I read somewhere
that a French sociologist came to America in 1831 on a quest to discover the secret of
US greatness. (even back then) He is reputed to have written that he researched her
wondrous universities, hospitals, agricultural and industrial achievements and work
ethic. He also spent time considering the beauty and richness of her lands and
natural endowments. This sociologist was impressed by all of America ’s
attitudes, ethics, educational institutions and creative energies.
He came to the
conclusion that the thing that showed the secret of her blessings most
intensively was the thundering power of her preachers and the flaming
righteousness of her churches. He is believed by many to have said that his
ultimate finding was this: He realized that the key to her vast success and
achievements in world shaking prominence was not in her educational
opportunities, commerce, agriculture, creativity, energy and brilliance.
He is claimed to
have said, "America is
great is because America is
good, if America
ever ceases to be good she will cease to be great!"
Fast forward
now---Here we are midway through the second decade of the 21st Century and most
thinking, questioning scholars have reached the conclusion that America ’s world
image is tarnished at best and her colossal greatness and exceptional economic
power have been eroded and compromised.
Even more
significantly, America
has lost lots of her moral clarity and foundational Biblical values to a large
degree. The USA always
represented (particularly since Britain ’s
decline after WW2) a nation that strongly stood for Judeo/Christian morals and
values. This furnished her with a deep bedrock foundation and guided her
through many storms economic, military and otherwise. Many believe it was her
Christian (and Judeo) foundations that caused her exaltation to amazing world
dominance in the 20th century.
There was a point
in the late 1950s and early 1960s that America had less that 5% of world
population yet had over 95% of the world’s wealth. In those days America was
largely self sufficient and did not really need imports or exports to thrive as
a gigantic economic and military colossus.
Everything was made
here and sold here and there was a mega economy independent of what the rest of
the world did.
The economy boomed, the middle class flourished and thrived
as in no other nation in history.
Sadly, times have changed;
there has been a seismic shift in American values, morals and
foundational spiritual compass. The USA stood tall as showing True North Spiritual morality to the rest of the world.
It is no accident that she and her President have been called the leader of the
Free World. America
stood for political freedom, economic freedom, Spiritual freedom and Moral
freedom. (Amazing that the worlds favorite comic superhero was Superman, who
stood for Truth, Justice and the American
Way )
Today, many are
saying that America is not
the America
it once was, so consequently she is not as blessed as she once was. Many poor
national decisions, at every level have been made, also millions of individuals
are doing their own thing and getting bogged in swamp lands far from the
mainstream of time honored Truth. America needs to embrace her former
glorious Spiritual values and Beliefs and she will again rise to greatness. It
is interesting that over 10% of Chinese are now passionate evangelical
Christians and many business leaders are Christian. It is said that even the
communist hierarchy recognize the economic and social positives that Christians
bring to China .
Yes, America still
loves her flag, the Stars and Stripes, or Old Glory. But we must realize it is
not the flag that makes the people great, it is the people that made the flag
great. I saw one man with at least 4 or 5 flags flying from his car, as if this
was what made him a patriot. If we want the flag to mean what it once meant, we
must became the people again that made that flag the amazing symbol of freedom
that it is. Remember though, the symbol of freedom is not what brings true
freedom, it is the substance, spirit, belief system and lifestyle of freedom
that prevails, not the flag. You could put a 2015 Cadillac emblem on a 1962
Volkswagen beetle and it would not change what the car is. The emblems of a
luxury car mean nothing, if the cars true manufacturing and engineering
standards don’t match the emblems symbolic power, the emblem loses credibility.
Somebody once said
you could probably do plastic surgery on a mules ears and deck him out in
racing colors and he may look like a race horse but when he races against true
racing thoroughbreds, his performance will expose him as a mule.
How true, we must
become the kind of people that will make our nations great, wherever we live on
the globe.
"Righteousness
exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."--Proverbs 14:34
No comments:
Post a Comment