When A Nation No Longer Believes In God
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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There is a thought amongst many evangelical Christians in America today that God has removed his divine protection from America as a result of America's turning away from the source of all its strength. I know this because they have expressed it to me on many occasions. 
Now, I am NOT an evangelical, though I was reared in an evangelical denomination. Most of my family remains, today, evangelicals, some even serving as ministers of The Gospel in those churches. Me? Well, I'm the "black sheep" of the family always, it seems, going off in a different direction. I lean more toward the liturgical form of worship.
Having said the above, I have to tell you, I believe my brethren and sisteren of the evangelicals have a valid point, though.
SOMETHING has HAPPENED TO AMERICA. That CANNOT be denied.
As we look around us at the American landscape today, we can see a nation in undeniable decline. We see a people brought almost to their knees, yet unwilling to admit their own complicity in the decline of their country.
Modern American culture would make hardened citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah turn away in stunned embarrassment. Phallic graffiti carved on the walls of ancient Rome looks innocent when compared to the human rutting we invite into our homes on television.
Common decency not only is NOT common any more, it is on the verge of becoming RARE!
Pope Benedict XVI recently said: " ... when God is denied, human dignity also disappears."
There seems to be an entire movement within American society dedicated to quenching what remains of the Christian faith and its practice in the country. They have been successful beyond their wildest expectations since at least the 1960's.
They did it, I believe, by separating our young from their religious roots, indoctrinating them in moral relativism (political correctness), which waters down (dilutes) their belief in right and wrong and their ability to discern which is which. Seven hours a day of that kind of indoctrination, five days a week as opposed to one to two hours a week of religious instruction in church ONE day a week, and you can quickly see -- there is no contest.
While many still argue that America was not founded on Christian principles, they are flat-out wrong. The founding of this nation -- as a Christian nation -- was decided and inscribed in writing while the passengers of the Mayflower were preparing to off-load onto the shore at Cape Cod to begin this "Great Experiment" we came to call America. The document they drew up and signed is called the Mayflower Compact and if you have never read it, then you NEED to do so.
Here is a modern version of the text of the Mayflower Compact as recorded by William Bradford:
In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.:
Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another; covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, 1620.
Signers
John Alden, Isaac Allerton, John Allerton John Billington, Richard Bitteridge,William Bradford, William Brewster, Peter Brown, John Carver, James Chilton, Richard Clark, Francis Cooke, John Craxton, Edward Doten,Francis Eaton, Thomas English\' Moses Fletcher, Edward Fuller, Samuel Fuller, Richard Gardiner, John Goodman, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, Edward Leister, Edmund Margeson, Christopher Martin, William Mullins, Digery Priest, John Rigdale, Thomas Rogers, George Soule, Miles Standish, Edward Tilly, John Tilly, Thomas Tinker, John Turner, Richard Warren, William White, Thomas Williams, Edward Winslow, Gilbert Winslow
Modern America has forsaken its roots and we find ourselves rudderless, adrift in a sea of uncertainty, fear, and (I believe) loneliness as a result of our separation from Providence, the God of Our Fathers.
Too, I think (realistically), we are in a state of rebellion. Think about it. It's a good thing there are only TEN commandments for us to break! We've gone through those as a scythe through a wheat field.
Then, as if that were not enough, we turned our back on God's chosen people. Not only that, but we are supporting Israel's sworn enemies with money and arms with which they intend to do Israel harm. That action alone has placed America under a curse from God.
Taking refuge in atheism does NOT, somehow, cloak a non-believer in immunity from the the curse of God. That is another of those lies with which we choose to deceive ourselves.
This bit of religious introspection was, indeed, instigated by the slaughter of our children a few days ago, by that which is said so often not to exist. I refer, of course, to pure EVIL.
I am old enough to have seen evil in its raw, ugly, shocking, conscience-searing nakedness before. The previous century provided ample demonstrations of evil at work among men. And I am convinced we shall see it again in the days ahead in a manner that will shock us beyond that which we believe ourselves capable. It will mightily strain our capacity to bear pain -- and loss -- at a magnitude that will stagger the imagination. Perseverance will be questioned. Ultimately, we will question whether we even WANT to persevere.
There is no defense equal to the assault of evil, save for reliance upon Almighty God. NONE.
America, in her arrogance, has made the same mistake superpower nations throughout history have made in deciding to go it alone. All have fallen. All have been relegated to the so-called dustbin of history there to serve as lessons for subsequent superpowers to come in how NOT to run a country.
I have concluded that America's current leadership is playing an integral part in this unfolding scenario by paving the way for evil's rampage across America.
Look. When millions of Christians bombard the gates of heaven with prayerful petitions pleading with God to intervene in a national election to ensure that our current leader's opposition win, and the answer is a resounding "NO," -- then I have no choice but to believe that America's current leadership holds office at the behest of Divine Providence.
All of this analysis is, of course, based on the fact that I am a man of faith. You may believe, or not. That is entirely up you.
America's innocence is long gone. Like a child enjoying parental protection suddenly finds himself alone and on his own when that parent departs suddenly, America is at just such a juncture.
This may come as a bit of a shock, but in my opinion, America was never intended to stand alone. From her very beginning, on board that ship lying just off shore at Cape Cod, a covenant was struck. (A covenant -- NOT a contract!) From November 11th, 1620, through today and beyond, America was to be a partnership. But we, the lesser of the signatories of the covenant, began to dissolve the partnership and in doing so we have assumed more and more of the burdens associated with existence outside the beneficence of Providence.
For the most part, we have yet to comprehend the depth of our plight. Those who do, well, they weep for the future.
To cover our fall, Americans are learning to accept and, in fact, celebrate mediocrity. It is a pitiful attempt to salvage that human dignity Pope Benedict XVI noted just days ago. It is, however, a thin veil and easily seen through -- for those willing to see.
Any hope of national survival, in my opinion, must be preceded by an understanding of what America is, or at least what America was supposed to be.
The "preceptor" instructed his students in the story from the book of Proverbs: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." Proverbs 4:7 (The Old Testament)
The proverbial preceptor, the teacher, knew that a man with all wisdom, yet without understanding , is, among all men, the most burdened -- AND the most ignorant.
Early America understood her place in the covenant -- and the scheme of things -- and she prospered. Two and a half centuries has dimmed that understanding and America is floundering, tearing herself apart in utter frustration.
America needs to harken back to the men and women on board that leaky old wooden ship wallowing in the waves and troughs just off Cape Cod in 1620. It was there on that wind swept, ocean sprayed, floating fleck of wood that the REAL America was born and given her charge by Providence. It is one thing to have the WISDOM to KNOW that. It is quite another to UNDERSTAND what it meant, not just to us as Americans, but to the entire world.
The answer is as simple as the preceptor in the 5th Chapter of Proverbs says:
5) Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6) Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
For America to survive she must, MUST, regain that which she has so obviously lost -- UNDERSTANDING. Wisdom will then be opened and she can take up her Providentially bestowed mantle of authority, of leadership, and return to the course assigned her on November 11th, 1620.
© J. D. Longstreet
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