewer asked, “What are the Ten Commandments?” Very few could name them.
Well, if people can’t name them, odds are good they’re not living by them.
That’s unfortunate for America and all Americans. Because it means that our collective morals and ethics have lost their foundation. Our children aren’t taught sufficient history and civics in school. Instead we have an entire generation that lives under a victim mentality–that the world, this country, owes them something. John Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” But few do this. The key interest is in getting more. From anyone and anyplace it can be gotten. That attitude and mindset proves too that America is in an ethical and moral crisis. We need principles as signposts for living life. We need God.
People have adopted a “Someone else is to blame” for everything attitude. Denying responsibility doesn’t make it right or true, of course, but it does skew perspective. And because it does, we have a lot of people who live and do as they will, exercising their freedom of choice, but forgetting that stomping on everyone else’s is morally wrong. And if they’re tagged for it, then of course it’s someone else’s fault.
Too many of our leaders aren’t leading by principle or by what’s best for America or Americans, they’re not leading as patriots. Public service is for them a career, and they’re looking for advancement, for job security. Their focus is on re-election.
We could sit down and make a list of all that’s wrong and why, but when we condense and compress it, we find that our greatest challenge is corruption and greed. The rest is all encompassed in it.
Put God first, remove corruption and greed, and the lion’s share of America’s challenges are gone. The ones remaining are left with constructive solutions to them because solving them is in the nation’s best interest–and in that of all its people. That’s accomplished with a unity of purpose.
America isn’t without hope. It is merely at a crossroads. A few years ago, a wise man said that we are but a generation away from the loss of liberty. One generation.
If we’re one generation away from its loss, then we haven’t lost it yet. But to retain it, and to regain what has eroded in our slumber, we must wake up and do our part to reclaim our heritage.
God and Country.
There are still many of us who believe it. But beaten down by those opposed and condemned for it, we’ve permitted ourselves to be robbed of the right to speak it, some to even live it. That was a choice we made, and we own it.
Yet every day is a new day. And with every new day comes the opportunity for new choices. For believers, all things are possible, and we hold God’s promise that if we do our part, He’ll do His part.
So today I pray for my country. That it again puts God first. And that the legacy this generation leaves the next one will be a legacy of liberty and freedom, and not its absence and our regret.
Today I pray that for the next generation, and for the next, and for all those that follow far into the future. I pray that Americans will evaluate, unify, lift their voices, and shout out, “God blesses America!”
I pray that the sound will be so loud and strong it will echo through the universe to infinity, and also echo through the chambers of every heart. And I pray that we will will hear it, wiser for the road we didn’t take, and respond with gratitude.
Happy Independence Day!
Blessings,
Vicki
