Blog Entry 1/2/19

America: Liberty, Goal, Action, and Principle

We are propelled forward as a country by our ideas that become goals. The United States is guided by the principles we hold as we advance towards those goals. Where we are is not our destination. The here and now is merely a stepping stone in the raging river of time and circumstance.

The dichotomy between where we are as a nation and where we are headed can be quite paradoxical. I submit two examples.

When the Declaration of Independence was written it so boldly stated that, “all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But at the time of its writing slavery was legal and widely practiced.

The Statue of Liberty had its official unveiling on October 28, 1886. Nicknamed, “Lady Liberty”, this monument to liberty was literally and figuratively a beacon of light for what the United States stood for, liberty for all. Ironically, while Lady Liberty was introduced to the world, women in America had very little liberty. Women were little more than second-class citizens that wouldn’t even have the right to vote for another 34 years.

The United States has never been where it is headed towards, and this is a good thing. It has always been in the process of moving forward as a nation. We had a national interest. That national interest, authority, and power have always been one nation under God. We have acted accordingly with God as our guide.

The United States was as our Pledge of Allegiance stated. We stood as a Republic as, “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Yes, “under God” was added to the pledge in the 1950s. It was President Eisenhower who encouraged Congress to do so. But God, the God of the Christian Bible, has always been our foundation and guiding light.

In a letter to Brigadier General Thomas Nelson written in August 20, 1778, President George Washington wrote the following about God and the United States, “The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.”

Nowhere is it stated so clearly of Washington’s belief in God and God’s influence in the founding of this country and guiding us forward than in Washington’s inaugural address April 30, 1789. The United States would not be, and could not continue to be without the agency of God.

“Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station; it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me I trust in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence.”

-END QUOTE-

President Washington was so right when he said, “No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States.”

But we have forgotten the works of the “invisible hand” of God and have laid credit and faith in our own.

No Longer

God is no longer our guiding light. Government is. God has been subtracted from government and country.

What once was God then the country is no more. First, we separated God and country into two separate institutions. They are no longer associated with each other.

The next transition was to turn country into government. Instead of government being subservient to the country, the country is now subservient to the government.

The last transition came in the order of government and the people. Now it is government and the individual. The more individual and unique the self, the more the government moves in to serve and protect it.

Something truly sad happened once we removed God as the supreme and divine authority. When we created two institutions instead of one, our love and allegiance to country vanished. America now places its trust in government. Once we removed God, the very thing that bound us together and gave us purpose, all that was left was government and self-interest. That’s who we are today. The United States is no longer “We the people”. We are now, “Me the I” with a government to guarantee and protect the “I”.

America was built upon the idea that united we stand, divided we fall. The clarion call today is diversity. Today it is all about, "I". Nationalism, the unification of a people in a common pursuit, is now reviled and hated.

A Nation Without God

The fastest growing religious group in America are the “Nones”. These are not only atheists and agonistics, but folks who have left all forms of organized religion altogether. A recent Harris Poll revealed that 23% of all Americans have left all forms of religion completely.

Love of God, gone with no replacement. Love of country, gone and replaced with love of government.

The national expression of God is no more. The nation being expressed through God has been replaced with government. The government officials receiving the most praise are the ones who create and pass the most pieces of legislation.

We condemn ourselves for where we are and where we’ve been. We no longer have a national purpose. Our actions are concerned with satisfaction and gratification of self, the government is there to protect and guarantee it.

We have no cumulative dreams and ambitions. We are demanding today fix today. Tomorrow is not a concern. We sacrifice for nothing and have probably lost the ability, knowledge and desire to sacrifice for something bigger than self. We are hyper-focused on the here and now. We have no national or divine vision. The two used to be one in the same

The United States has no God. It has no vision. It has no principle in which to guide it. We have rejected God. Has he rejected us? Better question, has God left us?

Goal and Principle

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18)

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.” Hosea 4:6-7)

Action

Jesus said, “And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.” (Like 8:21)

“But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14-16)

All vision, power, and authority are of God. We must understand this. It wasn’t our idea and goal, it was His. It was not by our strength, it was by His. We have no authority except that which is given by Him. We must be united again through God, for in him we live, and move, and have our being.

The United States must return to God.

Bill Hitchcock