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Category:
Published: July 2006
America is the most successful nation on the face of the Earth. We have the world's largest economy, the highest per capita standard of living and we are the world's only super power. We live in a place where even our poor can comparatively be considered rich. The poorest Americans living on welfare are still in the worlds ninety-seventh percentile of richest people. Unlike the majority of the world, Americans are well fed, educated, have abundant opportunities for growth, self improvement and self actualization.
What makes America so successful? If we truly want to know what makes American different from all other nations we should start with it's founding in 1776. As we start to read the Declaration of Independence, there is something that jumps out almost immediately: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Our forefathers not only believed in God but felt that God gave rights to people and that it's the governments job to protect these rights. They also realized that they need God and His protection for this Declaration and nation to succeed, as evidenced in the passage, "and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." I believe what has made the United States so successful in the past is the fact that the United States was founded on Godly principles and that our forefathers cried out to God for protection, help, and guidance.
President John Quincy Adams stated later that, "On Christmas we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for the world in his birth, and on the 4th of July we celebrate what Jesus Christ did for America, since we founded it as a Christian nation." Here in this quote we see that during our revolutionary war our forefathers were crying out to God for help and they believed He answered. Would it surprise you to know that our Congress started the American Bible Society and has even paid for Bibles to be printed and distributed? Our Christian roots are so undeniable that even the Supreme Court in its decisions has recognized that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Chief Justice Earl Warren said, "The history of our country and the documents/charter exhibit the same objective: A Christian land governed by Christian principles." Even today our tax dollars go to pay for the salary of chaplains to serve in the various positions within our government and military. All Government employees enjoy having off a paid Christian holiday - Christmas. Certainly our nation was founded to be a Christian nation governed by Christian principles and in the opinion of this writer that is the secret to its great success.
So why is it that the American public is in the dark about so many of these facts? It is my opinion that Christianity has been on the decline in the US since the days of prohibition. Prohibition was the great "Christian" social experiment. The Bible states that drunkenness is wrong in Ephesians 5:18 "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess" (AEV) and that even being under the influence of alcohol is not wise Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise" (NIV). However, the Bible never forbids its consumption. Quite the opposite. The Bible seems to approve of its consumption in moderation. Jesus made wine for the wedding reception in Canaan of Galilee and Paul even commanded Timothy to have a drink now and then for medicinal purposes.
In Prohibition, Christians over reached their hand and tried to control society in a non-Biblical and non-Christian way. Even worse, it started an anti-Christian current in our country and a move to secularize our government and move it away from its Christian roots. Although this is understandable considering the huge failure of prohibition, it is also tragic - tragic because we started a move to distance our country away from the source of our greatness. Over the years that distance has only lengthened.
Today our country is again facing many challenges. Perhaps our greatest challenge will prove to be whether we as a nation return to our Christian roots laid by our forefathers and call upon the name Lord and seek His face or whether we will continue to move even farther from Him. It is the heartfelt desire of this writer, that as one nation we move closer to the Lord. Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (NIV).
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