Why America?

Most people have faith. Whether it is faith in themselves, their government, or God; except for those times when hopelessness or depression dominates, all people harbor some form of faith. It is therefore not hard to begin this discussion with the premise that such a basic element of human nature as faith has broad relevance, saturating politics, economics and yes, religion.

Yet, aside from the logic of such a premise, there is history. In the beginning stages of America, the two main human ingredients were faith and courage. It took great courage for a group of comparatively rag tag colonies to seek independence from England. But they needed something to put their faith in, an organized alternative to depending on England; from this, the idea which became America was borne.

The majority of these “rebellious” colonists were familiar with a particular brand of faith: Christianity and its roots, Judaism. It was from this perspective that they engineered the structure of their prospective new government. Hence, the many references to God being their true leader, individually; the government would therefore be constructed to ensure freedom from government power getting in the way of this assertion, that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The American government, in other words, was meant to be a means to an end, not an end in itself.

What we have now, some 235 years later is, I’m afraid, not America. Yes the general skeleton is there, but the flesh which makes it live, is gone. Its foundational tenants have been twisted beyond recognition.

For example, the First Amendment states, regarding religion, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The purpose of this, consistent with the separation of powers amongst the different branches of government, was to insure that government would not overreach its power on the individual by telling them who they should worship by enactment of a law. Somehow, this now means that there is no place for the very faith which gave birth to the American structure of government. It has essentially gone from protection of this faith to expunging or, in effect, discrediting the faith as being a negative thing itself. Hence we cannot, or should not, any longer be so presumptuous to exclaim, “God bless America!”

The appropriate phrase now should be, “God bless that faith and courage which gave rise to America!” Granted it is a bit lengthy, but you get the point. The problem with America is not the basic tenants under which it is supposed to operate, it is rather that we need to become America again, not a false impression of it. The first step, dare I say, is up to you, the individual: stop putting faith in the wrong things.