What about America?

Regardless of what our future holds, we as a nation have inspired people to seek us out, either to become part of us, or to destroy us.  It seems the only people who feel neutral about America are our own citizens.  People across the globe either see us as the final goal for "the good life," filled with limitless opportunity, or they see us as an oppressive evil that needs to be destroyed.  Are we truly all that special? 

Many citizens within our United States mistakenly think we began without a Biblical heritage, and they are as mistaken as the people who think today that our forefathers always respected the Bible they claimed to be in submission to.  The Kingdom of God, the Church, and America are not synonymous terms.  

There's no doubt we had many great leaders who were Biblically literate and were concerned about the freedom of religion.  The so called separation of church and state was simply implemented to avoid having a government-run church.  Think about that for one minute.  Originally, we didn't want a church that was funded through tax dollars, nor a church that citizens were forced to recognize or join.  The wisdom there is the government shouldn't prohibit or enforce religion, it should nurture an environment where "religion" can thrive, unimpeded by any political interference or coercion.  

Most non-historically-savvy people don't realize, the freedom of religion in Colonial America revolved around the consideration of three branches of the Christian faith.  One example: The Roman Catholic church was not exactly welcomed in 12 of the 13 colonies.  Ever hear of a state, Maryland?  It was one of the 13 colonies.  The Mary in mind there isn't Mary Poppins, rather the Virgin Mary.  The freedom of religion in our inception had no interest in Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism.  It was about how people wanted to worship as "Christians."  Furthermore, some colonies required that their politicians were active church members in order to be qualified to run for office.   

Between how we practiced slavery (American Slavery didn't resemble the slavery that was culturally acceptable during any ancient Biblical times at all) and how we've continually mistreated the Native Americans, it's easy to see how people could think we are a secular nation, not one founded on a religious core.  But, maybe you could care less about history or religion, maybe you only care about today and your children's future.

If America has not always behaved well when we supposedly were a Christian nation, and now people seem to think we are drifting from our Sacred State of being a Christian Nation, how will our future look?  When there is no Moral Law giver to guide people, the prevailing attitude becomes might over right - from a pragmatic stance, and, we will do whatever we please.  How well will that work out?  Look around the world and what do you see?  

America from within and without faces challenges over safety, morals, and embracing a form of healthy tolerance.  If you think we are losing our freedoms & rights, or you think our government is eavesdropping on every cell phone & reading every email, or you think America is going to Hell in a Handbasket, do something about it.  

We began as a nation with people who sat around in taverns, bookstores, and in town squares discussing the things that mattered to people.  Read a good book, like David McCullough's "John Adams" to see how ideas were formed and spread in America.  But the people who started America didn't leave their ideas in the cerebral realm, they didn't just philosophize about Utopia.  They were people of action.  Action is faith-based.  Faith acts on what it believes is true.  So, what do you believe about America?