“Blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord.”
[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.—Psalm 33:12
For in him we live, and move, and have our being…”(Acts 17:26, 28)
During the early days of America’s history, when the Continental Congress was still in session, a lady walked up to Benjamin Franklin and said,
“Well, Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?”
Dr. Franklin replied,
“You have a Republic Madame, if you can keep it.”
Benjamin Franklin was wise. As a student of history he knew that nations brought into existence by bloodshed and violence can be destroyed in the same way. Franklin also knew that even if a nation is not overthrown by external force, it can still be conquered from within by social unrest and moral disintegration.
There are those who believe that our country today is self-destructing. There are those who believe that our nation is in danger of collapsing from the internal sickness produced by multiple transgressions. More than one political, cultural, and religious thinker has become alarmed over the unraveling of the ethical fabric of modern society.
In 1996, Judge Robert Bork published a book, Sloughing Our Way towards Gomorrah. He was concerned that America was slowly but surely moving towards an encounter with Divine destruction because of widespread depravity. Depravity comes when children of God forget what distinguishes them from animals, and what their glory is. The children of God are distinguished by the fact that God dwells in the midst of His people, and reveals Himself to them in power. “For wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Ex. 33:16)
Billy Graham has said that many people see America as a nation adrift from the anchor of its spiritual and ethical heritage. There are serious problems as new meaning is given to familiar commandments. For example, God says, “Thou shalt not kill” which is better translated, “Thou shalt not murder.” God says this because life is sacred, as it begins at the moment of conception.
However, in 1973, the Supreme Court of our land decided that life is not sacred, and The Fifth Commandment of God does not have to be honored. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that destroying the viable being of an unborn child is not really killing life after all. As a result of this wicked and foolish decision the term “Pro-choice” has now become popular, with the result being that over a million precious babies die in America each year in their mother’s womb.
The place designed by the Creator to be an environment for protection and nourishment has become a chamber of horror, torture, and death. In addition to abortion, our nation must deal with other horrendous acts of social behavior, such as homosexual activity, the transgender community, pornography, and the betrayal of marriage vows. God says plainly that He hates the destruction of the home, even if society says that it is all right.
With the disintegration of the family unit, and the dissolving of biblical standards of absolute morality, America’s crime rate has spiraled, until now it cost taxpayers over two billion dollars a year.
A serious crime is committed every 3.5 seconds.
A robbery takes place every 83 seconds, and one murder occurs every 27 minutes.
Drug addiction remains in epidemic proportions.
Suicide is the second largest killer of teenagers.
While there are laws against rape and robbery, murder and mayhem, prostitution and pornography, drug addiction and domestic violence, the will to resist evil has been eroded so that perversion saturates our society. “You have a Republic,” said Dr. Franklin, “If you can keep it.”
As America must do more to protect herself from internal enemies, so she must guard against external foes as well.
In addition to the lingering threat of Communism, and Socialism, and Progressivism, there are radical Arabs who are waging a Jihad, a Holy War upon the United States, reflected by all the acts of terrorism, too numerous to list.
Somewhere today, in dark caves, and in ivory palaces, there are various governments and individuals who are plotting and planning to disrupt our economy, agitate racial unrest, and disarm our military machine. “You have a Republic,” said Benjamin Franklin, “If you can keep it.”
Dr. J. Robert Opphenheimer (1904-67), was in charge of the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. As he watched the first atomic bomb explode in a test at Alamo-gordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, a passage from the Hindu Scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, came into his mind as the enormous mushroom cloud darkened the sky.“I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds.” Today, the sword of nuclear destruction hangs over the head of every nation, especially that of America. North Korea wants to destroy us. Iraq wants to destroy us. Russia and China are not our friends.
It is not unreasonable to believe that one-day, a country will find a way to acquire, or develop a small tactical weapon of mass destruction, and set off a dirty bomb. “You have a Republic, said Franklin, “If you can keep it.”
One way to preserve our nation is to have a common national language. In a country that welcomes millions of immigrants each year from many countries, it is essential to have a common language, or America will be like the people that once dwelt in the land of Shinar, or what is now modern Iraq. One day the people realized they could not understand each other. When one person spoke to another it sounded like babble.
A second way to keep our nation, and our way of life, is to insist that immigrants integrate, and not come here to segregate themselves into their own churches, counties, and social clubs. The melting pot must not be replaced by a salad bowl. The image of the melting pot means that all of the ethnic groups melt together to form a distinct American. The image of the salad bowl is that all the ethnic groups remain distinct, and do not assimilate and embrace American value and customs.
Second, if we want to keep America, we must have borders that are respected. This is not a political position. For a Christian, it is a Biblical position. The Bible says that [God] has determined the bounds of our habitation. (Acts 17:26) Nationalism is by Divine design, and must be honored.
Then third, to preserve our nation is to have a strong military. Our military personnel serve to protect our freedom, and secure it. But all others must join in the effort. Mothers in particular help to keep our nation strong and secure by their bended knees.
“Because we love our country, Lord,
And do revere Thy precious Word;
Because all nations are distressed
And men and women sore perplexed
Bring back, O God, we pray to Thee
The mother’s, Lord, who bend the knee.
The mothers, Lord,
whose lives do shine
With noble deeds,
with thoughts sublime;
Who teach their sons to fear Thy Name,
And never stoops to think of shame.
O God on high, we ask of Thee:
Send mothers, Lord, who bend the knee.”
Walter J. Kuhn
“You have a Republic Madame, “if you can keep it.”
To keep what we have, every person must do their part to inspire civic pride and patriotism.
It was Sir Walter Scott, who asked in horror,
“Breathes there a man
with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said:
‘This is my own, my native land!’
If such there breathe,
go, mark him well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell.
We should not have much patience for those who are unpatriotic. Too many precious souls have paid the ultimate price for individuals to desecrate the Flag of Liberty, and the language of liberty to fail to stand in respect when the Flag is on official display.
“Here’s to the Red of it;
There’s not a thread of it,
No, nor a shred of it
In all the spread of it
From foot to head,
But heroes bled for it,
Faced steel and lead for it,
Precious blood was shed for it,
bathing it red.”
It is only right that we remember those who have been bathed in red to honor our flag. We salute those who have been, and are still willing to stand in harm’s way to secure for us the right to pursue life, liberty, and personal happiness. And yet, without being unrealistic, the Christian could wish that all weapons of warfare could be beaten into plowshares, and all the swords that slay the innocent were turned into pruning hooks. Pray for peace. Then rise and say…
“Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,
Your Huddled Masses
Yearning To Breathe Free,
The Wretched Refuse
of Your Teeming Shore,
Send These, The Homeless, Tempest Tossed to Me.
I Lift My Lamp Beside The Golden Door.”
Written by a Jewish refugee from Europe
America is not a perfect nation, but it is an exceptional nation. It is exceptional because it was founded on principles of freedom and liberty. America has done more than any other nation in history to feed the poor, and liberate untold millions.
America is an exceptional nation because we place our trust in God. We have a nation, and we want to keep it, by the grace of God. For how long we will keep our nation, only time will tell. If we learn the lessons of life that God has in store for us, then the possibility exists that our nation will continue to be a beacon of hope and freedom for the rest of the world for centuries to come.
But we must learn the lessons of life, and the lessons of history, guided by the Word of God.
“We have a nation, Dr. Franklin, and we will keep it. Amen.”