Establishing a National Identy

The United States of America is not an island unto itself, but rather a super power who’s influence and control over the world political scene is decreasing everyday as the lumbering masses of people in once backward third world countries come to life seeking with envy to live life as they view it across the world media in the USA. Many of those people were educated here in our country yet they have a skewed vision of what America is or what it means to be an American.

As a nation we have not established our national identity and communicated it to the world or even our own children. As a result we have lost the character that brought 13 states in the wild frontier to the leadership position of the world.

The American people need to be filled with the sense of urgency, the nation has been standing idle while its character, heart and soul are crumbling around us. We have lost sight of that which we are as a people and where we are going as a nation. We are divided as a people and at war without a leader or a purpose to achieve.

All of that needs to change if we are going to re-establish the United States of America as the leader of the free world. There should be no doubts as to where we stand as a majority Christian nation and what our intentions are.

George Washington said it best with his Thanksgiving day proclamation ---“ Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.”[i]

It is time for us as a nation to call attention to our humble dependence on God! God allowed us as the United States of America to become the greatest nation the world has ever know, yet today we have turned our back on him. We are going to address the issues facing the people of the United States.

We are a nation of individuals some stronger than others but we are all responsible for our own actions and we will eventually be held accountable for those actions when we stand before God. The sooner we learn to be accountable as individuals the more productive we are as adults.

As long as we are human, our character is not firm; it is not permanent. We can change our minds and behavior. We can make mistakes and learn from them. We can learn from the fruits of our successes and the agony of our wrong choices.

Since we can change our minds—and repent of our errors—God can change us even more and create in us the will and the capacity to steadfastly choose what is right over what is wrong. Morality is learned over time as a result of this Godly teaching.

The heart of a nation is used to describe a nations character just as the heart of man is used to describe his character. Character is comprised of our innermost thoughts, motives and attitudes. God knows what goes on inside our minds. He evaluates our intents and motivations. The internal aspects of our character count the most with Him. He considers our behavior in light of what is in our hearts.

Our nation is nothing more than a collection of individuals; it does not function on its own but rather reflects the character and morality of the men who are willing to accept the responsibility of leadership and the people who select them as leaders. If as a society we have no provision for teaching Godly character to our children we can expect more of the moral decay we see today. For, ultimately, liberalism in democracy acknowledges no limitation upon individual will except that which is imposed by individual conscience.

The whole obligation for realizing order in a democratic society rests upon the individual, specifically, upon individual conscience. Only conscience bids the individual to follow the dictates of reason rather than those of desire and unrestrained pleasure. Therefore, Conscience, the corner stone of individual character is the foundation upon which democracy exists. Ultimately the character and moral conscience of the individuals in our society determine the choice between order and anarchy.

Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story wondered if we could survive as a nation if we did not teach our children about religion and morality as restraints upon the liberal sensual desires of freemen. Well since June 25, l962, students are forbidden to do what they and their predecessors had been doing since the founding of our nation - publicly calling upon the name of the Lord at the beginning of each school day. The prayer which prompted the Engel vs. Vitale ruling had simply prayed: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee and beg Thy blessing over us, our parents, our teachers and our nation." As a result of this decision which removed the Bible, prayer and any mention of God from our schools we have been brought to our knees. And that is where we should stay in prayer for our nation and our children’s future.

If we are going to emerge from our youthful indiscretions to become a nation of character the United States will have to provide for the re-introduction of the Bible into our schools as the text book for teaching morality to our heirs. The Bible’s teachings have brought us thus for and we must repair the cracks in our foundation if we are to survive as a nation. There is nothing more important than teaching our children about the foundations of our God given Liberty.
[i] George Washington, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.