Is America a “distinct” nation? And should it be?
Let’s take both questions at once. Americans are a distinct people. We have a constitution as opposed to a sovereign, we have rights that we consider to be unalienable, and we have God Almighty in our founding documents. These are three basic foundations that help make us distinct. Other nations may have some of them, while some nations have none of them, but Americans have all of them. The fact that we do not desire to be like other nations in itself makes us distinct. We’re different and we want it that way! Yes, we are a part of the United Nations, but we’re not really united with the other nations. We remain distinct. I could throw in the operative word here, simply saying that Americans are not globalists.
From our vantage point, and it’s essentially undebatable, communist nations do not “… hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.” These words, lifted from our Declaration of Independence, speak of
the liberty of the individual, not the subverting of the individual for the good of the State. Yes, we desire the good of the country, but we treasure the rights of the individual. We believe that government is instituted to “secure these rights” to the individual, not to usurp them, and that government derives its just powers “from the consent of the governed,” not the other way around.
What has been called The Great Experiment boils down to whether individuals are capable of ruling themselves under a limited government, a democratic republic, and for Christians,
one nation “under God.” We have done so and we are doing so, and without overstatement, we need to vote in a way that insures we are able to continue. Open borders destroy our distinctiveness; altering our constitution through a non-strict interpretation breaks down our distinctive nature, and surrendering our national rights to an international body, whatever the title, eliminates our distinctiveness.
America has not been perfect in its history, but it is still that shining city on a hill that has been distinctively successful in human rights, in fairness, and in providing an economic foundation for the individual to pursue his own happiness. America was never a “Christian Nation,” but short of a theocracy, it has been the closest thing to it. Any concept or leaning toward a “one world government” doesn’t work for the Christian, and Christianity has been at the core of our moral and ethical structure from day one. The following quote, usually attributed to the famed historian, Alexis de Tocqueville, (This quote from de Tocqueville has been debunked, but it is still beautiful in its form and I believe true in its essence. Somebody wrote it, and I tip my hat to whoever did!) “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and her institutions of learning, and it was not there. I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
A two volume book published in 1835 and 1836 by two British ministers, Andrew Reed and James Matheson (A Narrative of the Visit to the American Churches) who visited sister churches in the United States in 1834 to promote peace and friendship and then wrote about their travels, contains what may be the seed from which this quotation germinated: “America will be great if America is good. If not, her greatness will vanish away like a morning cloud.”
I submit that our Christian faith, our adherence to the rights of the individual, and our grand Constitution have been the foundations of America’s greatness. We’re different, as in distinct, and to remain so we must remain true to our founding principles, or we will cease to be “America.”
Love to all,
Pastor